Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 potential merits of banning thiacloprid, which is harmful to (a) bees and (b) humans.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government’s priority is to protect people and the environment. Pesticides are only authorised if scientific evidence shows that they will not harm human health and do not have unacceptable effects on the environment. All pesticides are subject to regular review to ensure that they meet the latest standards of safety for people and to the environment. Thiacloprid is currently under review and will be withdrawn or restricted if the scientific assessment finds that this is appropriate.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with soft drinks manufacturers on phasing out single-use plastic bottles.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We have not had discussions on phasing out single use plastic bottles. However, as part of our wider consultation on the introduction of a deposit return scheme for drinks containers, we have been working closely with soft drinks manufacturers and other stakeholders on proposals aimed at boosting recycling rates, reducing littering and recovering high quality materials for reprocessing. The consultation closed on 13 May and we will issue a response in due course.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the quantity of UK plastic waste that has been returned from countries overseas; what steps he is taking to dispose of that waste; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Waste management is a devolved matter and the figures provided here for plastic waste returned in the years 2016 to 2018 relate to England only.
The tonnages of returned waste shown in the table below are derived from requests made by regulators in other countries to the Environment Agency. When these instances occur the Environment Agency requires the exporter of the waste to make arrangements to bring it back. It is also the responsibility of the exporter to arrange for the returned waste to be dealt with in accordance with the waste hierarchy and in compliance with UK waste legislation.
Information on the corresponding annual tonnage and value of UK plastic waste exports are provided for the purpose of context.
Year | Plastic waste exported from UK, kilotonnes1 | Value of plastic waste exports from UK, £m2 | Plastic waste returned to England, kilotonnes3 |
2016 | 789.9 | 158.2 | 0.03 |
2017 | 660.7 | 138.7 | 4.19 |
2018 | 611.9 | 107.5 | 1.36 |
Sources:
1 and 2: HMRC customs data
3: Environment Agency
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 with Cabinet colleagues on requiring schools to be energy independent.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Secretary of State has not had any recent discussions on this subject. Energy policy is the responsibility of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing more support for farmers to control weeds without using synthetic herbicides.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Effective weed control is key to successful crop production and grassland management. Herbicides are one means of controlling weeds but there are a number of other tools including variety selection, crop rotation and cultivation techniques. Regulation of herbicides is rigorous and they are not authorised for use if they may harm health or risk unacceptable impacts on the environment.
The 25 Year Environment Plan states the Government’s intention to put Integrated Pest Management (IPM) at the heart of its approach. IPM aims to design farming systems so as to minimise the need for pesticides, including herbicides, and to make the greatest possible use of alternative approaches. We will develop and implement policies that encourage and support this approach, building on existing work to research and promote new techniques and products that provide alternatives to chemical pesticides. Where these practices are shown to deliver environmental outcomes, farmers who adopt them will be well placed to benefit from a future Environmental Land Management system.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 he has taken to ensure that commercial fishing becomes more sustainable (a) in the UK and (b) globally.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The UK Government remains fully committed to sustainable fisheries management and the principle of maximum sustainable yield (MSY). This will not change once we are outside the EU.
In recent years we have successfully introduced a range of selectivity and spatial avoidance measures in our fisheries to help reduce unwanted bycatch and discarding, including cod in the Irish Sea nephrops fishery. In the North Sea, a fleet of vessels participating in an annual scheme to fully document catches have successfully cut their unwanted catch of unmarketable fish, including undersized fish, from their mixed fishery. We also continue to take a strong and principled position on sustainable fishing internationally, including most recently calling for reductions in catches of yellowfin tuna at the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, and arguing against an in year increase in the total allowable catch for North East Atlantic mackerel as part of a balanced sustainable approach.
The Fisheries Bill introduced to Parliament in October 2018 provides a framework to enable us to continue to push for more stocks being fished at MSY and delivering our ambition for sustainable fishing in the future. The first clause will enact several sustainability objectives, one of which is to restore fish stocks to levels capable of producing MSY. The Bill provides for a binding duty on the UK and devolved administrations to produce a statutory Joint Fisheries Statement. This statement must include policies for the achievement of the sustainability objectives.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government is making on implementing the amendments to the Waste Framework Directive which requires separate collection of clothing waste from households and increased re-use of textiles by 2025.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Latest information from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) indicates that 90 local authorities in England offer households a kerbside collection of textiles. Many more provide collection points at household waste recycling centres or at bring bank sites. These bring sites provide an important service where kerbside collections are not available or may not be practical. Charity shop outlets also play an important role in acting as collection points for textiles from members of the public. We want to increase the amount of textiles that are diverted from landfill and put into recycling or reuse, and will bring forward proposals as necessary to ensure separate collection of textiles by 2025.
