Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what analysis his Department has conducted on the effect on solid fuel prices of house coal being banned; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Any publicly available resources we have used to inform our analysis of the proposals in the consultation will be made available with the Government response.
Various respondents to the consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood sent in their own price analyses of fuels. These note that there are price differentials associated with volumes purchased, and seasonality as well as between differing locations across England. Research has been undertaken based on these responses along with further analysis of advertised retail prices to assess the effect of the proposals in the consultation.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the (a) level of and (b) type of toxins released as a result of domestic barbecues as part of his Department's consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood in England; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood relates to indoor burning only, and does not refer to barbecues. We have therefore not completed a comparative assessment of the level of and type of toxins released as a result of domestic barbecues.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the (a) level of and (b) type of toxins released as a result of the domestic burning of (i) smokeless briquettes, (ii) wet wood, (iii) dried wood and (iv) house coal as part of his Department's consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood in England; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
I refer the Hon. Member to the reply previously given to the Rt Hon. Member for Birkenhead, Frank Field, on 16 May 2019 to PQ 252836.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to compensate circus owners who will no longer be able to use wild animals in their circuses under the Wild Animals in Circuses (No 2) Bill.
Answered by David Rutley
We have no plans to compensate circus owners who will no longer be able to use wild animals in travelling circuses.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
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 cost to the public purse of an inspector appointed under the Wild Animals in Circuses (No 2) Bill; and from which budget that cost will be met.
Answered by David Rutley
Currently only two circuses still use wild animal acts in Great Britain. Given any breach of the ban proposed in the Wild Animals in Circuses (No.2) Bill would involve a circus performing or exhibiting a wild animal in public, we do not believe many, if any, circuses will seek to contravene the ban. Therefore our estimate is that any cost to Defra of enforcing the ban will be negligible.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
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 fate of the animals that may no longer be used in circuses under the Wild Animals in Circuses (No 2) Bill.
Answered by David Rutley
The Welfare of Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (England) Regulations 2012 require circuses using wild animals to have retirement plans in place, and these should ensure that high welfare standards should continue to apply to these animals when they are no longer used in travelling circuses.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2018 to Question 184901 on Solid Fuels: Heating, when he plans to announce the results of the consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
I intend to publish the formal response to this consultation soon.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much charcoal for domestic barbecues the UK (a) produces and (b) burns in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Forestry Commission collects data from the Joint Forest Sector Questionnaire on timber removals and production and trade of wood and wood products. The most recent published statistics from this source are for 2017. The statistics for 2010 to 2017 include the following information on wood charcoal.
Year | UK Production (tonnes) | Imports (tonnes) | Exports (tonnes) |
2010 | 5,000 | 102,000 | 1,000 |
2011 | 5,000 | 62,000 | 2,000 |
2012 | 5,000 | 88,000 | 2,000 |
2013 | 5,000 | 109,000 | 6,000 |
2014 | 5,000 | 118,000 | 11,000 |
2015 | 5,000 | 107,000 | 2,000 |
2016 | 5,000 | 69,000 | 2,000 |
2017 | 5,000 | 86,000 | 3,000 |
Details of the end use for charcoal are not recorded.
Defra proposals to phase out the sale of traditional house coal (and restrict the sale of wet wood for domestic burning) will not affect the sale of charcoal.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when (a) he or (b) one of his Ministers give evidence to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on heritage rail for its inquiry into the potential effect on UK heritage railways of the proposals in the Government consultation on the cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
I have agreed with the RHM for Loughborough to speak to the APPG, though this is not about giving evidence to an inquiry. We have yet to agree a date.
The proposals in the consultation on domestic burning would not prevent heritage railways purchasing the fuels they need, including coal.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
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 the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the potential effect on heritage railways of the proposals outlined in the consultation on the cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The proposals in the consultation on domestic burning would not prevent heritage railways purchasing the fuels they need, so there has been no need for the Secretary of State to discuss this with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.