Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
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 solar farms on soil (a) carbon storage, (b) structure and (c) biodiversity.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No assessment has been made of the potential impact of solar farms on soil.
When considering development proposals that affect agricultural land and soils, the Government encourages developers and local planning authorities to refer to relevant Government policies and legislation that aim to protect all soils by managing them in a sustainable way.
The previous Government did not commission research into this space, so it is currently unclear what impact solar panels may have on soil properties such as carbon storage, structure and biodiversity across England. However, a solar farm development near Kenilworth (Honiley Road solar farm) reports that it delivered 135% Biodiversity Net Increase.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
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 (a) help reduce the number of (i) appliances and (ii) electronics which are thrown away and (b) support local repair cafes.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to reducing waste by moving to a circular economy and is developing a circular economy strategy. The approach reduces all forms of waste; moving materials and products up the waste hierarchy to reduce new inputs, prolong lifetime functionality and support sustainable economic activity, social safeguarding, and environmental preservation. We have already taken steps to reduce the 5 million single use vapes discarded weekly by introducing our single use vapes ban, which will come into force in June 2025.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish guidance on the simpler recycling scheme for local authorities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recently confirmed its commitment to delivering the Collection and Packaging Reforms to the announced timelines, including Simpler Recycling, subject to spending review outcomes. Ministers are reviewing the final detail of the Simpler Recycling policy; we hope to provide further certainty and clarity to stakeholders as soon as possible.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to support extirpated species being reintroduced where it is socially and ecologically feasible.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government supports species reintroductions where they are economically feasible and there are clear benefits for nature, people and the environment. All reintroductions in England are expected to follow the Code for Reintroductions and other Conservation Translocations. Conservation translocations are the deliberate movement and release of plants, animals or fungi into the wild for conservation purposes. This includes reintroductions, which are one type of conservation translocation.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to reconsider the status of wild boar in England, following the move to make the beaver a European protected species in England under the provisions of the Beavers (England) Order 2022.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have no current plans to reconsider the status of wild boar.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
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 ensure that all policies which potentially impact on fisheries are assessed by his Department in a holistic manner, considering their potential interactions with related policies, before implementation.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Development of all policies within Defra, including on fisheries, is undertaken holistically. We work across the public sector, private sector and society to make policy that works for citizens, and to help the Government achieve its missions and priorities. This includes collaborating closely across policy areas in Defra (such as fisheries management plans, offshore wind and the Marine Protected Areas programme), as well as with different Government departments and levels of Government, to fully explore linkages with other areas of policy delivery by Defra and beyond.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his department has made of the potential changes to the level of risk of lead contamination from flooding events due to climate change in areas downstream of historical lead mines.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Environment Agency (EA) monitoring indicates that climate change could potentially increase the mass (kg/day) of metals washed into rivers from historic metal mines. Erosion of spoil heaps during storm events can increase the mobilisation of metals into rivers and re-suspend metal-rich sediments previously deposited in river channels.
For example, on average 127 tonnes of zinc and 40 tonnes of lead enters the Tyne estuary annually (all from abandoned metal mines); however, 50% of this zinc and 80% of this lead flows into the estuary during the highest 5% of river flows. However, while the mass of metals washed into rivers increases in storm events, the severity of water pollution (metal concentrations in mg/l) may decrease due to dilution.
In flood events these metals can be washed onto floodplains, causing land contamination. Climate change is expected to increase the risk of floodplains downstream from historic mining sites being contaminated by flooding.
Through the Water and Abandoned Metal Mines Programme - a partnership between Defra, the EA and the Coal Authority – the Government is taking action to develop mine water treatment schemes and diffuse interventions to prevent metals from abandoned metal mines, including lead, from entering local river systems.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of cases of bluetongue in Hertfordshire.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra acted quickly to contain bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) when the first case this season was detected on 26 August, implementing zones with movement controls on susceptible livestock to prevent spread. Disease control restrictions have been adapted in response to new findings and there is now a single restricted zone (RZ) covering the east coast and some inland areas in England, including Hertfordshire where there have been 3 cases to date.
The movement of susceptible animals from the RZ to live elsewhere in England requires a specific licence and is subject to free pre-movement and post-movement testing. This helps to prevent the possible establishment of new pockets of disease from undetected spread via animal movements. Some animals were humanely culled to prevent establishment at the outset and infected animals in cases found in free areas outside the restricted zone have also been humanely culled.
Defra has permitted the use of vaccines for BTV-3 which are now available for vets to prescribe in England.
Defra and APHA continue surveillance and epidemiological assessments, remaining vigilant for any changes, and are working closely with key industry stakeholders to review how we approach controls for BTV-3 for the coming winter months, in 2025 and beyond.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to authorise new badger culls, excluding where they have already made commitments.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 30 August, the Government announced the start of work on a comprehensive new strategy for England, to drive down bovine tuberculosis (TB) rates to save cattle and farmers’ livelihoods and end the badger cull by the end of this parliament. This will be undertaken in co-design with farmers, vets, scientists and conservationists, ensuring the new strategy marks a significant step-change in approach to tackling this devastating disease. By beating the disease we will end any need to cull badgers.
Existing cull processes, set up under the previous administration, will be honoured to ensure clarity for farmers involved in these culls whilst new measures can be rolled out through work on the new strategy. No new intensive or supplementary badger control licences will be issued, with all existing licences issued under these policies ending by January 2026. Any application for a licence received in respect of a TB hotspot in the Low Risk Area, would be processed by Natural England, as the delegated licensing authority, in accordance with the published policy guidance for this licence type, as introduced by the previous government in 2018.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Environment Agency holds regional data on the average time taken to respond to reports of environmental incidents and faults in relation to flood defences.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For calendar year 2024 to date, 75% of incident reports received by the Environment Agency (EA) have been assessed within the target time of one hour. All incidents reported to the EA are classified by their risk to the public and environment. The EA cannot report the time taken to respond to individual incidents by locality but plans for future upgrades to systems should enable this.
The EA inspects flood risk assets on a frequency of between six and 60 months, depending on risk. If the EA is alerted to a concern with an asset, an inspection can be undertaken before the due date. If an asset is identified below required condition, it is fixed within 60 days or, if the damage is significant, a more detailed assessment is completed to determine appropriate actions. Where an asset is likely to remain below required condition for more than 60 days, mitigation measures are put in place to ensure the asset can operate until the full repair is complete. If an asset requires urgent repairs and there is an immediate risk, emergency repairs are undertaken.