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 support the public to retrofit and upgrade vehicles in order to reduce pollution.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government has invested over £84 million in retrofitting vehicles with pollution reducing technology since 2013, most of which have been buses for public transport. The continued development, promotion and implementation of innovative retrofit technology will be an important element of reducing emissions of nitrogen oxides and will help bridge the gap in the journey towards zero emissions by 2050.
In February, the Government awarded £1 million of grants to three technology providers to support the accreditation testing of vehicle retrofit technologies, looking particularly to support bringing retrofit solutions for different vehicle types onto the market. These will mainly focus on HGVs and coaches. At the moment there is no practical retrofit solution for passenger cars and with their lower value and limited physical space, finding a cost effective solution will prove a challenge.
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 increase the number of veterinary professionals in the meat industry.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra is taking a number of steps, working with the profession and others, to increase the number of veterinary professionals working in the UK and to enhance the attractions of a veterinary career.
We sent our evidence on UK veterinary capacity, including in the meat industry, to the Migratory Advisory Committee. In their review published on 29 May, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommended that the veterinary profession is restored to the Shortage Occupation List. The recommendations are currently with the Home Secretary.
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, whether he plans to support local authorities to create a national network of clean air zones.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Local authorities already have the power to create clean air zones. The Government is working closely with those English local authorities where exceedances have been identified to introduce measures to bring forward compliance with nitrogen dioxide limits as soon as possible.
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, with reference to the report entitled, Bees under siege from habitat loss, climate change and pesticides, published by the World Wildlife Fund and Buglife in May 2019, what steps he is taking to (a) stabilise and (b) reverse the decline in bee populations.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The report referred to is based on the authors’ analysis in the East of England. The government has not assessed the report.
We are taking action to address these pressures through the National Pollinator Strategy and wider nature policy and I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Slough, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, on 7 March 2019 to PQ 228062.
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, whether his Department plans to improve the consistency of pollution monitoring throughout the UK.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
In England, the Environment Agency uses consistent methods as part of an agreed strategy to monitor pollution affecting air, land and water. Reviews are being conducted of air and water quality programmes, to improve consistency where it is required and provide the evidence needed to support environmental improvements.
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, whether he plans to (a) ensure that ambient air pollution is treated as an occupational health issue and (b) adopt a workplace exposure limit for diesel engine exhaust emissions.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government has published a Clean Air Strategy that sets out actions to meet our statutory obligations to reduce emissions of the main pollutants by 2020 and 2030. In the Strategy we committed to working with health professionals to develop a better understanding and awareness of health impacts, including the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). We have also published updated appraisal tools and accompanying guidance to enable the health impacts of air pollution to be considered in every relevant policy decision that is made.
HSE is the regulator for work related health and safety in Great Britain; it does not regulate environmental exposures. HSE has no plans to treat ambient air pollution as an occupational health issue. Exposures to substances that are hazardous to health caused by a work activity, including airborne contaminants, are already covered by a robust regulatory framework that includes the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health 2002.
A recent amendment to the EU Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive has introduced a binding occupational exposure limit value for diesel engine exhaust emissions (DEEEs). Member States have until 21 February 2023 to implement the limit, unless the activity is underground mining or tunnel construction in which case the date for implementation is 21 February 2026. In the UK, binding and other occupational exposure limit values are implemented as Workplace Exposure Limits (WELs). WELs already exist for some substances which are also components of DEEEs such as nitrogen monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide.
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 ensure that the UK adopts the World Health Organisation’s exposure limits for the main pollutants.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We have published a Clean Air Strategy that sets out actions to meet our statutory obligations to reduce emissions of the main pollutants by 2020 and 2030. In addition we committed to a new long-term target to reduce population exposure to PM2.5 and to publishing evidence on the achievability of meeting the World Health Organisation guidelines.
