Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle excessive household water bills based on rateable values.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has set out in the Water White Paper a commitment to accelerate the smart meter rollout. This includes maximising cost savings to customers by moving customers away from a ratable value to a smart metered charge. Smart meters also provide data to increase leakage identification and reduction and provide customers with insights into their water usage.
Ofwat has also announced a competition, closing in March, as part of its £25 million Water Efficiency Lab to enable better data insights on water usage for customers, this includes those customers who cannot have a meter fitted and are reliant on ratable values.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce (a) single-use and (b) other plastic waste.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In December 2018, the UK Government published its Resources and Waste Strategy. This sets out how we will achieve a circular economy for plastic and achieve our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042.
Our goal is to maximise resource efficiency and minimise waste to keep plastic in circulation for longer by following the principles of the waste hierarchy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. One way will do this is by making producers more responsible for the plastic they make with our incoming Collection and Packaging Reforms.
Single-use plastics are a particularly problematic type of plastic that makes up much of our waste. We have introduced bans, including most recently in October 2023, on the supply of many unnecessary single-use plastic items. To tackle the use of virgin plastics, the Government brought in the Plastic Packaging Tax in April 2022.
Internationally, the UK is a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition, a group of over 60 countries calling for an ambitious and effective UN Treaty to end plastic pollution. At the current round of negotiations in Canada, we are continuing to support a treaty that will address the full lifecycle of plastic to tackle the problem of plastic pollution globally, including through designing out waste and supporting a circular economy for plastic.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many allegations of bullying have been made against Ministers by staff in his Department in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Mark Spencer
No formal complaints of bullying have been raised through Defra’s dispute resolution process.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to prevent the leaching of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances into supplies of drinking water.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are already statutory duties on water companies and local authorities to carry out risk assessments and sample drinking water supplies for anything which would constitute a potential danger to human health. This includes per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The Drinking Water Inspectorate has a guideline value on individual types of PFAS of 100 nanograms per litre. It was set in 2021 based on an assessment of existing scientific knowledge and agreed with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to be a robust level with an appropriate margin to ensure our drinking water is safe to drink. There is no evidence of PFAS concentrations above this value in drinking water supplies.
Nevertheless, work is continuing with other government departments, regulators and the devolved administrations to assess levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources and potential risks to safeguard current high drinking water quality and ensure our regulations remain fit for purpose.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help reduce the distress to animals caused by fireworks displays.
Answered by Mark Spencer
It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal, and this includes through the misuse of fireworks. Users of fireworks need to use them responsibly and be aware of animals close by, and those found guilty of causing animals unnecessary suffering can face up to five years’ imprisonment.
A number of animal welfare and veterinary organisations provide advice and guidance to enable people to minimise the impacts of fireworks on animal welfare. We will be working closely with these organisations to amplify this messaging in the run up to, and during, key dates when fireworks are commonly used.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
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 make an assessment of the potential impact of petrol leaf blowers on the environment.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
When conducting our annual assessment of air pollutant emissions, we include petrol powered leaf blowers in the “Residential: Household and gardening (mobile)” category (regardless of whether they are used in a residential setting or not). Our latest assessment (National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory 2021) is that in 2021, this sector, which also includes petrol-powered lawn mowers, chainsaws etc, contributed a total of 3.5 tonnes of PM2.5 (0.004% of the UK total of 83.2 kilotons) and 328.8 tonnes of NO2 (0.05% of the UK total of 677.1 kilotons).
Leaf blowers are an important tool for many in the landscaping and horticultural trades. As we continue our transition towards Net Zero we will look at ways to encourage a switch to non-fossil fuelled machinery, including mains and battery powered landscaping and horticultural equipment such as leaf blowers.
The Noise Emission in the Environment by Equipment for use Outdoors Regulations 2001 regulate certain types of outdoor machinery to control the noise they produce, in order to reduce environmental impact, particularly in urban areas. The regulations list all the equipment they apply to, which includes leaf blowers, and set permissible sound power levels that must not be exceeded.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department issues to local authorities on how to (a) prevent and (b) dispose of fly-tipping in public (i) parks and (ii) green spaces.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG), through which we work with a wide range of interested parties, including local authorities, to promote and disseminate good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping. Together we have produced various guides on tackling fly-tipping and the roles and responsibilities of local authorities and others.
More recently, we have been developing a fly-tipping toolkit with the NFTPG. So far, the group has published a guide on how councils and others can present robust cases to court and a new framework which sets out how they can set up and run effective local partnerships to prevent fly-tipping. These, and other materials, are available at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
In addition to this, Defra has provided £1.2 million in grant funding to help more than 30 councils implement projects aimed at tackling fly-tipping. Case studies from round one have been made available at the link above so other councils can learn about those interventions which were most successful. We intend to launch another grant opportunity for councils later this year.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure former race horses are not slaughtered for meat.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is committed to the highest standards of animal welfare, including at slaughter. Ensuring the welfare needs of racehorses are well met, both during their racing lives and afterwards, is a priority.
Slaughter in an approved abattoir is a humane option for some horses, provided the animal is fit to transport and the journey time is not excessive. Legislation sets out strict requirements to protect the welfare of horses when slaughtered and official veterinarians of the Food Standards Agency are present in all approved slaughterhouses to monitor and enforce animal welfare requirements.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prevent trophy hunters bringing hunt souvenirs into the United Kingdom through Northern Ireland.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Strict controls on hunting trophy imports are already in place in Northern Ireland, with no permits issued since 2018.
In addition to these existing strict controls, we are continuing to explore whether there is scope for a further tightening of arrangements in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prevent pollen or seeds from trials of genetically modified crops from spreading to the surrounding environment.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Under existing regulations, consent for release of GM crops for non-marketing purposes requires the applicant to submit a dossier of information.
This is scientifically assessed for risk to the environment by our independent scientific expert panel, ACRE (the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment). Their expert advice informs the Secretary of State’s decision to grant consent for release of the GM crop for trial. Consent is only granted if measures are in place to ensure the risk of either pollen or seeds from GM plants entering the environment is negligible.
After consent is given, the GM Inspectorate undertakes the inspection and auditing to ensure that the consent conditions specific for each trial are adhered to.