Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 11 March (HL5254), how they will maximise or monitor the success of 'blue economy' policies without baseline data.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra invests in data collection, analysis and research every year to improve our understanding of the marine environment, provide evidence for policy decision making and improve our understanding of policy and economic performance over time. For example, over the last three years the £38 million marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme collected evidence on the location, extent and condition of our marine and coastal natural capital assets in England. Alongside this, Defra evaluates the impact and value for money of programmes and policies in line with central Government guidance on conducting effective evaluations and evaluation results are published on the Government Evaluation Registry.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 20 March (HL5461), how many marine disposal sites there are, and how many are monitored each year.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There are 727 marine disposal sites in total. Of these, 251 are open, 432 are closed, and 44 are disused.

Before a disposal site is designated, an applicant must submit a disposal site characterisation report to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), or evidence to satisfy the MMO that the area is suitable for disposal. In addition, all sediment being disposed of to sea is regularly sampled and analysed, with continued disposal requiring sign off from the MMO. Monthly disposal volumes are reported to the MMO in line with OSPAR requirements.

The MMO, in conjunction with the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), also undertakes an annual Disposal Site Monitoring programme. The programme sets out how sites are monitored based on location, activity level, public interest, age of current monitoring data for the area, and frequency of site usage.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 20 March (HL5459 and HL5460), whether assessments of samples for disposal at sea are determined by cost to the applicant or best available evidence.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Before material is disposed of at sea, Defra bodies follow OSPAR guidelines for assessing contaminant levels in samples. Cefas use the best available evidence when providing advice to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) on contaminant levels in such samples. Assessments required may vary depending on the type of material and historic use of a site from which any material is dredged. Assessments are only used when the evidence they provide is necessary to determine if a material is suitable for disposal at sea, and this avoids disproportionate costs for applicants. The MMO then consider this evidence when determining applications to dispose of material at sea.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 20 March (HL5458 and HL5459), in what circumstances the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) would insist that bioassays are undertaken; and how many times in the past five years CEFAS has required such bioassays, and for which disposal licences.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Cefas cannot insist that specific assessments are undertaken to support disposal licence applications as Cefas holds no regulatory power in that regard. Cefas can instead advise that certain assessments are undertaken or that certain licensing decisions are made, but decision-makers are not obliged to adhere to Cefas recommendations. Cefas does not collect data on how often certain assessments are recommended, however there are likely no examples of a bioassay or other ecotoxicological assessment being recommended in the past five years. Whilst such assessments can be recommended in line with the OSPAR guidelines, there may be significant costs associated for disposal applicants and there are currently no such assessments which have been validated by the MMO. Necessary assessments are still undertaken to determine if material is suitable for disposal at sea. The MMO assess applications on a case by case basis, and will request specific information from applicants where relevant and necessary to making a decision. Cefas is exploring the use of potentially more cost-effective assessments such as Microtox.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 11 March (HL5255), what assessment they have made of the disposal of waste into Beachy Head East and Beachy Head West marine conservation zones.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There are two registered disposal sites within the Beachy Head Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs). All material is assessed and classified as safe for marine disposal under OSPAR and London Convention and Protocol standards, with regular sediment testing required.

For all licences to dispose of dredged material within the Beachy Head MCZs, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) consult with technical advisors Cefas. The MMO request samples to be collected at the dredge site, and establish the contaminants to test for. This testing has shown the risk to the marine environment from contaminants in the dredged material is low. The applicant must undertake robust monitoring, including further sampling and monthly disposal reporting to the MMO, throughout the duration of a licence. This ensures that the material meets the standards and remains suitable for continued sea disposal at the relevant disposal site. MCZ assessments for both disposal sites concluded that the risk to MCZ conservation objectives from disposal is likely to be low. This robust framework ensures that disposal activity does not compromise the conservation objectives of the MCZ.

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