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 UK’s carbon footprint is not exported to countries with weaker targets in place.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government publishes annual estimates of the UK’s carbon footprint on a consumption basis. The latest statistics were published on 11 April and show the footprint for years 1997 to 2016: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uks-carbon-footprint. Carbon footprint measured in this way refers to emissions that are associated with the consumption spending of UK residents on goods and services, wherever in the world these emissions arise along the supply chain, and those which are directly generated by UK households through private motoring etc. These emissions are often referred to as ‘consumption emissions’ to distinguish them from estimates relating to the emissions ‘produced’ within a country’s territory or economic sphere.
As stated in the Resources and Waste Strategy, the Government’s goal is to maximise the value of the resources we use, minimise the waste we create, cut emissions and help create a cleaner, greener, healthier planet. In the Strategy we have committed to measures that will improve resource efficiency, prevent waste and cut carbon consumption emissions.
Climate change is a global challenge. The UK is a world leader in cutting emissions while creating wealth. Between 1990 and 2017, the UK reduced its emissions by over 40 per cent while growing the economy by more than two thirds. We have met our first two Carbon Budgets and are on track to meet the third. In addition, our consumption emissions are falling. Greenhouse gas emissions on a consumption basis fell by 6% between 2015 and 2016; and by 21% between 2007 and 2016.
UK International Climate Finance (ICF) plays a crucial role in addressing this global challenge. Three government Departments (DFID, BEIS and Defra) have responsibility for investing the UK’s £5.8bn of ICF between 2016 and 2021. These investments aim to support international poverty eradication now and in the future, by helping developing countries to manage risk, adapt to and build resilience to the impacts of climate change; promoting low carbon development at scale; and supporting sustainable management of natural resources and reducing deforestation. Between 2011/12 and 2017/18, it is estimated that ICF programmes have reduced or avoided 10.4 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (tCO2e).
Energy and trade intensive businesses create particular challenges, where ambitious climate change targets could risk carbon leakage. As the Clean Growth Strategy sets out, we remain committed to carbon pricing as an emissions reduction tool whilst ensuring energy and trade intensive businesses are appropriately protected from any detrimental impacts on competitiveness.
During Phase IV negotiations on the EU Emissions Trading System the UK supported the provision of free allocation as a precaution against the risk of carbon leakage; as the UK leaves the EU our preferred position is to have a UK ETS that is linked to the EU ETS and in that scenario, as set-out in our recent consultation on the future of carbon pricing, we propose to continue the provision of free allocation to industry to help ensure a smooth transition and continued protection against carbon leakage.
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 the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on (a) ensuring adequate support for local authorities to tackle fly-tipping and (b) ensuring that persistent offenders are either fined or prosecuted.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Local authorities have a wide range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping and we have recently strengthened these. In 2016 we gave local authorities the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small scale fly-tipping and enhanced local authorities’ ability to search and seize the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers. In January this year, we introduced further financial penalties to crack down on fly-tipping giving local authorities the power to issue penalties of up to £400 to householders who fail to pass their waste to a licensed carrier and whose waste is then found fly-tipped. We will also support local authorities in increasing householders’ awareness of their duty of care to ensure their waste is disposed of appropriately.
In our Resources and Waste Strategy for England, we have committed to develop a fly-tipping toolkit which will cover how local authorities can set up and run an effective fly-tipping partnership and how to present robust cases to court to ensure tougher penalties. The Strategy also sets out how we will work with the court system to further strengthen the sentences of fly-tippers to ensure they act as a suitable deterrent.
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 he has made of the potential merits of a national campaign to (a) reinforce recycling behaviour, (b) signpost recycling facilities and (c) ensure the public know what materials they can recycle.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Our consultations on ‘consistency in household and business recycling collections in England’ and on ‘reforming the packaging producer responsibility schemes’ proposed measures for local authorities collecting the same core set of materials for recycling from households and potentially using fees from producers to fund public communication campaigns on recycling.
Our consultations also proposed a mandatory UK wide labelling scheme in which producers label their packaging as recyclable or not recyclable.
These consultations closed on 13 May and we are currently analysing responses and will publish the Government’s response in due course.
Defra currently supports the Waste and Resources Action Programme’s RecycleNow campaign which provides support for local campaigns. It also provides a toolkit for local authorities to help with their messaging on recycling.