Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they provide to enable local authorities to improve the quality of their air and reduce pollution through the introduction of Clean Air Zones.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government has ring-fenced £880 million to help local authorities tackle NO2 exceedances through the development and implementation of local air quality plans and through funding to support those impacted most by these plans.
Local authorities introducing a Clean Air Zone as part of a local air quality plan can bid for Clean Air Fund funding. The Clean Air Fund can support a range of measures such as vehicle upgrade grants to individuals and businesses along with bus retrofit schemes, improvements to bus fleets, installation of electric chargepoints, provision of park and ride services, concessionary travel schemes and freight consolidation centres.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what conditions the Environment Agency has imposed on HS2 in connection with the construction of the Chiltern Tunnel; and whether they will publish copies of all documents issued by the Environment Agency in connection with their consent to construction of the Chiltern tunnel.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The conditions imposed on the construction of the Chiltern Tunnel are within the relevant consents that have been issued by the Environment Agency. The consent for the construction of the tunnel (HS2/P10191) will be deposited in the Library of the House. The related consents for water discharge (EPR-QB3092NR) and waste treatment (FB3709KP) at the Chilterns Tunnel South Portal are held on the public register.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 17 February (HL12930), whether they will place a copy of the correspondence between the Department and the European Commission in the Library of the House.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
A copy of the correspondence between the Department and the European Commission has been deposited and has been available to Members since 17 February.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they plan to make to the EU, if any, to remove its ban on the import of live molluscs from the UK.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
It is wholly unacceptable that the European Commission has changed its position regarding the export of live bivalve molluscs from Class B waters. There is no scientific or technical justification for this, and it is already impacting businesses on both sides of the channel. We are publishing a series of correspondence between Defra and the European Commission, which clearly reinforces our position.
The Secretary of State has written to Commissioner Kyriakides. We continue to seek urgent resolution with the European Commission, and we have offered to provide reasonable additional reassurances to demonstrate shellfish health, on the understanding that the Commission must recognise the existing high standards and history of UK-EU trade.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 29 January (HL 12331), whether the Department for Transport has provided a demonstration of need for an Inland Border Facility at Dover; and whether any alternative sites have been considered.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Further to the Written Answer provided by Lord Greenhalgh on 29 January, I can confirm that the Department for Transport (DfT) is progressing plans for the White Cliffs Inland Border Facility. The site will act as a location for starting and ending the transit of goods to and from the UK for Department of Environmental, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Several other sites were considered but White Cliffs was the only one that met the requirements of my department and HMRC. Official Controls Regulations state that inbound consignments requiring Sanitary and Phytosanitary checks must be carried out at a Border Control Post (BCP) located either at the port or point of entry, or at the nearest site suitable for the provision of all infrastructure and facilities required to comply with the official controls regulations governing BCP functions for the commodities to be controlled there.
White Cliffs Inland Border Facility will include a BCP to support the Port of Dover where inbound consignments to the UK may be inspected in a bio secure facility, such as plants, animals and products of animal and plant origin (e.g. food). It will include parking areas for Heavy Goods Vehicles, while waiting to be processed, and other vehicles as well as security measures and facilities to enable the checking of vehicles and goods entering and exiting the site.
DfT’s proposed use of the site will require approval, which is being sought by the Government under the requirements of a Special Development Order (SDO). The White Cliffs Inland Border Facility proposals are planned for temporary use and are designed to ensure that there are no significant or long-term environmental effects. DfT does not expect to use this site as a temporary lorry holding facility. DfT, alongside other Government departments, has undertaken a review of options for the use and layout of the site and based on current planning, expect the site to be needed for up to five years. The terms of the SDO require the development to end by December 2025 and reinstatement works to be completed by December 2026.
Government recognises the importance of engagement and we will continue to engage with the community and relevant stakeholders throughout the process to ensure transparency. Details can be found on the Inland Border Facilities website at: https://inlandborderfacilities.uk
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they made of (1) the effect on bee populations of a pesticide containing neonicotinoid thiamethoxam, and (2) the effectiveness of other products that are less harmful to bees, before approving the emergency use of that pesticide to treat sugar beet seed.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The process for considering an emergency authorisation for a pesticide is set out in the legislation and includes consideration of potential risks to people and to the environment. This process was followed for an application to use the neonicotinoid seed treatment Cruiser SB (containing thiamethoxam) on sugar beet in 2021.
The assessment of environmental risks included consideration of risks to bees and other insects, amongst other factors. Sugar beet is a non-flowering crop and the risks to bees from the sugar beet crop itself were assessed to be acceptable. Risks to bees were identified arising from soil residues taken up by following crops or flowering weeds. Mitigation measures were therefore set as requirements of the emergency authorisation. These conditions include ensuring that no flowering crops are planted as following crops for a period of at least 22 months, with an extended period of exclusion for oilseed rape (of 32 months), to minimise the risk to bees. An industry-recommended herbicide programme must be followed to limit flowering weeds in and around any treated sugar beet crops.
