Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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 25 March 2019 to Question 234783 on Department for International Development: Secondment, what teams within his Department the 27 requested roles from the Department for International Development will be in.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Over 80% of Defra’s agenda is affected by the UK’s departure from the EU and as a result many roles across the Defra group are now supporting work relating to it, either directly or indirectly. Of the 27 requested roles referred to by DfID, 23 were filled and the majority are in Programme Support and Policy roles.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Sikhs are employed in his Department; and whether they are recorded as (a) an ethnic or (b) a religious group.
Answered by George Eustice
At the 31st December 2018, 21 civil servants in my Department were recorded as being Sikhs, as a religious group.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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 the Government has made of the potential merits of introducing a ban on non-sustainable palm oil.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our ambition to support and protect the world’s forests, supporting sustainable agriculture and zero-deforestation supply chains, including for palm oil.
Through the Amsterdam Declarations and the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 we are working with businesses and other governments to strengthen governance, promote market-based solutions and put in place incentives, policies and actions that support sustainable production of palm oil alongside forest protection.
In 2012, Defra published the UK Statement on the Sustainable Production of Palm Oil which was signed by trade associations, NGOs and Government and aimed to achieve 100% sourcing of credibly certified sustainable palm oil. The latest report from the UK Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil indicates that based on their revised baseline data and methodology, the UK achieved 75% certified sustainable palm oil in 2017. The Roundtable has agreed to report annually on progress and work with other signatories to the Amsterdam Declaration on increasing the uptake of sustainable palm oil. While we are not proposing to bring forward a ban, we recognise that more remains to be done and will continue to explore opportunities to improve the sustainability of palm oil production.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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 16 February 2018 to Question 126648 on Air Pollution: Death, by what year the target of reducing early deaths resulting from air pollution by half is projected to be achieved.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The UK has set stringent targets to cut emissions to air by 2020 and 2030 of five pollutants; Particulate Matter, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds and sulphur dioxide.
We consulted on our Clean Air Strategy earlier this year which set out proposed actions to meet these targets, and thus, to reduce the harm to human health from air pollution by half by 2030. Our final Clean Air Strategy will be published shortly.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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 his Department has had with the Department for Health and Social Care on the legal limit for nitrogen oxide pollution.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
In 2017 the Government published the UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide, and its supplements in 2018, setting out how the UK would reduce exceedances of NO2. We have established a Ministerial Oversight Group to give Ministers from across Government direct oversight of the delivery of the plan. The group is attended by Ministerial representatives from DHSC, HMT, DfT and MHCLG.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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 his Department has had with (a) leaders of local authorities and (b) metro mayors on the harmful release of nitrogen oxides from waste incinerators.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government has not had any recent discussions with leaders of local authorities or the metropolitan mayors about the release of nitrogen oxides from waste incinerators.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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 effect on the level of waste incineration in the UK of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government has not commissioned an assessment of the type described.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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 bring forward proposals to transfer responsibility for all mains water pipes to water companies.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Mains water pipes are already the responsibility of water companies.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of making it obligatory for manufacturers to include oxo biodegradation additives in everyday plastic items.
Answered by George Eustice
We have assessed the environmental impacts of oxo-biodegradable plastics across their life cycle and, as a consequence, have no current plans to make the use of oxo-biodegradation additives mandatory in the manufacture of everyday plastic items.
The current evidence on the overall environment benefits of oxo-biodegradable plastic is not conclusive. The main concern which has been raised is that oxo-biodegradable plastics could take time to degrade without oxygen and sunlight once they have leaked into the broader environment. It is suggested that this lack of complete degradation could result in the generation of micro plastics, which can be more harmful to the environment and aquatic life. We will continue to look closely at, and be driven by, the evidence on this issue.