Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many abandoned waste sites there are; and if he will publish a list of such sites.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of July 2024, the Environment Agency confirmed 35 abandoned waste sites in England. An abandoned site occurs if the waste management permit holder dies, or the company is wound up.
Information on these sites was not published when he was Secretary of State due to data protection and ongoing investigations. This remains the case.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 proportion of waste that will be recycled in each of the next five years.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2022, the Waste from Households recycling rate in England was 43.4%. Figures for 2023/24 are provisionally scheduled for publication by January 2025. We have a long-term target to halve residual waste by 2042 and we are committed to achieving a municipal recycling rate of at least 65% by 2035.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of the additional funding for the expanded Farming Recovery Fund announced on 24 May 2024 (a) has been paid out as of 5 September 2024 and (b) is projected to be spent by the end of the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
All eligible farmers that were identified in the original fund from April 2024 have been offered payment. This represents 679 farmers who were paid a total of £2.19 million.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers who are eligible for support under the expanded Farming Recovery Fund announced on 24 May 2024 have been (a) (i) identified and (ii) contacted by the Rural Payments Agency and (b) paid.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
All eligible farmers that were identified in the original fund from April 2024 have been offered payment. This represents 679 farmers who were paid a total of £2.19 million.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 impact of the use of unbound incinerator bottom ash aggregate in construction on the environment in (a) the Fenlands and (b) other low-lying areas.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In England the Environment Agency’s regulatory position statement RPS 247 , first published in January 2021, sets out risk-based conditions which restrict the use of unbound incinerator bottom ash aggregate (IBAA) as a replacement for primary aggregate based on tonnage, location, placement, and type of construction project. The Environment Agency is satisfied that in complying with the regulatory position statement, the risks to ground and surface water are understood and proportionately managed.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 Environment Agency regulatory policy statement entitled Using unbound incinerator bottom ash aggregate (IBAA) in construction activities: RPS 247, published on 25 June 2024, if she will take steps to update Regulatory Policy Statement 247.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Regulatory position statement RPS 247, first published in January 2021, sets out risk-based conditions which restrict the use of unbound incinerator bottom ash aggregate (IBAA) as a replacement for primary aggregate based on tonnage, location, placement, and type of construction project. The regulatory position statement is to be withdrawn by 31 January 2025. The Environment Agency will replace this position statement with a candidate waste exemption and a new standard-rules permit. The Agency are preparing to consult on the new permit later this year.
As is usual, it is likely that the Environment Agency will extend RPS 247 by a few months to allow the new standard rules permit to be published and available for use.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by what date he expects to have ceased badger culling.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
This government will respect the advice of the widest range of expert advisers when considering the end of the badger cull.
There has not been a major bovine TB strategy review in nearly six years. The last was commissioned by the then Secretary of State Michael Gove and was carried out by Professor Sir Charles Godfray. It informs our starting point as we increase the effort to achieve bovine TB free status by 2038.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 commissioned an impact assessment on the proposed ending of the badger cull.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the reply I gave to PQ 1263.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for (a) bringing forward and (b) implementing secondary legislation relating to the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023; and whether he has a target date for full implementation of the Act's provisions.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Innovation is important in strengthening food security, enhancing resilience and improving agricultural sustainability.
We are considering how to take forward the regulatory framework outlined in the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act and will share our plans in due course.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timescale is for making payments under the Farming Recovery Fund to eligible applicants.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
To date all eligible farmers identified in the original Farming Recovery Fund announced in April 2024 have been offered the payment in line with the published criteria. In May, Defra announced a further expansion to the fund and further information on that will be available soon.