The insecticide Teppeki is available to beet growers for control of aphids but only one spray application per season is currently permitted. This is not adequate to control beet yellows virus in the crop under sustained aphid population pressure and virus transmission during the critical risk period. Similarly, cultural approaches are helpful but not in themselves sufficient to protect the crop. As part of the application for emergency authorisation, a plan was outlined for developing alternative approaches to protect crops without the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by advising officials that rail travel should be the preferred option for business trips if the journey is less than six hours; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the introduction of such measures in Switzerland.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
As part of the current Greening Government Commitment targets, the Government as a whole has reduced the number of domestic flights its staff took by 28% in 2018/19 compared with the baseline of 2009/10. This shows good progress towards the target reduction of 30%, which the Government is on course to exceed by the target date of 2020. As part of this commitment, many departments have revisited their travel service arrangements to reduce domestic flights and have introduced initiatives to increase electronic operations. However, we acknowledge that there is still more to be done.
The Government is currently developing an ambitious, updated set of Greening Government Commitment targets for 2021-2025, with travel as an area in which we are looking to improve. We are committed to setting new targets that will be consistent with a trajectory to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and will continue to look at further measures to encourage lower emissions travel options for Government officials.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they have agreed with the government of Romania about Romanian agricultural workers coming to the UK; what checks for COVID-19 were required on such workers before they joined outbound flights; what social distancing arrangements were required on the flights in terms of the number of (1) passengers, and (2) seats; whether such workers in the UK have access to health services in the same way as UK workers; whether those workers are covered by national minimum wage rules; whether such Romanian workers will be required to leave the UK at the end of the summer harvest period; and if so, who will fund their return travel costs.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Workers are able to continue to come to the UK under the key worker category “Food and other necessary goods”.All flights coming to the UK must follow the current UK policy relating to the delay phase of the current COVID-19 outbreak. All passengers on entry to UK must follow the government’s social distancing guidance as per GOV.UK website available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-guidance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others/full-guidance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others
Various airlines and airports have implemented social distancing measures, by making reasonable adjustments. For example the following social distance adjustments are in the process of implementation at many airports, wherever possible: opening additional staff search areas; altering security lane opening plan to leave space between lanes; ensuring only one passenger at a time waiting to go into the body scanners; floor markings placed at bag search areas to ensure people maintain a safe distance whilst their bag is being searched; more colleague parking to reduce the number of people on public transport.
Any individual who is ill and showing signs of COVID-19 should not be allowed to board a flight to the UK.
All flights to the UK are required to provide health announcements to passengers relating to the current COVID-19 outbreak. In the event that there is a seriously unwell passenger, information must be reported to the relevant airport in line with standard operating procedure, and to the PHE (Public Health England) Health Control Unit at London Heathrow (LHR). If the unwell passenger has COVID-19 like symptoms then on arrival they will be advised to self-isolate for 7 days and if symptoms worsen to call NHS 111. All passengers will be provided with information leaflets on arrival in the UK about following government's social distancing guidance.
Employers of those travelling on flights are applying additional measures for workers prior to and following arrival into the UK, including isolation, temperature checks and social distancing during travel.
In accordance with transition arrangements with other EU countries on healthcare, workers are able to access medical assistance during their time in the UK should this be required. If migrant workers from EU countries fall ill with coronavirus (COVID-19) while in the UK they will not have to pay for diagnosis or treatment, this includes if they are tested and the result is negative.
Businesses must comply with current UK employment law, including pay for workers in line with National Minimum Wage rules.
Any individuals working in the UK will be able to return home at any time, subject to the home country border restrictions. Flight costs will be paid for by the worker and in line with Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) regulations.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to establish a national environment day; and whether the Keep Britain Tidy campaign will be part of any such plans.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government has no current plans to declare a National Environment Day. There are already a number of established initiatives that encourage care for the environment, including World Environment Day. Defra is working with Keep Britain Tidy to deliver the “Keep it, Bin it” campaign. We are also pleased to support their “Great British Spring Clean” campaign, which has now been rescheduled for the autumn.
The Government made a commitment through the 25 Year Environment Plan to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it. 2019 was designated the Year of Green Action in support of the 25 Year Environment Plan goal to connect people with the environment to improve health and well-being.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Earl Howe on 22 October (HL Deb, col 651), when DEFRA began its full assessment of the scale and volume of sea-based and non-seaboard patrol and surveillance capability required afer Brexit; and when they anticipate this work being completed.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
A full scale assessment of the risk and threats to English Waters resulting from EU Exit started in summer 2017. This initial work was necessary to inform future options for the scale and volume of both at sea and shore side patrol and surveillance capability.
We continue to assess a number of different options to increase control and surveillance activity in our waters depending on various scenarios. It is therefore not possible to commit to a date of completion at this stage. However, some work is already underway and the Marine Management Organisation are currently undertaking a range of activities, including recruitment, to deliver the increased capability in readiness for leaving the EU.
Control and enforcement activities, including patrol and surveillance capability, is a devolved matter. As such, it will continue to be for each Devolved Administration to decide how best to control its waters, and what new arrangements may be needed, when the UK leaves the EU.