Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle rises in the level of food inflation.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials have regular discussions with food retailers about a range of issues, including the impact of food price inflation.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of new Investment Zones on legal protections for national parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and green belt land.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Defra and DLUHC are working closely together on Investment Zone policy to support our growth objectives and maintain HM Government’s strong position on the environment. We are not weakening our environmental ambition either at home or abroad and remain committed to Net Zero by 2050 and delivering on the Environment Act, including setting a new legally binding target to halt the decline of species abundance in England by 2030.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to ban (a) supertrawlers, (b) fly shooters and (c) all other types of destructive fishing in Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a devolved competency and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Marine Management Organisation and the Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities assess on a site-by-site basis which fishing activities could prevent them from achieving their conservation objectives.
'Supertrawlers' generally target pelagic species of fish within the water column and are unlikely to interact with the seabed habitats, such as reef and sediment habitats, for which most MPAs are designated. Some other types of fishing such as bottom trawling and fly-shooting interact with the seabed and are therefore likely to impact seabed habitats. The compatibility of these activities will depend on the features protected in each site. If the site assessments conclude that this type of fishing poses a risk to the conservation objectives of a MPA, the relevant regulator would implement management measures.
Regulators follow an evidence-led process to determine what management is required to protect sites and to not unduly restrict legitimate fishing activity. 98 MPAs in English inshore waters already have byelaws in place to protect sensitive features from damaging fishing activities and the first four English offshore byelaws have now been established. A Call for Evidence on byelaws in 13 more MPAs has recently closed. We aim to have protection in place for all our English offshore MPAs by 2024.
In July, we launched a consultation on five candidate Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) in English waters. With the highest level of protection in England's seas to enable the ecosystem to fully recover, many activities including commercial and recreational fishing would be prohibited. HPMAs would complement the existing MPA network. Any HPMAs that HM Government decides to designate following the consultation would be designated by July 2023.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the Environment Agency on the detection of poliovirus in London sewage works.
Answered by Steve Double
The UK Heath Security Agency is leading the investigation and response to the poliovirus detected in sewage samples collected from the London Beckton Sewage Treatment Works.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 Answer of 6 October 2020 to Question HL 8373 on Incinerators: Recycling, whether the further monitoring provided adequate evidence of incinerator capacity planned between July 2022 and 2025; how that compared with levels of residual waste; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact that will have on national recycling rates.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government’s view is that Energy from Waste (EfW) should not compete with greater waste prevention, re-use, or recycling. Proposed new plants must not result in an over-capacity of EfW waste treatment provision at a local or national level. Officials are currently assessing planned incinerator capacity against expected future residual waste arisings. This further assessment of residual waste treatment capacity needs will be published in due course.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 publish the updated Resources and Waste Strategy; and if he will include a further assessment of residual waste treatment capacity needs in that strategy.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We are currently carrying out an evaluation of the Resources and Waste Strategy, which will inform our future policies. There will be a progress update published later this year.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of recent research examining the presence of microplastic pollution in the lungs of living people.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2021, the UK Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) published an overarching statement on potential risks from exposure to microplastics ( https://cot.food.gov.uk/M-statementsandpositionpapers#microplastics). The COT made a number of proposals for research priorities to aid risk assessment of microplastics, and concluded that "based on the available data, it is not yet possible to perform a complete assessment for the potential risks from exposure to micro and nanoplastics via the oral and inhalation routes".
Subsequently, COT has published a sub-statement focusing on the oral route and a sub-statement on the inhalation route is in preparation.
The Government is taking decisive action to fight plastic waste including minimum charges on single-use items; a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers; and ensuring producers cover the costs of collecting and managing plastic packaging waste.
As set out in the recently published 2022-2023 UK REACH Work Programme, we are reviewing intentionally added microplastics and the risks they pose to human health and the environment. The results will help to inform the Government's approach to managing any risks whether through UK REACH or other routes.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 he has had with representatives of the water industry on reducing the discharge of sewage into rivers, seas and lakes.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I have repeatedly made it clear to the water industry that the current number of sewage discharges is unacceptable and we are going further and faster than any other government to protect and enhance the health of our rivers and seas. We are the first government to set the expectation via the Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat that the water industry must show significant reductions in the frequency and volume of those discharges. I regularly meet individual companies on their overall performance and make clear that reducing sewage discharges is a Government priority.
More widely, the Government is also working closely with the water industry as part of the Storm Overflows Taskforce in the development of the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, which will represent the largest investment in reducing storm sewage discharges in history.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he made of the number of trees removed by local councils each year as a result of insurance companies claiming trees as liabilities due to the subsidence risk.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is a general presumption against deforestation in England, and the vast majority of permitted felling of trees comes with restocking conditions attached. For this reason there are no official figures on the number of trees felled in England. Dangerous and nuisance trees are exempted from felling regulations.
We will be introducing the new Duty to Consult on street tree felling, as mandated in the Environment Act 2021, which will increase the awareness and transparency in decision making on street trees and create a space for the public to contribute to these decisions. We are currently developing appropriate guidance for the new Duty to Consult and will be seeking to commence the measure in 2023.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department (a) consults communities, including taking residents' environmental concerns into account, in respect of the process of local tree felling.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The England Trees Action Plan sets out how trees should be seen as an essential part of the fabric of urban areas and aims to increase the number of trees in our towns and cities.
The Government is committed to protecting our valuable street trees. The new Duty to Consult on street tree felling as mandated in the Environment Act 2021 will increase transparency in decision making and allow the public to be consulted before a street tree is felled. We are currently developing appropriate guidance for the new Duty to Consult and will be seeking to commence the measure in 2023.