More widely, the Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy published in December 2018 sets out our plans to prevent textile waste and encourage greater circularity including reuse. These include:
This month, we have also announced a multimillion pound grant scheme to support the development of textile recycling facilities in the UK. Further information on this is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fund-opens-to-reduce-waste-from-plastic-packaging-and-textiles and applications for funding can be made through WRAP: http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/resource-action-fund.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 minimize the effect of human-made noise pollution on animal habitats where it affects animals' ability to communicate.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Under the UK Marine Strategy, the UK Government is working to ensure underwater noise generating human activities do not pose a significant risk to marine ecosystems. We currently have a limited understanding of the distribution of noise in UK seas and its impact on vulnerable species. To address this in relation to sources of continuous noise such as shipping, the UK has established a noise monitoring network, consisting of long term monitoring stations deployed in coastal waters. The information from this monitoring network will be matched with species distributions and used to inform future policy.
In order to reduce impacts, developments such as offshore wind farms are required to have pre and post consent monitoring plans which are managed by the Marine Management Organisation. For example, a Marine Mammal Mitigation Plan lists the appropriate mitigation measures that should be utilised during offshore activities that are likely to produce underwater noise and vibration levels capable of potentially causing injury and disturbance to marine mammals. Government departments including Defra and BEIS are working together to look at how underwater noise can be managed more strategically to reduce harm.
On land, the Government is committed to ensuring that noise is managed effectively in order to promote good health and quality of life. We have protections in place to avoid significant noise impacts through our planning system, our environmental permitting systems, in vehicle and product standards, and noise abatement legislation. Defra works with other Government departments whose policies could potentially impact on noise levels.
National Planning Policy Guidance sets out requirements for noise to be considered for new developments with particular consideration given to development affecting designated sites. Our network of designated sites are afforded the highest level of protection. Planning authorities must consider the potential impact of activities and works on or near these sites before granting consent. Noise may also be considered for certain types of development requiring an Environmental Impact Assessment.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 improve welfare standards in greyhound racing.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government takes the welfare of all racing animals very seriously. We are working closely with the main racing greyhound industry regulatory body, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) to ensure it delivers on the commitments it made to the Government, following the Government’s Post Implementation Review of the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010. This includes the annual publication of injury and retirement data to improve transparency in the sport. The second set of annual figures were published on 12 June 2019.
The annual publication of the injury and retirement data was accompanied by an update on the progress made by the GBGB against their ‘Greyhound Commitment’. The Commitment sets out an eight point manifesto on how the GBGB is aiming to improve the welfare of racing greyhounds, and includes a commitment to ensure more greyhounds are successfully rehomed at the end of their racing lives. The GBGB have also delivered an independent welfare standard for trainers’ kennels and are also developing a UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) accredited trainers’ licensing scheme for GBGB trainers. The Government is also considering whether further regulatory changes are required to protect the welfare of racing greyhounds used by professional trainers not running greyhounds on GBGB tracks.
To help ensure more funding for greyhound welfare, on 10 January 2019, the Government announced a new funding commitment from bookmakers worth an estimated additional £3 million this year to ensure the welfare of greyhounds is protected and improved. We expect thousands of racing greyhounds are to be better cared for as a result of this new deal. The commitment is set to increase the total amount of funding from bookmakers to the British Greyhound Racing Fund to an estimated £10 million this year.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 ensure that the recycling symbol is (a) highly visible, (b) unambiguous and (c) on the front of packaging.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
On 18 February the Government published a consultation on changes to the producer responsibility regime for packaging. As part of this consultation we have proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling scheme which would require producers to clearly label their packaging as ‘recyclable’ or ‘not-recyclable’. This proposal will ensure the packaging labelling scheme will be: (a) highly visible, (b) unambiguous and (c) on the front of packaging.
The consultation closed on 13 May and we are currently analysing the responses. A summary of responses will be published in due course.
The details of the proposed mandatory packaging labelling scheme, such as the design of the label, will be subject to further consultation.