Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for enacting Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 to (a) make sustainable drainage systems mandatory and (b) remove the automatic right to connect to public sewage infrastructure.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in new developments. These should be to designs that cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits, offer reuse opportunities, reduce run off and help to improve water quality, amenity, and biodiversity. It is also important to ensure appropriate adoption and maintenance arrangements are in place.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that local water companies promptly implement new requirements following the enactment of Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in new developments. These should be to designs that cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits, offer reuse opportunities, reduce run off and help to improve water quality, amenity, and biodiversity. It is also important to ensure appropriate adoption and maintenance arrangements are in place.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to allocate additional funding to upgrade sewage infrastructure in (a) rural and (b) suburban communities impacted by frequent overflows.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat’s final determinations for Price Review 2024 (PR24) set out a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector. Water companies are investing over £11 billion in PR24, a record amount, to improve nearly 3,000 storm overflows across England and Wales over the next five years. For England, this equates to over £10bn to improve over 2,500 storm overflows. The PR24 investment package also includes £6 billion to remove nutrients from water bodies.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on requiring imports of (a) eggs, (b) pork and (c) fur to meet UK animal welfare standards to be permitted for (i) import and (ii) sale in the UK.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Ministers and officials meet regularly to address these important topics. The Government shares the public’s high regard for the UK’s environmental protections, food standards and animal welfare. We will promote robust standards nationally and internationally and will always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage.
All agri-food products must comply with our import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market. This includes ensuring imported meat products have been slaughtered to animal welfare standards equivalent to our domestic standards.
The Government recognises the concerns about imports produced using methods not permitted in the UK. We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to support economic growth and promote the highest standards of food production.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support people affected by fly-tipping required to clear waste on private land at their own expense.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the burden that clearing fly-tipped waste places on landowners. We want to reduce incidents in the first place so that fewer landowners are affected.
Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping and we want to see these at the centre of their efforts to tackle the problem. These include issuing fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 and prosecution. Upon conviction, compensation for the landowner’s clearance costs can be secured. We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory enforcement guidance to help councils make full and proper use of their powers.
We have also committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created and will provide further details on this in due course.
We continue to work with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to share good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land. Various practical tools, including case studies and ‘how to’ guides on key issues such as setting up effective local partnerships, are available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 help support (a) local authorities and (b) enforcement agencies to tackle fly-tipping in rural areas.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the burden that clearing fly-tipped waste places on landowners. We want to reduce incidents in the first place so that fewer landowners are affected.
Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping and we want to see these at the centre of their efforts to tackle the problem. These include issuing fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 and prosecution. Upon conviction, compensation for the landowner’s clearance costs can be secured. We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory enforcement guidance to help councils make full and proper use of their powers.
We have also committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created and will provide further details on this in due course.
We continue to work with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to share good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land. Various practical tools, including case studies and ‘how to’ guides on key issues such as setting up effective local partnerships, are available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 take steps to provide support to people affected by environmental crimes.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the burden that clearing fly-tipped waste places on landowners. We want to reduce incidents in the first place so that fewer landowners are affected.
Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping and we want to see these at the centre of their efforts to tackle the problem. These include issuing fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 and prosecution. Upon conviction, compensation for the landowner’s clearance costs can be secured. We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory enforcement guidance to help councils make full and proper use of their powers.
We have also committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created and will provide further details on this in due course.
We continue to work with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to share good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land. Various practical tools, including case studies and ‘how to’ guides on key issues such as setting up effective local partnerships, are available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to expand public access to land under the Right to Roam provisions.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our countryside and green spaces are a source of great national pride and which boost public health and wellbeing, but too many across the country are left without access to the great outdoors. That is why the last Labour Government expanded public access by introducing the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which provided the public a right of access to large areas of mountain, moor, heath, down, registered common land and coastal margin in England. We will be reviewing the maps of this open access land ahead of the statutory deadline of 1st January 2031, to ensure that the public have clear information which can help them to access this land.
We are continuing to increase access to nature for families to enjoy, for example through our ambitious manifesto commitments to create nine new National River Walks, plant three new National Forests, and empower communities to create new parks and green spaces in their communities with a new Community Right to Buy.
In addition, the Government has made the decision to repeal the cut-off date for the registration of historic rights of way, preventing the loss of hundreds of miles of unregistered paths. This will ensure that these paths remain available to the public for future generations. This change will be formally enacted when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to publish a consultation on access reform.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are currently developing policy to improve access to nature, working closely with other Government departments and key stakeholders, and further information will be available in due course.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 adequacy of (a) levels of risk and (b) rates of checks on plants at the UK border.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
An enhanced risk-based approach is already undertaken at the UK border, where regulated plants and plant products have been categorised into high, medium, and low risk categories. The principle of risk-based controls, as previously applied under the EU regime, remains unchanged, but the GB regime now focuses on risks to Great Britain, rather than risks to the EU. Controls are then appropriately weighted against the risks posed – so the higher the risk category of a plant or plant product, the more biosecurity assurances we need, in the form of import controls. There are also plants and plant products which are not regulated at all, and those that are prohibited entirely.
We undertake systematic, proactive screening of plant health risks. Risks are reviewed monthly by an expert group and Ministers, and prioritised for actions such as surveillance, enhanced inspection, regulation, national measures, import controls, research and awareness raising.
Ensuring the most appropriate risk categorisation and rate of inspection is important, from a biosecurity perspective, but also to avoid unnecessary disruption to our critical supply chains and ports. Risk categorisation will remain dynamic and Defra will monitor import and interception data and Inspection rates may change in response to changes in risk, for example, an upsurge of interceptions of pests or a new threat emerging.