Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the main outcomes and decisions from the 66th annual International Whaling Commission meeting; and whether the UK has successfully implemented the required actions from that meeting.
Answered by George Eustice
I have assessed the main outcomes and decisions of the 66th annual International Whaling Commission (IWC) and consider that the meeting was a success for the UK. We secured a number of important UK priorities and officials are now working hard in collaboration with other IWC Parties to ensure that the actions arising from the meeting are implemented during the intercessional period in a coordinated and effective way.Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of which exclusive and mixed international environmental agreements in which the EU currently participates the Government plans to seek to be party to or otherwise maintain the provisions of after the UK leaves the EU; and which of those agreements (a) the Government will have to renegotiate and (b) will remain in force as the UK is a signatory in its own right.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The UK is a Party to 35 Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) in its own right. These are mixed agreements and we are bound by the obligations they contain; this will not change on exit from the EU.
We are committed to continuing to play an active role internationally and will continue to be bound by the obligations under these MEAs after leaving the EU.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) ten types of item most commonly discarded as litter and (b) ten areas in which littering and fly-tipping are most prevalent in England.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Assessments of the composition of litter vary, depending on the methodology used to sample sites and to categorise the litter found there. The Local Environmental Quality Survey of England (LEQSE) was carried out by Keep Britain Tidy on behalf of Defra from 2001-2015. It provided information on the overall cleanliness of the country by looking at indicators of local environmental quality including littering, graffiti and fly-posting. This survey assesses the prevalence of types of litter but does not count the number of items of each type that were found.
The 2014/15 survey found that the top ten types of litter found on the highest percentage of sites were:
We have made no specific assessment of the areas in which littering is most prevalent. The 2013/14 LEQSE report includes some assessment of regional variations in local environmental quality, although the differences found between regions were not statistically significant. The LEQSE reports for 2013/14 and 2014/15 can be found online at: http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/leqse/1611
Data on fly-tipping for England is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england.
This includes information on the cost to local authorities of clearing fly-tipped waste and of taking enforcement action against fly-tipping. The 2015/16 fly tipping data for England is expected to be published in March. The actual publication date will be confirmed shortly and will be available via the ONS website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the Government's progress on preventing fly-tipping; and when the fly-tipping in England 2015 to 2016 statistics will be published.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We are committed to tackling fly-tipping and, as set out in the Government’s manifesto, have given local councils the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small-scale fly-tipping. These new enforcement tools have been available to councils since May 2016, providing them with an alternative to prosecutions and assisting them in taking a proportionate enforcement response.
This builds on other Government action to tackle fly-tipping, which has included: working with the Sentencing Council on its guideline for sentencing for environmental offences; making it easier for vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime to be stopped, searched and seized; and continuing our work with the Defra chaired National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting, investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.
The 2015/16 fly tipping data for England, including the number and type of incidents of illegally deposited waste, the cost of dealing with them and the actions taken, is expected to be published in March. The actual publication date will be confirmed shortly and will be available via the Office for National Statistics website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
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 she has made of the (a) environmental effect and (b) cost to the public purse of littering and fly tipping on (i) beaches, (ii) marine life, (iii) farms and (iv) urban areas.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We have made no specific assessment of the environmental effects of litter and fly-tipping, nor of the costs of clearing litter and fly-tipped waste in these areas. Data on local government spending, including on street cleansing (which includes tackling litter and fly-tipping) can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing .
The cost of litter clearance is not recorded separately: the figures reported for spending on street cleansing also include spending on clearing fly-tipped waste, and on activities which would be required even if all litter was disposed of appropriately (such as sweeping up fallen leaves, or emptying public bins). We estimate the annual cost to local government of clearing litter in England runs to hundreds of millions of pounds.
The UK Marine Strategy Part One, published in 2012, presented an initial assessment of the state of UK seas. An updated assessment of the state of our seas is currently being prepared. Defra conducts monitoring of litter on beaches, in the water column and on the seafloor. We consider that the best way to address both the environmental and economic impact is to prevent litter entering the marine environment in the first place. The UK Marine Strategy Part Three, published in 2015, sets out a comprehensive set of actions we are taking to address litter in the marine environment.
Data on fly-tipping for England is published at:
www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england.
This includes information on the cost to local authorities of clearing fly-tipped waste and of taking enforcement actions against fly-tipping.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the total cost of clearing litter in (a) St Albans, (b) Hertfordshire, (c) the east of England and (d) England since 2010.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We have made no specific assessment of the costs of clearing litter in these areas. Data on local government spending, including on street cleansing, which includes tackling litter, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing.
The cost of litter clearance is not recorded separately; the figures reported for spending on street cleansing also include spending on clearing fly-tipped waste and on activities which would be required even if all litter was disposed of appropriately, such as sweeping up fallen leaves or emptying public bins.
We estimate the annual cost to local government of clearing litter in England runs to hundreds of millions of pounds.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of glyphosate usage in farming and crop production; and what her policy is on the European Commission's proposals to re-approve that use for the next 15 years.
Answered by George Eustice
Glyphosate is an important element of effective and economic weed control in crop production. It is also of value in other sectors, such as the maintenance of roads and railways.
The Government recognises the importance of effective pesticides and believes that they should be authorised where the scientific evidence shows they do not pose unacceptable risks to human health or the environment.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that glyphosate met these standards and UK experts agree. The Government therefore considers that glyphosate should be approved.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to meet the EU's nitrogen dioxide emissions target.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The UK currently meets the EU legal requirements for almost all pollutants, but we know there is still more to do and that the UK faces significant challenges in meeting EU requirements for nitrogen dioxide.
The national air quality plan, published in December last year, sets out a comprehensive approach for meeting the air quality challenges by implementing a new programme of Clean Air Zones. The plan combines targeted local and national measures, forming part of a wider approach that exploits new and clean technologies, such as electric and ultra-low emission vehicles.
The Government has committed over £2 billion since 2011 to increase the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles, support green transport initiatives and support local authorities to take action.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the European Commission on infraction proceedings relating to the UK breaching EU nitrogen dioxide limits.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Government is committed to improving the UK’s air quality, reducing health impacts, and fulfilling our environmental responsibilities.
In December last year the Government published the national air quality plan which sets out a comprehensive approach for meeting these goals by implementing a new programme of Clean Air Zones.
The Government is keeping the European Commission informed of the significant action that the UK is taking to address air pollution.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies have spent on infraction proceedings in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by George Eustice
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the Rt. Hon Matthew Hancock, on 11 May 2016, to PQ UIN 36288.