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 to work with water companies to explore the management of microplastics in sewage sludge.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to safeguarding the natural environment from harms. We have been collaborating with water companies on the investigation of microplastics in wastewater treatment through the National Chemical Investigations Programme.
The Environment Agency have published their strategy for safe and sustainable sludge use. This strategy explores options for modernising and harmonising the regulatory framework with the aim of ensuring the management and use of sludge supports healthy and productive land and soil. The Government is currently examining the strategy’s impact on our environmental outcomes and water and farming industries.
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 to improve methods to measure the amount and types of microplastic and microfibres in rivers, lakes, seas and their sediments.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra intends to publish a report that it commissioned on improving the sampling and analytical protocols to determine the quantities, loads and types of microplastics in surface waters and sediments, later this year. Following this, working with the Environment Agency, Defra will consider the approaches to sampling surface waters and sediments to develop provisional standard operating procedure guidelines that will be used to improve sampling, processing and analysing of microplastics in river waters and sediments.
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 to end the over-abstraction of water supplies by water companies; what deadlines have been set for the end of such over-abstraction; and what plans they have made to restore levels of over-abstracted reservoirs.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Plan for Water sets out the actions we are taking to make abstraction sustainable. Since we published our abstraction plan (see attachment) in 2017, the Environment Agency has reduced damaging abstraction by returning 48 billion litres of water a year to the environment and removed the risk to the environment of the potential abstraction of 1.9 trillion litres of water.
Water companies are told by the Environment Agency about what abstractions are deemed unsustainable through the Water Industry Environment Programme (see attachment) and the statutory water resources management plans (see attachment) and take action to remove or reduce these abstractions. In some cases, removal or reduction of abstraction licences will reduce the security of water supply for people and businesses, so water companies will have to take appropriate steps to reduce demand or develop new supplies of water to ensure they can still provide water supplies.
The deadlines water companies are given vary, as some may require investigations into the level of reductions required. The Plan for Water shows water companies have to take action to reduce a gap between how much water they could supply when compared to future demand. The gap is 4 billion litres of water per day, which includes reductions in abstractions to protect the environment and accounts for the impacts of climate change on water sources. Water companies have recently produced new water resources plans showing how they will address this gap and the Environment Agency has produced a summary of how water companies (see attachment) will increase supply and reduce demand over the next 25 years.
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 estimate they have made of the (1) number, and (2) subject matter, of statutory instruments the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs plans to publish before the end of 2023.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra continues to pursue an ambitious agenda of legislation in 2023. This programme will be brought forward in the usual way, which includes seeking agreement from the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee, giving stakeholders time to engage with our proposals and following the Better Regulation Framework processes. Our programme will broadly seek to drive innovation, improve environmental outcomes and support British farmers to produce the food that we need.
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 how many domestically reared ducks have been released for the shooting industry; what assessment they have made of the conditions in which such birds live; what assessment they have made of the risk of avian flu and other diseases following these releases; what drug treatments are used for these diseases; and what assessment they have made of the risks these treatments represent.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra does not hold data on the number of ducks released for shooting. Defra publishes all its risk assessments on GOV.UK as part of the ‘Animal diseases: international and UK monitoring’ collection and continues to monitor the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in both wild and kept birds, working with the game farming sector and conservation bodies, and will keep the need for further risk assessments under review. No products have a market authorisation for treatment of HPAI in poultry (including ducks reared for shooting) and vaccination of poultry against avian influenza is not permitted.
No recent assessment has been made of the conditions in which such birds live. The welfare of ducks while they are being reared for shooting is protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (until such time as they are released in the wild), which makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any animal. In addition, the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes provides advice on husbandry, housing and management.
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 assessment they have made of the impact of marine heatwaves on fish stocks and other marine life; and what adjustment is being made to fishery management and other marine management as a result.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Through the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership we are improving our understanding of the impact of climate change, including marine heatwaves. Evidence suggests there can be a lagged relationship between marine heatwaves and impacts to catches of some commercial species, with some increasing in the years after a heatwave and others decreasing.
