Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to address light pollution in the countryside.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government has put in place a range of measures to ensure that light pollution is effectively managed through controls in the planning system, the statutory nuisance regime, and when improvements are made to street lighting.
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out how the possible ecological impacts of artificial light should be considered in the planning system. It makes clear that policies and decisions should limit the impact of light pollution on local amenity, dark landscapes and nature conservation, including where there may be impacts on wildlife and ecosystems. Defra has contributed to associated guidance published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Defra has published or contributed to a range of assessments of the impact of artificial light on insects and wider biodiversity, which are published on our science website. Defra also keeps under review relevant, externally funded studies, for example on potential impacts of artificial light pollution on insects with our academic partners on the National Pollinator Strategy for England.
We strongly welcome the designation of the South Downs and Exmoor National Parks as International Dark Sky Reserves, two of only 16 in the world. As a result of this designation these National Parks have incorporated local policies to protect dark skies. We welcome the adoption of these local policies for dark sky protection and understand their extension to other National Parks is under consideration.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with National Park Authorities on strengthening protections against light pollution.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is engaging with National Park Authorities on a range of matters including the delivery of the 25-year Environment Plan and the Landscapes Review recommendations. There have been no recent discussions with National Park Authorities on the specific issue of strengthening protections against light pollution.
The government has put in place a range of measures to ensure that light pollution is effectively managed through controls in the planning system; the statutory nuisance regime, and when improvements are made to street lighting.
My department has worked with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Department for Transport to ensure that the National Planning Policy Framework policies include consideration of the impact of light pollution from artificial light on local amenity, intrinsically dark landscapes and nature conservation, including where there may be impacts on wildlife and eco-systems.
We strongly welcome the designation of the South Downs National Park as an International Dark Sky Reserve, one of only 16 in the world. As a result of this designation the South Downs National Park Local Plan, adopted on 2 July 2019, has incorporated local policies to protect dark skies. We welcome the adoption of local policies for dark sky protection and understand their extension to other National Parks is under consideration.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost of wasted energy from light pollution; and what assessment they have made of the impact of light pollution on (1) health, (2) wildlife, and (3) astronomy.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
1. Public Health England carried out a study in 2016 for the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers and the Society of Light and Lighting, which included an assessment of light-emitting diode (LED) streetlights on health. The study concluded that some LED streetlight luminaires emitted more blue light than was necessary, but that there was no evidence of direct adverse health effects on people.
2. Defra has published or contributed to a range of assessments of the impact of artificial light on insects and wider biodiversity, as well as global and national assessments of the drivers of biodiversity loss more generally.
Following publication of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution’s report, ‘Artificial light in the environment’ in 2009, Defra has supported assessments of impacts of artificial light on insects and on other organisms such as bats. These are published on our science website. Defra has also funded or co-funded national and international assessments of drivers of change on insects and wider biodiversity such as the global IPBES Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production, which notes effects of light on nocturnal insects may be growing and identifies the need for further study.
There have been a number of externally funded studies which have highlighted potential impacts of artificial light pollution on insects, which Defra keeps under review, for example, with our academic partners on the National Pollinator Strategy for England.
3. Government officials have met with relevant stakeholders including the Commission for Dark Skies but have not made an assessment of the impact of light pollution on astronomy.
The Government has not made an assessment specifically of the cost of wasted energy from light pollution. In respect of the Strategic Road network a full appraisal is carried out before any lighting project is commissioned, including in-depth analysis of the environmental impact and economic benefits of the scheme. All lighting on the network is designed according to current British and European standards which emphasise the importance of limiting light pollution, and older forms of lantern are in the process of being replaced with environmentally sensitive lighting when they become due for renewal.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
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 encourage local authorities to tackle light pollution and help protect dark skies in their areas.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government is taking a number of steps to encourage local authorities to address light pollution.
The National Planning Policy Framework includes consideration of the impact of light pollution on local amenity, intrinsically dark landscapes and nature conservation. The Department for Communities and Local Government has also published additional guidance setting out when light pollution is relevant to planning, which the Government asks all local authorities to have regard to when considering planning decisions: http://planningguidance.communities.gov.uk/blog/guidance/light-pollution/.
