Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 review the welfare of racehorses sent to slaughter in abattoirs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has no plans to specifically review the welfare of racehorses sent to slaughter in abattoirs. The British Horseracing Authority introduced a requirement in January 2022 that all domestically trained racehorses must be signed out of the food chain, that is they must not go to slaughter in an abattoir, in order to race in GB.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 Environment Agency on the enforcement of water quality standards in national parks.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) regulates to protect water quality standards across England, including within national parks. National parks often contain sensitive area designations such as bathing waters, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) or protected habitats, which afford higher levels of protection and regulation. Any environmental offences in national parks, such as pollution incidents and breaches of permits or regulations, are investigated and enforcement taken in line with the EA’s Enforcement and Sanctions Policy.
Protecting the natural environment remains a priority, and we continue to work closely with the Environment Agency to ensure high standards are upheld.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to review the regulatory requirements of sewage treatment works that serve fewer than 2,000 people.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Through the recommendations made by the Independent Water Commission, Defra is embarking on a review of regulations as part of the Government’s wider commitment to regulatory reform.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 potential impact of breeding brachycephalic animals on animal welfare; and what steps her Department is taking to raise public awareness of health issues faced by those animals.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To provide a detailed scientific view on the range of issues faced by breeding dogs and cats, the Department commissioned two independent Opinions from the Animal Welfare Committee (AWC). One Opinion assessed the welfare implications of specialised canine reproductive practices, and one on the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices. The Government welcomes the AWC’s Opinions and is carefully considering their recommendations.
Defra also supports the work of the UK Brachycephalic Working Group which is comprised of academia, the veterinary profession and leading animal charities.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of his policies in tackling global deforestation.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the urgency of taking action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation. Deforestation associated with UK consumption is estimated to have fallen by 55% since 2005, although progress has slowed over the last decade.
The Government recently published a Post-Implementation Review evaluating the effectiveness of the UK Timber Regulation (UKTR), which prohibits the placing of illegally harvested timber on the GB market. The review concluded that the regulation has been largely effective in reducing the risk of illegal timber entering the market and has contributed to tackling deforestation.
The Government will set out its approach to addressing UK consumption of forest risk commodities in due course. We are committed to ensuring that any regulatory framework is robust, proportionate and effective in addressing deforestation in UK supply chains.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to protect blue carbon ecosystems.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In England, we have established a comprehensive network of 181 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), including 3 Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), which cover most of our saltmarsh and seagrass habitats. While blue carbon habitats may not always be an explicitly designated feature, MPA protection may still yield benefits. HPMAs were designated to protect the entire marine ecosystem within each site, including areas of habitat considered important for the long-term storage of carbon.
Our focus is now on ensuring these MPAs are effectively protected to allow the designated features to achieve favourable condition and meet HPMA conservation objectives to recover to a natural state. We have recently announced our latest proposals to manage damaging fishing activity in 42 MPAs, covering 30,000 km2 of English waters.
Defra set up the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership in partnership with DESNZ and the Devolved Administrations to address evidence gaps around these important habitats, to support effective protection and restoration.
The Environment Agency are leading the Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) initiative to reverse centuries of decline in key estuarine and coastal habitats. By 2043, ReMeMaRe aims to restore 15% of saltmarsh and seagrass extent in England, along with functional oyster reef habitats in 15% of suitable water bodies.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will (a) continue and (b) improve the Chalk Stream Restoration Strategy.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Cleaning up our waters, including iconic sites such as chalk streams is a top government priority. That is why on 23 October 2024, the Secretary of State announced the launch of an independent commission to fundamentally transform how our water system works.
Fixing the systemic issues in the water system is essential to address the multiple pressures facing chalk streams, namely over abstraction, phosphorous pollution and physical modifications of habitats. Restoring our chalk streams to better ecological health is part of our overall programme of reforms for the water sector. Alongside this, we are continuing to direct investment to projects that will improve chalk streams. Through the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP), over 1000 improvement projects are planned within chalk stream catchments between 2024-2029.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on publishing a timeline to bring forward legislative measures to end trail hunting.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal, such as Foxes, with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act.
The aim of Trail Hunting is to simulate traditional hunting as practised before the Hunting Act came into force. The trails are laid along a route that might be taken by the traditional quarry, through hedgerows and woods, along ditches, across fields, to simulate the natural movement of the wild mammal, e.g., a fox, as much as possible. The most common method of laying the trail is to drag a scent infected sock or cloth along the ground. The scent occasionally lifted for a distance and dropped again, thus allowing the hounds to cast (search for the scent if they lose it). The Huntsman and followers often do not know where any of the trails have been laid, so that the days hunting will mimic its realistic form.
The Government made a manifesto commitment to ban Trail Hunting as part of a set of measures to improve animal welfare. Work to bring this forward is at a very early stage and there is not yet an agreed timetable.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to provide bespoke protections for (a) the River Itchen and (b) other chalk streams; whether he plans to use planning reforms to support the protection of chalk streams; whether he plans to designate chalk streams and their surrounding habitats as irreplaceable; and what funding his Department plans to provide (i) for sustainable drainage systems in chalk catchments and (ii) to support higher water efficiency standards.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The River Itchen is already designated as a Special Area of Conservation and many of our chalk streams benefit from some form of designation.
Chalk streams can be considered when setting the outcomes for a future system of environmental assessment.
This Government is committed to securing better environmental outcomes alongside securing the development we need and is considering how best to reform environmental assessment processes with this objective in mind. This includes whether to take forward the powers in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act to introduce Environmental Outcomes Reports
Lastly, the National Planning Policy Framework recognises the role that well-designed SuDS schemes have in managing surface water while the National Framework for Water Resources sets out expectations for water efficiency including reducing leakage and long-term water usage.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 merits of moratoriums on the building of incinerators.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Over the last 14 years, England has seen recycling rates stall, meaning too much waste is dealt with through incineration or thrown in landfill.
Under new plans, published alongside Defra’s Residual Waste Infrastructure Capacity Note, the Government makes clear it will only back new waste infrastructure projects if they meet strict local and environmental conditions. Projects will need to maximise efficiency and support the delivery of economic growth, net zero and the move to a circular economy.
Defra’s analysis shows that there remain certain areas in England where significant volumes of household waste are sent to landfill and that non-household waste is also sent to landfill. Disposing of waste in landfill has a greater negative environmental impact than recovering the energy through incineration.
Therefore, we have taken this step to support our transition to a circular economy, end the stagnated recycling rates in England and support the waste hierarchy in minimising waste sent to landfill.
Those developing energy recovery facilities (at all stages in the process) are encouraged to consider forecast changes to future capacity, demand, and the Government's circular economy opportunities, in light of the evidence published in the Capacity Note. And we expect those granting permissions to consider these changes in any decisions they make.