Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 introduce legislation to require water companies to report annually on the number of animals killed as a result of raw sewage discharges.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
We do not have plans to introduce legislation that will require this of water companies. However, this Government is clear that the volume of sewage being discharged into our waters is unacceptable. That is why our Plan for Water sets out more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement to tackle pollution and clean up our water.
Alongside this, our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan sets clear and specific targets for water companies, regulators and the Government, to work towards the long-term ambition of eliminating ecological harm from storm overflows. This will protect biodiversity at both a local and national scale.
We have also set a world-leading, legally binding target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030. This target will drive wide-ranging actions to deliver nature recovery.
We know that to meet our targets we will need large-scale habitat restoration, creation and improved connectivity; to tackle pressures on species including pollution, unsustainable use of resources and climate change; and targeted action to recover specific species.
Action to restore or create freshwater habitats will support species in our indicator that live in and rely on lakes and rivers such as kingfishers, silver bream, perch, and minnow.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve conviction rates for pet theft.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Local Authorities have a statutory responsibility under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to inspect their areas from ‘time to time’ to identify and require the remediation of any land.
The Government recognises that in particularly severe or complex cases Landfill Tax can act as a prohibitive financial barrier to the remediation and redevelopment of contaminated land. My Department held a Call for Evidence on this issue and published a Government response in March this year. As a result of this evidence, we are currently developing a grant scheme to fund costs of Landfill Tax to public bodies in England, where such costs are acting as a determinative barrier to the remediation and redevelopment of contaminated land.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 number of attacks by American Bully XL dogs in the last 12 months.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
From our assessment of publicly available data, it appears that the American XL Bully type dog has been disproportionately involved in fatal dog attacks in the past 12 months. This is why the Government is taking urgent action to bring forward a ban on XL Bully dog types before the end of this year.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help improve coordination on recycling and waste management strategies with local authorities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provide therefore relates to England only. We recognise there are efficiencies and service improvements that can be achieved by joined up working. Currently there are levers and activities that encourage coordinated activity. For example, requirements to cooperate when appropriate in relation to planning waste infrastructure and requirements for joint municipal waste management strategies in ‘two tier’ systems. Upcoming reforms for consistent collections will significantly support joint working by ensuring minimum requirements across all local authorities. This will help remove barriers and support local authorities to identify opportunities for more coordinated action.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with fruit producers on the potential use of automation in fruit-picking.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra regularly engages with the horticulture industry to understand what support they need to continue to produce great food. These discussions help inform our understanding of automation development and adoption as well as future policy development in this space.
In 2021 a Defra-led review of automation in horticulture, chaired by Simon Pearson of Lincoln University, included a survey and a series of advisory roundtables with stakeholders across the horticulture supply chain, the automation sector and key enabling industries. The review helped Defra to better understand what is required to accelerate the development and uptake of automation technologies in both the edible and ornamental sectors, with the final report published on 27 July 2022.
Defra also commissioned John Shropshire to carry out an Independent Review into Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain throughout 2022 and 2023, considering how automation, domestic labour and migrant labour could contribute to tackling labour shortages in our sectors, including horticulture. This report was published on 30 June 2023 and the government response – which will also be informed by the Review of Automation in Horticulture – is expected to be published in Autumn 2023. At the same time as the response, the government will set out how it will support the sector to access the labour it needs alongside actions to reduce the sector’s reliance on migrant labour including via our work on automation and promoting domestic labour procurement and training.
Furthermore, the UK Government continues to invest in agricultural R&D to support automation in horticulture and agriculture. This year it committed £12.5 million focussed on automation and robotics through the wider Farming Innovation Programme, and additional funding for horticulture via the Farming Investment Fund. When designing the next round of the Improving Farm Productivity grant, which is part of the Farming Investment Fund, we engaged with multiple horticulture sector groups (including fruit growers) in order to understand how we might be able to benefit the sector more. We are now implementing their advice by including more automated equipment in scope of the fund.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland on consultation with local authorities on the designation of bathing waters on private land.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland on consultations with local authorities on the designation of bathing waters on private land.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 held with representatives from the RSPCA on long-term trends in the numbers of butterfly species.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Secretary of State meets with relevant stakeholders frequently.
The Government’s indicators of the abundance of UK butterflies show that since 1976, populations of habitat specialists have declined significantly, though species of the wider countryside show no significant change. Since 2014, both trends show no significant change. We are keeping these trends under review as encouraging but not yet definitive signs of progress.
In England, we have now set four legally binding targets for biodiversity. By 2030 we have committed to halt the decline in species abundance and by 2042 we aim to reverse species decline; to reduce the risk of species extinction; and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats. We have set out our plan to deliver on these ambitious targets, along with our other environmental targets, in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) published 31 January 2023. Here we link the different objectives, plans and mechanisms for recovering nature.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with local councils on the adequacy of the level of fines for people who fly-tip.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Prime Minister’s Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan sets out how we will support councils to take tougher action against those who fly-tip. This includes raising the upper limit of spot fines for fly-tipping to £1,000, delivering on our manifesto commitment to increase penalties. The regulations to raise the upper limit have been laid and will come into force on 31st July 2023. We are also taking steps to help councils issue more of these penalties.
In parallel, Defra is currently undertaking research to consider the effectiveness of the different enforcement options available to local authorities to tackle fly-tipping, including the use of fines. Over 80 local authorities have been engaged through this research.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department are taking steps to regulate toxins in garden soils which are potentially dangerous for household pets.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government recognises that use of pesticides is one source of toxins in garden soils. Our first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment. A pesticide may only be placed on the market in GB if the product has been authorised by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), following a thorough scientific risk assessment, that concludes all safety standards are met. Pesticides that pose unacceptable risks are not authorised. All authorised plant protection products have statutory conditions of use that must be followed, and our strict, science-based regulation is supplemented with policies to encourage safe and minimal use.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to provide (a) support and (b) guidance to local councils on using fixed penalty notices for litter enforcement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Prime Minister’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan made clear that we want to see councils use fixed penalties for environmental crimes, including littering, much more. It also set out steps we would take to help and encourage councils to do this. This includes ringfencing the income from litter and fly-tipping penalties for enforcement and clean-up activity, which we are currently consulting key stakeholders on.
We have also published improved guidance to councils and others on the effective use of their fixed penalty powers for littering and related offences. The guidance outlines that enforcement action should be proportionate and should only be taken when it is in the public interest to do so. We have committed to putting this guidance on a statutory footing, giving those to which it applies a clear and explicit duty to have regard to it when exercising their enforcement functions.
We are currently undertaking a research project which considers the effectiveness of the different enforcement options available to local authorities and the barriers they face in using these. This will inform future policy development in this area.