Other Government action includes encouragement for local authorities to introduce LED street lighting where it is economically feasible to do so, in order to reduce glare. Defra has also supported applications from National Parks, such as Exmoor and South Downs, to become International Dark Sky Parks or Reserves.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to include measures to protect and improve England's dark skies in the Government's 25-year plan for the natural environment.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government remains committed to developing a long term, 25-year plan for the environment. Following the decision to leave the EU, we now have a fresh opportunity to shape a long-term vision for the type of environment we want in this country. As part of this we will be looking across the breadth of environmental challenges.
Developing our approach to the environment will need to be informed by significant input from interested parties across many sectors. Further information on the next steps and timings will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the link between (a) street and (b) ambient lighting and the incidence of burglaries.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
As I stated in my answer of 10 February 2014, Official Report, Column 419W, street lighting plays an important role in road safety, as well as ensuring the personal safety of pedestrians. There may be some roads where lights could be dimmed in the very early hours, saving taxpayers' money. However, this should be a local decision by elected local councillors, reflecting local circumstances – especially in relation to any concerns about crime. Equally, not every neighbourhood wants street lighting, as some communities, especially in rural areas, value dark skies.
We believe that councils should listen to the views of their local residents, and then adopt appropriate local policies based on the neighbourhood, the precise location and the usage of the road/street. I previously noted that Manual for Streets contains some useful guidance on getting the balance right when providing street lighting, taking into account the different issues around safety, crime prevention, street clutter and light pollution. Ultimately, there is no prescriptive Whitehall guidance, and any assessment will depend on local circumstances and local views.
Notwithstanding, I would observe that Her Majesty's Opposition seem to have a short memory about their actions on cutting street lighting when they were in office:
· Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs: When the rt. hon. Member was Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, his Department and its quangos lectured local councils to switch off or reduce street lighting to minimise carbon emissions. For example, in 2007, he personally launched the Carbon Trust Standard, which was tied to an extensive programme to reduce street lighting as part of the Local Authority Carbon Management Programme. As DEFRA Ministers told the House: “All authorities should be seeking to reduce energy usage both to cut costs and to help combat climate change. As street lighting accounts for a significant proportion of the energy used by authorities, it should be readily identified as an area that should be examined for potential efficiency savings” (6 November 2006, Official Report, Column 709W).
· Department for Transport: The Minister of State for Transport, the noble Lord Adonis (now a Shadow Minister for Infrastructure) when asked about reducing the hours of operation of street lighting, noted that “the Government also support the Carbon Trust's local authority carbon management programme, which provides councils with support and guidance to help them realise carbon emissions savings from street lighting” (17 December 2008, Official Report, House of Lords, Column WA52). Transport Ministers also endorsed the Highways Agency's ‘Efficiency Strategy for Road Lighting' which led to switching off motorway lighting at night (21 April 2008, Official Report, Column 1444W; Highways Agency, Efficiency Strategy for Road Lighting Midnight Switch Off for Motorway Lighting, 2009).
· Department for Communities and Local Government: The rt. Hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (now Shadow Home Secretary), when as Minister in the precursor department to DCLG, noted there was nuanced debate on the extent of street lighting: “We all recognise the fact that there is a series of tensions around light pollution. People in the cities will never have the same view of the night sky as one can get in the middle of Dartmoor... There can be tensions too at neighbourhood level between the security-obsessed householder who has glaring white security lights stuck to every corner of the house, which flicker on every time a little bird flies past or the cat runs across the garden, and the neighbour who... has a telescope and cannot see across the garden, let alone into the skies” (12 February 2004, Official Report, Column 510WH).
· Department for Energy and Climate Change: In 2008, the rt. hon. Member for Leeds Central also personally launched the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which resulted in councils cutting carbon emissions from street lighting, including dimming or switching off lights. The Highway Agency's Energy Strategy for Roadside Equipment (April 2010) explained that the approach of “dimming, trimming and partial night lighting” was a consequence of the requirements to meet the Carbon Reduction Commitment. As DECC Ministers said to the House: “DECC is working to include street lighting in the Carbon Reduction Commitment. This will provide an incentive for local authorities to improve the energy efficiency of street lights. DECC is working closely with Communities and Local Government to develop the policy, in so far as it relates to local authorities” (19 June 2009, Official Report, Column 515W). Of course, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change at that time was the rt. hon. Member for Doncaster North, now Leader of HM Opposition.
I hope this illuminates the historical fogginess of the Labour Party's current campaign on municipal street lighting. I would suggest the last person out of Labour HQ tonight should turn off the lights.