Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the report of the Joint agency investigation into Teesside and Yorkshire Coast Crab and Lobster mortalities published on 31 May 2022, if he will publish all ministerial correspondence in connection with that investigation and report with (a) the Environment Agency, (b) the Centre for Environment Fisheries & Aquaculture Science and (c) the Marine Management Organisation.
Answered by Mark Spencer
All raw data informing the conclusions of the joint agency investigation is currently undergoing accessibility formatting and will be published shortly. Defra does not routinely publish all Minister’s correspondence and has no plans to do so in this case.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in the context of the Joint agency investigation into Teesside and Yorkshire Coast Crab and Lobster mortalities published on 31 May 2022, (a) what recent discussions his Department has had with PD Ports Teesport and (b) if he will publish all ministerial correspondence with that company on its dredging activities.
Answered by Mark Spencer
In accordance with guidelines, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) engaged with PD Ports Teesport to ensure all dredged material was suitable for disposal at sea prior to being licenced. Additional checks were conducted by MMO during the investigation to review dredging activity and ensure all disposals at sea were conducted in line with the licences issued and relevant conditions within these.
There was no Ministerial correspondence with PD Ports Teesport.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of (a) the levels of pyridine in marine species fished in the River Tees estuary, and (b) the possible health risks of those species for human consumption.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The European Chemicals Agency states that pyridine is not considered persistent, toxic, and likely to bioaccumulate. It is also not considered a contaminant of concern for marine sediment under OSPAR (the convention for the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic), due to its high solubility in water. On this basis, pyridine is not routinely tested for in the same way as other, recognised contaminants of concern. A substance likely to be pyridine was detected in crab tissue as part of the 2021 mortality incident investigation. However, the method used is not validated for tissue detection and so the numerical results are not conclusive. Research is ongoing to validate a method of tissue detection which will then confirm the concentrations of pyridine observed.
There is very limited potential for pyridine to be present within species for human consumption due to its low likelihood to bioaccumulate.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the report of the Joint agency investigation into Teesside and Yorkshire Coast Crab and Lobster mortalities published on 31 May 2022, if he will commission an independent expert analysis of the data and materials contained in that report.
Answered by Mark Spencer
All raw data informing the conclusions of the joint agency investigation will be published shortly. This is a complex area of research, and we will continue to work with universities and other experts to understand it better.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Section 4 of the report of the Joint agency investigation into Teesside and Yorkshire Coast Crab and Lobster mortalities, published on 31 May 2022, what conclusions have been reached by the Centre for Environment Fisheries & Aquaculture Science investigation commissioned by his Department to (a) ensure better preparedness for any future incident, (b) further investigate the indicative results relating to pyridine, particularly in relation to its formation as part of a ‘normal’ biological process during decomposition and (c) examine the physiological impacts of high levels of algal toxins on crustacean physiology.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The lessons learnt from the incident investigation highlight that effective cross-agency collaboration is essential to an effective investigation. Defra will look continually to improve this process.
Research and development work on pyridine is ongoing. CEFAS is developing and validating a chemical detection test to measure the amounts of pyridine in crab tissues, assessing pyridine levels in crab tissue collected last year from within and outside of the area of impact, and testing the theory that pyridine can be a natural by-product associated with the decomposition process in crabs. The same project will work to better understand the potentially harmful effects of toxins and harmful algae on crab health. This work is highly complex but is expected to be completed in March 2023.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Environment Agency has made of the quality of recently obtained samples of Tees water in the context of recent findings of dead crustaceans in that river.
Answered by Steve Double
The Environment Agency routinely carries out a surveillance programme of monthly water samples in the Tees estuary. Monitoring data also exist for contaminants in blue mussels, fish, and sediments, as well as in the receiving waters of permitted water discharges.
The environmental samples collected as part of the investigation into recent crab and lobster mortalities have been considered against historic data for the Tees. Data and findings have fed in to a wider Defra-led investigation and have been reported via stakeholder briefings and within the final investigation report, available here (www.gov.uk/government/publications/joint-agency-investigation-into-teesside-and-yorkshire-coast-crab-and-lobster-mortalities). The Environment Agency data are also published as Open Data, available here (://environment.data.gov.uk/water-quality/view/landing).
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of 27 April 2021, Official Report, column 86WH, what steps his Department has taken to (a) investigate the use of fire and rehire tactics by its executive non-departmental public bodies, (b) communicate the Government's position on fire and rehire tactics to those bodies and (c) discourage the use of such tactics by those bodies.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Government has been very clear that threatening fire and rehire as a negotiating tactic is completely unacceptable. We always expect employers to treat employees fairly and in the spirit of partnership working with trade unions, where relevant, constructively. We are confident that all non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are aware of the Government’s position on this matter.
We work constructively with each NDPB we have responsibility for and this includes when it comes to workforce management matters. However, each NDPB that does not employ civil servants is ultimately responsible for the management of its staff.
The Department has taken no recent action regarding the use of fire and rehire tactics in its executive NDPBs. Should information come to light that suggests this is an area of concern, then the Department would respond accordingly.