Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 potential implications for his Department's policies of the Stove Industry Alliance report entitled, The Contribution of Domestic Burning to UK Particulate Emissions, published on 31 January 2022.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra will continue to evaluate new evidence on sources of air pollution.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 7 November 2022 to Question 60902 on Environment Protection: EU Law, whether she plans to replicate regulations (a) nine and (b) 10 in the National Emission Ceilings Regulations 2018 that were removed by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No. Regulations 9 and 10 of the National Emission Ceilings Regulations concern the National Air Pollution Control Programme (NAPCP). The NAPCP was a bureaucratic process that does nothing to improve the air we breathe. Its content is a duplication of material contained, in a more accessible format, in national policy statements including the EIP for England which sets out our actual delivery plan to improve the air we breathe. When we consulted on the NAPCP of those who expressed an opinion, a majority agreed that the format of the NAPCP could be improved, with a consensus that the format was too lengthy and too technical. With this in mind, we are considering how we can simplify the process to reduce administrative burdens and improve transparency.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 implications for his Department's policies of the work undertaken by the (a) Forum for International Cooperation on Air Pollution and (b) Task Force for International Cooperation on Air Pollution on tacking air quality.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Forum for International Cooperation Air Pollution was set up by the United Kingdom and Sweden under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Convention for Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, which the UK is a founding member. The UK and Sweden agreed to co-chair the Forum under the Strategic Partnership agreement between the UK and Sweden. The forum aims to help all countries reduce and prevent air pollution around the world, utilising expertise and experience of UNECE Member-States and other Partners to provide relevant scientific, technical, and policy information. The workplan for the Forum is agreed under the annual workplans of the UNECE Air Convention, and subject to available resources.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) regulations and (b) requirements his Department has introduced to control domestic burning since 1 January 2020.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
An extensive legal framework is in place to reduce emissions from domestic combustion.
The Air Quality (Domestic Solid Fuels Standards) (England) Regulations 2020 came into force in May 2021 and over two years phased out the sale of traditional house coal for domestic use, prevented the sale of small volumes of wet wood, and placed emissions standards on manufactured solid fuels. In January 2022, new Ecodesign requirements for stoves came into force.
Our Environmental Improvement Plan, published in January 2023, commits us to go even further in driving up stove and fuel standards.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what regulations are in place to control the (a) sale and (b) use of fuels used in domestic heating and burning.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
An extensive legal framework is in place to reduce emissions from domestic combustion.
The Air Quality (Domestic Solid Fuels Standards) (England) Regulations 2020 came into force in May 2021 and over two years phased out the sale of traditional house coal for domestic use, prevented the sale of small volumes of wet wood, and placed emissions standards on manufactured solid fuels. In January 2022, new Ecodesign requirements for stoves came into force.
Our Environmental Improvement Plan, published in January 2023, commits us to go even further in driving up stove and fuel standards.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 adequacy of the way air quality information is communicated by his Department to the public.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is undertaking a comprehensive review of how we communicate air quality information to ensure members of the public, and vulnerable groups in particular, have the information they need to understand their air quality. Recommendations from the steering group established to oversee this work will be published in 2024.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 22 January 2022 to Question 102534 on Firewood: Air Pollution, if he will publish all the research studies to estimate the contribution of domestic wood burning to primary emissions of particulate matter that the Government has commissioned since 1 January 2022.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The contribution of domestic wood burning to primary emissions are estimated in our national atmospheric emissions inventory (NAEI). We publish the methods we use in the Informative Inventory Report and methods document on an annual basis on the NAEI website. The latest report can be found here.
We have commissioned a number of projects to estimate the emissions associated with different solids fuels and appliances and to track trends in domestic burning practices across the UK. The reports will be published in due course.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 20 January 2022 to Question 102530 on Wood-burning Stoves: Smoke Control Areas, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s work to build consumer understanding of the (a) Ecodesign and (b) other requirements for the use of wood burning appliances in Smoke Control Areas.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our Burn Better campaign focuses on the best use of open fires and wood burning stoves and raises awareness of the rules in smoke control areas. The campaign is evaluated annually.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 17 January 2023 to Question 102525 on Wood-burning Stoves: Regulation, if he will publish all regulations on the purchase and use of wood burning appliances in one place on (a) his Department's and (b) the UK-Air website.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We intend to consolidate and make available further information on domestic combustion regulatory requirements in due course.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 14 January 2022 to Question 98203 on Wood-burning Stoves, if he will publish the evaluation of the impact of the Domestic Solid Fuel Regulations 2020.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The evaluation of the Domestic Solid Fuel Regulations 2020 is ongoing.