Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (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 incidence of animal welfare breaches on farms, including animals being beaten or mutilated, sick animals being left untreated, and animals left in unsanitary conditions; and what steps they are taking to ensure breaches are detected and enforcement action taken.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) investigates all allegations of non-compliance thoroughly. Where breaches of the law are identified, appropriate enforcement action is taken. This may include follow-up, unannounced inspections to ensure that compliance has been achieved and maintained. Where necessary, APHA works closely with Local Authorities to coordinate enforcement measures
According to the latest Multi-Annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual report for 2022, compliance rates across the farming sector remained high. To promote transparency and accountability, we are actively working with Local Authorities to improve the collection and publication of data relating to on-farm inspections and enforcement activities.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether prisoners over the age of 50 with complex or multiple needs are still considered to be a separate cohort.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We have always recognised the distinct needs of older prisoners, some of whom can have complex health and social care requirements.
We welcome the Independent Sentencing Review’s recommendation to produce a national strategy for older prisoners, including those with complex or multiple needs and are currently speaking to partners to agree how we take this forward.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the ecological and environmental damage caused by the collision between two ships in the North Sea on 10 March.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra worked with multiple organisations, including the Centre of Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). Cefas’s Premiam Monitoring Coordination Cell (PMCC) was set up immediately following this incident. This cell implements post-incident monitoring to assess the impacts of marine pollution incidents and as part of this, shellfish (seafood) and seawater samples were collected in the days and weeks following the incident. The analysis from these samples has indicated that there were no significant adverse ecological or environmental impacts due to fuel or chemicals released from either vessel, or during the response to the incident.
Plastic nurdles and burned debris washed ashore along the Lincolnshire and North Norfolk coast following the incident. Large quantities of plastic pollution and debris were recovered from the shoreline and the sea. Work is still ongoing regarding this, with Environment Agency staff regularly visiting affected sites to assess and if necessary, remove newly visible pollution.
The PMCC has now been stood down, but the impacts of this incident are continuously monitored as part of routine ongoing water and environmental sampling in the area.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their plan and timetable for ratifying the Global Ocean Treaty.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government is completely committed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement, also known as the "High Seas Treaty" or "Global Ocean Treaty"), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Legislation will be introduced by the end of the year to enable ratification of the BBNJ Agreement.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to ban bottom trawling in marine protected areas, and if so when.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to protecting and restoring our ocean to good health, delivering on our commitment to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030. We have recently announced a consultation on plans to ban bottom trawling in a further 41 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), covering 30,000 square kilometres of England’s waters. This is in addition to the 60% of MPAs that already have byelaws in place to protect them from damaging fishing activity, and to existing protections provided by the marine planning and licensing regimes. The consultation on these new proposals will run from 9 June to 1 September 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential carbon savings from equipping all suitable school buildings with solar panels; and what steps they are taking to accelerate the rollout of solar energy across schools in line with net zero commitments.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The education estate has around 55 million square meters of roof area. The department is already working with Great British Energy to harness the opportunity for solar generation by installing rooftop solar panels in this financial year on around 200 schools in an £80 million partnership programme. The first 11 schools are already benefitting from having had panels installed, as we announced on 3 June here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-schools-install-great-british-energy-solar-panels.
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme also supports schools and other public sector bodies with funding to switch to cleaner heating and cut building emissions. Additionally, capital funding allocated by the department to the school sector each year can be used for projects that improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of school buildings, as well as improving the condition of the estate to keep schools safe and operational.
This is just one element of the department’s strategy to ensure that the school estate is sustainable. We are providing support for all schools and colleges to get started on their journey towards net zero via our new online sustainability support for education platform and our climate ambassador programme, Sustainability Support for Education, which can be accessed here: https://www.sustainabilitysupportforeducation.org.uk/.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (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 increase global cooperation to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is fully committed to preventing, deterring and eliminating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Global cooperation and collaboration are key to tackling this issue, as highlighted at this week’s United Nation Oceans Conference in Nice.
To deliver this objective, we are taking forward a wide range of actions, including, but not limited to, being a co-founder and active member of the IUU Fishing Action Alliance; prioritising tackling IUU fishing within all international fisheries governance forums, of which the UK is a Party; and delivering support and capacity-building to combat IUU fishing through international funding programmes, such as the Blue Belt Programme and the Ocean Country Partnership Programme.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether HMP Eastwood Park plan to close, or have closed, their programme for women prisoners aged 50 and over.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of older prisoners has risen significantly over the past 20 years, and we recognise that this can pose particular challenges for some prisons.
The Model of Operational Delivery for older prisoners published by His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service, sets out how prisons should support all older prisoners, including older women and older prisoners on short sentences.
We have accepted in principle the vast majority of the Independent Sentencing Review’s recommendations and we will work with partners and the sector as we develop our approach.
The contract for HMP/YOI Eastwood Park’s current programme for prisoners aged 50 and over, is due to end. To replace it, HMP Eastwood Park plans to put out a tender for similar services, but covering the entire population, rather than only those over 50.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific support they provide to prisoners aged 50 and over, particularly (1) those with short custodial sentences, (2) women and (3) women with short custodial sentences.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of older prisoners has risen significantly over the past 20 years, and we recognise that this can pose particular challenges for some prisons.
The Model of Operational Delivery for older prisoners published by His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service, sets out how prisons should support all older prisoners, including older women and older prisoners on short sentences.
We have accepted in principle the vast majority of the Independent Sentencing Review’s recommendations and we will work with partners and the sector as we develop our approach.
The contract for HMP/YOI Eastwood Park’s current programme for prisoners aged 50 and over, is due to end. To replace it, HMP Eastwood Park plans to put out a tender for similar services, but covering the entire population, rather than only those over 50.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to publish a strategy for prisoners aged 50 and over.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of older prisoners has risen significantly over the past 20 years, and we recognise that this can pose particular challenges for some prisons.
The Model of Operational Delivery for older prisoners published by His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service, sets out how prisons should support all older prisoners, including older women and older prisoners on short sentences.
We have accepted in principle the vast majority of the Independent Sentencing Review’s recommendations and we will work with partners and the sector as we develop our approach.
The contract for HMP/YOI Eastwood Park’s current programme for prisoners aged 50 and over, is due to end. To replace it, HMP Eastwood Park plans to put out a tender for similar services, but covering the entire population, rather than only those over 50.