Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made towards the introduction of sustainable food labelling in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Government is currently undertaking significant work in this area to improve the evidence base and address current evidence gaps which will help to inform our policy priorities. For example, specific impacts of environmental labelling on consumers' purchasing behaviour are less well known, so Defra has commissioned consumer insights work to strengthen this evidence area. This will aid better understanding towards the efficacy of eco-labelling on consumer buying preferences and assist in identifying whether environmental labelling leads to more sustainable supply chains, in alignment with reducing the UK's emissions targets.
We want to empower consumers with more effective information to help them make healthier, greener, and more sustainable choices in their diet and are reviewing how food information can be improved - such as through improved labelling - so consumers can make more informed decisions while maintaining freedom of choice.
Elsewhere, we are working with the Environment Agency on its SEEBEYOND project which is looking at the standardisation of metrics in the food and drink sector.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to bring forward plans to strengthen the legal protection of the hedgehog.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
This Government is committed to halting the decline in species abundance by 2030, through a world-leading legally binding target under the Environment Act. We will shortly be publishing a Green Paper to look at how we can drive the delivery of that target, including through our sites and protections for species, such as the hedgehog. Other actions under the Environment Act are likely to support species like hedgehogs, such as biodiversity net gain for development including nationally significant infrastructure projects. Local Nature Recovery Strategies will also help identify and drive local actions to protect and recover species at a scale that will be beneficial to species such as the hedgehog. Our new environmental land management schemes will pay for sustainable farming practices, creating and preserving habitat such as such as woodland, heathland and species-rich grassland, as well as making landscape-scale environmental changes, all of which could benefit species such as hedgehog.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on the export of plastic waste from the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Plastic waste is a commodity which is traded on a legitimate global market. The export of plastic waste is subject to strict controls set out in UK legislation. Businesses involved in the export of waste are required to take all necessary steps to ensure that the waste they ship is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout its shipment and during its recycling. Individuals and businesses found to be exporting waste in contravention of the requirements of the legislation can face a two-year jail term and an unlimited fine.
The Government does, however, want to deal with more of our waste at home and that is why we have committed to banning the export of plastic waste to countries which are not members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Environment Act contains a power that will enable us to deliver on this commitment and we plan to consult by the end of this year on options to deliver the ban.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether local authorities are permitted to deregister green belt land to make sites available for development; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
This Government is firmly committed to protecting and enhancing the Green Belt, in line with our manifesto. There are strong protections for the Green Belt in place. Through national planning policy, local authorities may not alter the boundaries of Green Belt land unless in exceptional circumstances, which must take place through the local plan process. A local authority should consider releasing land from Green Belt only if it can fully evidence that it has explored all other reasonable options for meeting its development needs. This includes using suitable brownfield land for development.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress he has made on the proposed Sutton hospital and its timetable for development; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Argar
A new hospital scheme for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust forms part of the Government’s commitment to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with all schemes in the programme on the timetable for delivery over the decade. We continue to discuss the development of the plans with Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. All schemes within the new hospital programme will follow the usual business case process, including being reviewed and agreed with HM Treasury.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she (a) has had and (b) plans to have with relevant stakeholders on strengthening trade ties with the Mercosur countries.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Ministers and officials engage regularly with stakeholders to understand the opportunities and challenges to increasing trade and investment with the region, including at a Mercosur-focused roundtable discussion with businesses chaired by my Hon. Friend the Minister for International Trade last July, and on a visit to Uruguay in September. In November, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade discussed collaboration on trade and health with Argentina's Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero. On Tuesday, the Secretary of State spoke with her Brazilian counterpart Roberto Fendt to discuss opportunities to improve our trade. The Secretary of State and I look forward to further engagement around the next UK-Brazil JETCO later this year.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that forest risk products entering the UK come from sustainable sources.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government is committed to a package of measures to tackle deforestation in our supply chains.
In 2019, the Government asked an independent task force, the Global Resource Initiative (GRI), to provide recommendations on how to reduce the UK's global environmental footprint, with a focus on deforestation. The GRI published its report and 14 recommendations in March 2020.
In response, we have introduced world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Act to tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains. Our law will make it illegal for larger businesses in the UK to use key forest risk commodities produced on land illegally occupied or used. We launched a consultation on 3 December 2021 to seek views on the detail of regulations that will implement the Environment Act provisions, to ensure that we design them effectively.
The Government also funds and convenes the UK Roundtables on Sustainable Palm Oil and Soy, which bring together UK businesses and provide technical assistance and support to businesses committed to reducing deforestation in these supply chains.
In addition, the Government will lead by example in the procurement of sustainable forest risk commodities. Our consultation to update the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services, taking place early this year, will propose ambitious new requirements that champion legal and sustainably sourced foods.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions she has had with the World Trade Organisation on the level of international tariffs on forest risk products.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Secretary of State for International Trade has had no discussions at the World Trade Organisation on the level of international tariffs on forest risk commodities.
The Department continues to support the Government’s ongoing work to promote the sustainable trade in forest risk commodities, and is considering the role of the WTO and other fora in this effort.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of her international development budget is allocated to environmental restoration projects as of 11 January 2022.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK has committed to invest at least £3 billion in climate change solutions that protect and restore nature and biodiversity between 2021-22 and 2025-26. FCDO systems to categorise Official Development Assistance do not include a specific category for environmental restoration, and we do not hold information centrally on such spending.
Asked by: Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Brazilian government on deforestation in the Amazon.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK regularly engages with the Brazilian Government on deforestation in the Amazon. In the run up to, and during COP26, COP President Alok Sharma met with Brazil's Environment Minister Joaquim Leite regularly, and The Minister for the Pacific and the Environment met with many Brazilian State Governors who are essential partners in meeting deforestation targets and climate change commitments. Our Ambassador to Brazil, Peter Wilson, also met with the Minister for the Environment, Joaquim Leite, on two occasions in December as well as with Senate Speaker Pacheco. The UK will continue to work with the Federal Government, state level leadership, the private sector and civil society to help tackle deforestation and protect the rainforest.
While we are concerned by the rising rates of deforestation in the Amazon, we were pleased to welcome Brazil's positive commitments at COP26. Brazil signed the Forest and Land Use pledge and committed to eliminating illegal deforestation by 2028, and to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. The UK will support this and other climate commitments by doubling our International Climate Finance to £11.6 billion over the next five years - we will be investing at least £3 billion of this in solutions that protect and restore nature. The introduction of world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Bill will also tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains.