Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to meet its statutory targets on environment protection; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Environment Act 2021’s statutory cycle of monitoring, planning and reporting ensures that Government will take early, regular steps to achieve targets and can be held to account with regular scrutiny from the Office for Environmental Protection and Parliament. The statutory cycle to drive short term progress sets out that:
1. the Government must have an Environmental Improvement Plan which sets out the steps it intends to take to improve the environment, and review it at least every five years;
2. the Government must report on progress towards achieving targets every year, the most recent of which can be found here - 25 Year Environment Plan: progress reports - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and
3. the Office for Environmental Protection is established and provides independent scrutiny of delivery.
Building on our Environment Act 2021 and its ambitious long-term targets, our Environmental Improvement Plan will soon set out the comprehensive action this Government will take to reverse the decline in nature, achieve our net zero goals and deliver cleaner air and water.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill's remaining stages will take place.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The next stage of the Bill will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
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 have discussions with the Leader of the House on ensuring that the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill completes its legislative stages in the House of Commons.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill strengthens protections for the welfare of pets, farmed animals and kept wild animals. The Bill was re-introduced following the Queen speech in May 2022 and will continue to Report Stage as soon as Parliamentary time allows. The Bill delivers three important manifesto commitments and remains a priority for this Government.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
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 Detailed evidence report on Air quality PM2.5 targets, published by his Department on 6 May 2022, for what reasons the reductions achieved by the high scenario are lower than those required by the National Emissions Ceiling Directive.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The indicative scenarios used in the development of the Environment Act PM 2.5 targets were based on realistic and feasible measures specific to our national circumstances.
A different approach was taken for the National Emissions Ceiling Regulations comparison scenario which was constructed to meet our EU legacy emission ceilings and does not take into account feasibility.
Neither are proposed policy pathways which will be developed as part of the Environmental Improvement Plan due in 2023.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
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 has modelled the likelihood of reducing the average annual concentration of PM2.5 pollution to 10µg/m3 at any point between 2030 and 2040.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We set out the information we considered when setting our PM2.5 Environment Act target in the evidence packs which can be found at:
https://consult.defra.gov.uk/natural-environment-policy/consultation-on-environmental-targets/
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits relating to blue carbon of banning bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion, on 23 July 2021, PQ UIN 33202.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will use its new powers under the Fisheries Act 2020 to restrict the fishing licences of supertrawlers and bottom trawlers and prevent them from operating in offshore UK Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion, on 19 July 2021, PQ UIN 33200.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the compatibility of the activity of supertrawlers and bottom trawlers in UK Marine Protected Areas with its target to protect 30 per cent of the UK's oceans by 2030.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion, on 19 July 2021, PQ UIN 33197.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether plans to introduce management measures in 40 English offshore Marine Protected Areas over the next three years will include site wide bans on both bottom trawlers and supertrawlers.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion, on 19 July 2021, PQ UIN 33199.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
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 his Department has made of the effects of fully and highly-protected Marine Protected Areas on the (a) ecological health of inshore waters and (b) livelihoods of local fishing communities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion, on 19 July 2021, PQ UIN 33198.