In the UK we are committed to ensuring that climate change adaptation, resilience and mitigation are fully considered and integrated in our marine and fisheries policies. The third National Adaptation Plan (NAP3) was published on 17 July 2023 and marks a step-change in the UK Government’s approach to climate adaptation, putting in place an ambitious programme of decisive action for the next five years. The NAP3 showcases our plans to adapt to and mitigate the risks of a warming climate in the marine environment, including plans to protect, restore and create blue carbon habitats and manage the risks and opportunities to marine species, habitats and fisheries.
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 steps they are taking to ban the manufacture of paraquat in the UK for export, given its impact on human health.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government currently has no plans to ban the manufacture of paraquat in the UK for export.
The export of paraquat from Great Britain (GB) is regulated under the GB Prior Informed Consent (PIC) regulatory regime for the export and import of certain hazardous chemicals. Before the export of paraquat can take place, the explicit consent of the importing country is required.
The exchange of information that PIC provides allows the importing countries to make informed decisions on the import of those chemicals and on how to handle and use them safely.
The UK is committed to working internationally to support the safe management of pesticides. That is why we continue to support the listing of paraquat under the Rotterdam convention.
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 assessment they have made of the effectiveness of garment recycling offered by retailers; and what regulations and checks of compliance apply to such services.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As announced in the Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste programme on July 28th, we will develop and consult on policy options for reducing textiles waste, including requiring businesses over a certain size to provide a customer take back systems for used textiles.
There is anecdotal evidence that garment recycling schemes can be effective, and we will assess this further as we develop the new policies. As these are voluntary initiatives, there are currently no regulations and checks of compliance that apply to the retailers.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) produced a guide for businesses on setting up takeback schemes, funded in part by Defra: Retailer-clothing-take-back-guide-Feb21.pdf (wrap.org.uk).
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 steps they are taking to establish the lifetime safety of graphene products, including what precautions might need to be taken for the disposal of products at the end of their life.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Every business that produces or deals with waste has a legal duty of care to make sure that their waste is classified correctly so it can be dealt with responsibly and safely.
They must take all reasonable steps to ensure it is managed appropriately by an authorised person, whether being recovered or disposed of. If the waste is hazardous, then additional controls will apply.
Those who fail in this duty may be subject to prosecution or a fixed penalty notice.
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 to ban the use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics for prophylactic and metaphylactic use in British poultry farming, with a view to limiting antimicrobial resistance.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals, while safeguarding animal welfare. It has been our position for many years that we do not support the routine or predictable use of antibiotics, including where antibiotics are used to compensate for inadequate farming practices. This applies to all types of antibiotic use (i.e those prescribed for treatment, metaphylactic purposes and for prophylactic purposes) because any antibiotic use may lead to an increased risk of resistance.
The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 are currently under review and the UK Government’s proposed new legal restrictions will prohibit antibiotic prophylaxis, in all but exceptional circumstances, in order to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use while also protecting animal welfare, and allowing changes to prescribing practices to be made sustainably. A public consultation on the proposed changes was held earlier this year, feedback is currently being analysed and considered, and a government response will be published in due course.
Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics for human use (which include fluoroquinolones) should only be used in animals as a last resort when no other antibiotics could be clinically effective and, wherever possible, based on antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate works closely with the British Poultry Council (BPC), an industry group which represents 90% of the meat poultry sector in the UK, on its antimicrobial stewardship efforts to replace, reduce and refine antibiotic use, by supporting good animal husbandry, hygiene and stockmanship. The BPC has a requirement that fluoroquinolones are only used as a last resort after alternative options have been explored. These actions have led to a 96% reduction in fluroquinolone use in meat poultry between 2014 and 2021, with fluoroquinolones representing just 0.3% of total antibiotic use in 2021.
Furthermore, when considering laying hens, antibiotic use data collected by the British Egg Industry Council, and representing 90% of the industry, has demonstrated no fluoroquinolone use since 2017.