Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many marine mammals were caught by vessels fishing in UK waters in 2023.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Marine mammal bycatch is required to be reported under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. According to the Marine Management Organisation six marine mammals were reported by fishing vessels as bycatch injury or mortality in 2023.
There are various sources for marine mammal bycatch data in the UK.
The UK Bycatch Monitoring Programme provides bycatch estimates for the UK; however, these have not yet been produced for 2023.
The UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme diagnosed 16 cases of bycaught marine mammals in 2023 (covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland and which all occurred in England).
In Scotland, the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme reports on incidents of marine mammal bycatch in Scottish waters.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to increase the transparency of the process for licensing game bird shoots.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has introduced several improvements to the transparency of processes since 2023 including proactively publishing all regulatory documents relating to GL43 and GL45 on Gov.uk, and by sharing the number of individual licenses approved and rejected in a previous PQ (PQ 202935). Defra has regularly engaged with a broad range of stakeholders to develop an improved risk assessment process, as well as a general licence for Special Protection Areas for birds. Defra has kept stakeholders informed of progress throughout the development of the general licence and individual licensing process.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of trees have been planted in each year since 2015.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Chesterfield on 2 April 2024 to Question 19841.
May. 11 2024
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Source Page: Announcement of reappointments: Defra’s Science Advisory CouncilAsked by: Lord Banner (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what record they have of the annual financial cost of the badger culls in England over the past five years, and when a written value for money analysis of that cost was last undertaken.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The cost of undertaking badger culling is paid for by industry. The Government pays for the licensing operation and monitoring, as well as the cost of policing culls.
Information on the Government badger control costs for 2022 and previous years is available at GOV.UK. The Government badger control costs for 2023 will be published in due course.
The most recent value for money analysis of the badger control policy was published on 28 October 2022. This can be found attached to this answer.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish any reports from their newly launched environmental science network focusing on deep-sea mining, DSM Environmental Network.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 19 February, we opened the new UK Deep-Sea Mining (DSM) Environmental Science Network to applications. The aims of the network are to recognise and promote the extensive and world-renowned UK expertise in environmental and natural science related to DSM. The Network will not be responsible for developing policy or providing advice or recommendations to the Government or Ministers. Rather, it will help fill the current evidence gaps on the environmental impact of DSM, coordinate research effectively and strategically, make sure UK research is included in the global environmental evidence base for DSM, and encourage conversations between the Government and the scientific community to raise awareness and coordination between DSM science and policy environmental issues.