Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
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 Housing, Communities and Local Government on the environmental merits of brownfield regeneration rather than development on green field sites.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not recently had such discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. The Government supports the re-use as far as possible of suitable brownfield land for housing and other development needs over development on green field sites. We have announced further measures to support regeneration of brownfield land in our ‘Planning for the future’ policy paper dated 12 March 2020. Planning practice guidance also recognises that some brownfield land is of high environmental value, providing habitats for protected or priority species and other environmental benefits.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential effect of naming people responsible for fly-tipping on rates of that offence; and if he will issue guidance to local authorities to encourage them to name offenders.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Fly-tipping is unacceptable wherever it occurs and tackling this crime is a priority for the Government. We therefore welcome suggestions and initiatives being explored by enforcement agencies to tackle this unacceptable crime.
The role of central Government is to enable and support local action: providing a clear legal framework of rights, responsibilities and powers, setting national standards and, where possible, making sure that the costs of dealing with fly-tipping issues are passed to those responsible for causing the problem.
The Government is committed to encouraging local solutions for local problems. This is particularly relevant in tackling fly-tipping, which requires a local approach, tailored to the characteristics of the area and the community in which the problem occurs. The naming of fly-tipping offenders is not current Government policy and, given our commitment to encouraging local solutions to reflect local circumstances, it is not for central Government to assess or publish national guidance promoting a single approach.
However, building on a commitment in our Resources and Waste Strategy, Defra is developing a toolkit to tackle fly-tipping. The toolkit will include examples of existing good practice to prevent fly-tipping, as well as advice and guidance on how local authorities can set up and run effective fly-tipping partnerships and share intelligence. We encourage local authorities to provide evidence and share details of successful initiatives with Defra, and the toolkit could in the future therefore include reference to the naming of those responsible for fly-tipping, alongside a number of other initiatives that are being used throughout England.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
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 study published in Nature Communications on 17 September 2019, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the presence of sooty carbon particles in the placentas of pregnant women caused by polluted air.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Although the Secretary of State (SoS) for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not had any recent discussions with the SoS of the Department of Health and Social Care on the presence of sooty carbon particles in the placentas of pregnant women caused by polluted air, Defra officials work closely with counterparts across Government Departments to ensure policies to improve air quality are joined up, to reduce the impacts of air pollution on human health and the environment.
Our Clean Air Strategy focussed on delivering national emissions commitments to reduce the emission of five key pollutants (including PM2.5) by 2030 and committed to the setting of a new ambitious long-term target to reduce concentrations of PM2.5.
In addition, our landmark Environment Bill builds on this ambition and includes a duty to set an ambitious legally binding target to reduce fine particulate matter, the pollutant that causes the greatest harm to human health.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
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 annual value of pork exports to China since 2014.
Answered by George Eustice
Supporting the UK food and drink sector to increase its exports is a priority for Defra. The work we are doing to increase market access for pork to China is a great success, and has boosted the value of UK pork exports there from £19.6 million in 2014 to £43.6 million in 2018. China's domestic market consumes 55 million metric tonnes of pork per year and there is real potential for UK industry to continue to increase exports of pork products such as pig trotters and heads. We will also continue to build on our strong international reputation for food standards and premium exports, which help drive the demand for UK produce in China.