Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 amount of PM 2.5 emissions that has been produced by the (a) manufacturing and combustion sector as a whole, (b) burning of all types of biomass and (c) burning of wood pellets for energy.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Emissions of key air pollutants, including PM2.5, are compiled and reported by Defra
on an annual basis through the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory. The latest data is available to view at https://naei.beis.gov.uk/data.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the next steps are of the Government's commitment to exploring a ban on foie gras, as announced in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare published 12 May 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Government has made clear that the production of force-fed foie gras raises serious welfare concerns. Building on the opportunities presented by our departure from the EU, we are now able to actively consider any further steps that could be taken in relation to foie gras that is produced overseas using force feeding practices. We continue to gather information and speak to a range of interested parties about the issues involved, in line with the Government’s commitment to improving animal welfare standards as set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. This will be used to inform our approach to the issue of force-fed foie gras.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 officials in his Department have had with representatives of the water industry on tackling the illegal discharge of untreated sewage into rivers across the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
I have been repeatedly clear that the frequency of sewage discharges and pollution incidents is unacceptable. We are the first Government to introduce a legal duty to clean up our waterways, backed up by our direction to Ofwat. We are cracking down on water companies, putting in place ambitious targets, and we have launched a consultation on our plan to reduce storm overflows. On this side of the House we voted in favour of a whole package of measures to improve water quality – the Hon Lady and her colleagues opposite did not.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps are being taken to increase the availability of kerbside recycling of (a) plastic film and (b) other soft plastics.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Government wants to see a significant increase in the recycling of plastic film and flexible packaging and are delivering measures to support this.
In the 2021 consultation on Consistency in Household and Business recycling in England, we proposed local authorities be required to collect recyclable plastic films from households be no later than the end of 2026/27. We will publish our Government response to the consultation in due course.
We have also taken steps to boost the market for plastic recycling – delivering the conditions for further private sector investment. The Plastic Packaging Tax comes in from April and will see a charge of £200 per tonne on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content. This measure is already driving significant demand for plastics for recycling, which in turn supports important interim measures such as retailer-led front of store collections of plastic films.
This work, alongside other measures such as restrictions on single-use plastics, Extended Producer Responsibility and the Deposit Return Scheme, supports the delivery of our 25 Year Environment Plan target of ending all avoidable plastic waste.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much single-use plastic has been used in Government buildings in 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Under the Greening Government Commitments Framework published in 2021 we introduced a new target to remove consumer single-use plastic from the central Government office estate. The first report under this new framework, covering the 2021-22 financial year, is due to be published later this year, and will set out how much single-use plastic has been used.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the planned timetable is for publication of the 7th Quinquennial Review of Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The data-gathering phase of the independent 7th Quinquennial Review of Schedules 5 and 8 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) began on 8 April and ran until 7 July 2021. This initial stage collected evidence, via an online survey, from the GB statutory conservation authorities and relevant non-Governmental organisations. The planned timetable is that following a review of the evidence presented JNCC will then hold a public consultation in the late autumn before making final recommendations to Defra, Scottish Government, and Welsh Government at the end of the year.
My Department is also exploring how we might enhance species protections in a Green Paper which we intend to publish later this year. That Green Paper will ensure that the regulatory framework is clear and fit for purpose in driving the delivery of our new 2030 species abundance target and reversing declines of species, including iconic British species like the hedgehog, red squirrel and water vole.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 merits of introducing compulsory scanning of pets' microchips by vets.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
We consulted on compulsory scanning of microchips in the recent consultation on Cat and Dog Microchipping and Scanning in England. We are currently analysing the responses and we will respond to the consultation in the autumn.
We have worked closely with the veterinary profession and jointly agreed that the principle of scanning healthy dogs prior to euthanasia should be incorporated in the guidance that underpins the Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons. This guidance is now in force and applies to all veterinary surgeons operating in the UK.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect of fully or highly protected Marine Protected Areas on the ecological health of inshore waters and the livelihoods of local fishing communities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
On 8 June 2021, the Government published its response to the Benyon Review into Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). The Government accepted the central recommendation that we should take forward pilot sites and we will designate these next year. The purpose of HPMAs is biodiversity recovery and by setting aside areas of sea with high levels of protection, HPMAs will allow nature to recover to a more natural state, allowing the ecosystem to thrive in the absence of damaging activities. The Benyon Review Panel reviewed clear evidence and heard strong support for the ecological benefits that HPMAs can deliver. The Government will identify pilot HPMAs with ecological value, including areas with potential to recover. Defra will then use social and economic principles to minimise the impacts on sea users, including fishing communities. Defra will evaluate socio-economic concerns, including fisheries displacement, before designating HPMAs.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 is taking to support scientists to bring forward alternatives to plastic tree guards.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Over the lifetime of the 25 Year Environment Plan, we want to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste and our Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how we will achieve this and move towards a circular economy. The Government continues to monitor the development of viable alternatives to the use of plastic tree guards and is committed to encourage recycling and the more thoughtful use of resources.
Options for protecting young trees include biodegradable tree guards, temporary fencing and wildlife management, but currently these options are less effective than plastic tree guards in deterring browsers, particularly deer.
The forestry sector is carrying out work to develop and trial more effective biodegradable tree guards and other alternatives - the forthcoming England Trees Action Plan will look at how to support this and eliminate unnecessary plastic waste.
In the meantime, current practice demands that tree guards should be retrieved after they have reached a point where they are redundant. Plans to collect and recycle the tree guards have been introduced by a number of forestry institutions.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 encourage local authorities to implement weekly food waste collections in the immediate future ahead of New Burdens funding to support that collection which will be made available in 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Environment Bill will require local authorities to arrange for the separate collection of food waste from households in England, at least once a week. Businesses and organisations will also be required to arrange for the separate collection of food waste. Ahead of implementation of this and other reforms to increase the consistency of recycling collected from households and businesses, we continue to work with local authorities, businesses, WRAP and other stakeholders to ensure the successful roll-out of separate food waste collections.
The Government will ensure that local authorities are resourced to meet net costs arising from new statutory duties. This will include the additional costs associated with the requirement to separately collect food waste, including upfront transition costs and ongoing operational costs. We are carrying out a new burdens assessment for this policy and will provide further detail on new burdens funding in due course, following the outcome of the second consultation on recycling consistency, which we are preparing to launch in the spring. In this consultation, we expect to seek further views on implementing separate food waste collections, including transition timelines for local authorities and businesses, as well as statutory guidance for waste collectors.