Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has made of the adequacy of the capacity of local planning authorities to implement biodiversity net gain for (a) large sites in November 2023 and (b) smaller sites in April 2024.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Under the Environment Act 2021, planning permissions granted in England, with a few exemptions, will have to deliver at least 10% biodiversity net gain (BNG), with phased implementation starting from November 2023.
BNG will be mandatory for most new major development under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 from November this year, for minor development from April 2024 and for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects from 2025.
The exact dates will be announced as soon as possible and are subject to parliamentary timings.
The initial assessment of the additional burden mandatory BNG would place on local planning authorities was made in the BNG Impact Assessment in 2019: Net gain impact assessment.
Subsequently Defra worked with the Association of Local Government Ecologists and the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport to undertake a survey of local planning authorities in 2021. This survey was aimed at securing a better understanding of the existing capacity, skills and preparedness of local authorities with respect to BNG and wider Environment Act 2021 measures. The survey outcomes have been published in a report, available at: Defra Science Search.
The Government announced funding to support local authorities in England with preparation for mandatory BNG of £4.18 million and up to a further £16.71 million during the two-year transition period. Defra is also funding a project with the Planning Advisory Service to support local authorities in preparing for BNG.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the dates for the implementation of biodiversity net gain in (a) November 2023 and (b) April 2024.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Under the Environment Act 2021, planning permissions granted in England, with a few exemptions, will have to deliver at least 10% biodiversity net gain (BNG), with phased implementation starting from November 2023.
BNG will be mandatory for most new major development under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 from November this year, for minor development from April 2024 and for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects from 2025.
The exact dates will be announced as soon as possible and are subject to parliamentary timings.
The initial assessment of the additional burden mandatory BNG would place on local planning authorities was made in the BNG Impact Assessment in 2019: Net gain impact assessment.
Subsequently Defra worked with the Association of Local Government Ecologists and the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport to undertake a survey of local planning authorities in 2021. This survey was aimed at securing a better understanding of the existing capacity, skills and preparedness of local authorities with respect to BNG and wider Environment Act 2021 measures. The survey outcomes have been published in a report, available at: Defra Science Search.
The Government announced funding to support local authorities in England with preparation for mandatory BNG of £4.18 million and up to a further £16.71 million during the two-year transition period. Defra is also funding a project with the Planning Advisory Service to support local authorities in preparing for BNG.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of powers available to (a) local authorities and (b) the Environment Agency to deal with prolonged industrial odours.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Owners of industrial, trade and business premises are expected to use the best practicable means available to reduce odours, effluvia and other potential sources of statutory nuisance emanating from their place of work in the first place. If this is not happening, then local authorities have powers through the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to investigate and issue abatement notices to stop the problem from re-occurring if they determine a statutory nuisance exists.
For industrial installations, the Environment Agency and local authorities currently regulate odour pollution through conditions in environmental permits. Operators of these sites have to use appropriate measures or best available techniques (BAT or UKBAT where it exists) to develop management controls to prevent or, where that is not possible, to reduce them.
The Environment Agency uses permitting and enforcement tools to tackle odour pollution from the sites it regulates. These are used on a sliding scale ranging from advice and guidance to criminal prosecutions for serious pollution incidents, principally through powers from the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
The Government considers the current legislation provides the Environment Agency and local authorities with the necessary powers to deal with these types of issues. The Environment Agency has an ongoing remit to review odour pollution measures and performance from the industrial sites that it regulates.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to tackle the illegal trade in wildlife.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The UK is committed to combatting the illegal wildlife trade to benefit biodiversity, local communities, and the economy, while protecting global security. As part of this commitment, we are increasing our funding and will invest a further £30 million between 2022 and 2025. This includes through Defra’s grant scheme, the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, which to date has supported 136 projects in over 60 countries, including projects to change behaviours, strengthen wildlife crime legislation, and help communities to protect the wildlife they rely on for their livelihoods.
We recognise the importance of regularly assessing the impact and effectiveness of our efforts to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. Most recently, in May 2022, an independent evaluation was carried out on Defra’s Biodiversity Funds, including the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. The evaluation found strong alignment with the aims of various Multilateral Environmental Agreements, particularly the Convention on Biodiversity, and that projects are highly aligned with the needs of the countries they operate in. The full report can be found at:
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 effectiveness of her policies in tackling the illegal wildlife trade.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The UK is committed to combatting the illegal wildlife trade to benefit biodiversity, local communities, and the economy, while protecting global security. As part of this commitment, we are increasing our funding and will invest a further £30 million between 2022 and 2025. This includes through Defra’s grant scheme, the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, which to date has supported 136 projects in over 60 countries, including projects to change behaviours, strengthen wildlife crime legislation, and help communities to protect the wildlife they rely on for their livelihoods.
We recognise the importance of regularly assessing the impact and effectiveness of our efforts to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. Most recently, in May 2022, an independent evaluation was carried out on Defra’s Biodiversity Funds, including the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. The evaluation found strong alignment with the aims of various Multilateral Environmental Agreements, particularly the Convention on Biodiversity, and that projects are highly aligned with the needs of the countries they operate in. The full report can be found at:
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 adequacy of the Government grant to the Canals and Rivers Trust.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government’s review of the grant funding for the Canal & River Trust is being concluded, and we expect to announce the decision on future grant funding in due course.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of legislation to reduce the number of dog attacks.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The existing legal framework for dog control equips the police and local authorities with appropriate powers to tackle dangerous dogs and irresponsible dog ownership. We are working in partnership with the police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations to ensure that the full range of existing dog control powers are effectively applied.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of dog breed-specific legislation.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We currently have no plans to review Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. The Government firmly believes that these restrictions play a very important part in our overall approach towards tackling dangerous dogs.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of dog attacks in the last 12 months.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Defra does not collect this data. Hospital Episode Statistics published by NHS Digital include numbers of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) for hospital admissions in England that were caused by a dog bite or strike.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 labelling honey products with (a) country of origin, (b) percentage of honey from each country and (c) percentage of adulterated honey.
Answered by Mark Spencer
All honey on sale in England, regardless of where it comes from, must comply with the Honey (England) Regulations 2015. The general requirement in regulation 17 of the Honey (England) Regulations 2015 is that honey cannot be sold in England unless the country of origin where the honey has been harvested is indicated on the label.
However, for reasons of practicality special provisions apply to ‘blended’ honeys where honey producers can opt for alternative wording indicating that the honey is a blend from more than one country. The mix of different honeys in blended honeys may change frequently throughout the year, depending on availability, price, and seasonality of the various types of honey. Requiring producers to change their labels for every alteration would place additional burdens and lead to increased prices and packaging waste.
Although the Government has no immediate plans to change the rules on honey labelling, we keep all laws under review as part of our commitment to carry out post implementation reviews. We will consider the need for further labelling measures as part of the next review of the honey regulations which is due by 2025.
Honey should not be adulterated by any means, and the law states that nothing should be added or taken away. Adulterated honey is not permitted for sale under any circumstances.