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Written Question
Controlled Burning
Thursday 8th December 2022

Asked by: Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many alleged breaches of the Heather & Grass Burning Regulations 2021 have been reported to Defra, since those regulations came into force.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

To date, we have received 1,584 individual reports of alleged breaches of the Heather and Grass etc Burning (England) Regulations since the regulations came into force on 1 May 2021.

Of these, 1022 could not be assessed because they included insufficient location information.

490 reports have been assessed by Defra and Natural England. Many of these were established to be duplicates or were established to not amount to offences under the regulations.

A total of 72 reports, related to the current burning season, are currently undergoing assessment by Defra and Natural England.

A small number of reports have progressed to formal investigation with one instance resulting in the issue of a formal warning. It would be inappropriate to comment on the ongoing investigations.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 17 Nov 2022
Oral Answers to Questions

"I thank my right hon. Friend the fisheries Minister for rapidly acceding to the Committee’s request to set up an independent panel to investigate the cause of the mass shellfish mortality off the north-east coast last autumn. When does he expect that panel to be established and when might he …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 08 Sep 2022
Oral Answers to Questions

"I do not think the situation could be any more serious for farmers in this country, both grain farmers and grass farmers. The UK requires around 2.2 million tonnes of nitrogen fertiliser, and about 1 million tonnes of that came from the Ince plant and the Billingham plant. The Ince …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 06 Sep 2022
Sewage Pollution

"Before privatisation, every single gallon of Scarborough sewage was pumped into the sea untreated. Since privatisation, we have seen investment in the Burniston water treatment works, which has been upgraded with ultraviolet treatment to increase its capacity, and in a 4 million litre stormwater tank at the end of Marine …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 23 Jun 2022
Oral Answers to Questions

"Following last year’s mass shellfish mortality off the Yorkshire coast, the problem has still not gone away: catches of lobster are 50% down despite vessels venturing further out to sea. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has attributed this to algal bloom, but other theories are circulating. Will …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 15 Jun 2022
Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill

"Will the hon. Lady give way?..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 15 Jun 2022
Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill

"rose—..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 15 Jun 2022
Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill

"I thank the hon. Lady for giving way. Is she aware that the last generation of new varieties were often produced using induced mutation, gamma radiation or chemicals such as colchicine, which was equivalent to smashing up DNA with a sledgehammer rather than this keyhole surgery? Varieties such as Golden …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 15 Jun 2022
Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill

"Is it the case that, if the EU were to allow this technology to go ahead, the hon. Lady would, like the SNP, embrace it?..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 13 Jun 2022
Government Food Strategy

"I welcome the direction in which the strategy takes us, but will the Secretary of State comment on what I might suggest are a couple of omissions? First, he rightly says that, in terms of the food that we can produce, we produce about three quarters of what we consume. …..."
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