Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that the border control post at Stansted Airport which facilitates the movement of animals for breeding purposes and horse racing will not be at risk of closure.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is confident that existing and new BCP infrastructure has sufficient capacity and capability to handle the volume of expected checks outlined in the Border Target Operating Model, with robust, dynamic, and effective operational measures ready to call upon if needed. Defra will continue to work with existing BCP operators to ensure they remain operational
It is worth noting that commercial ports are responsible for determining and setting their own rates for recovering costs at their facilities.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - 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 report from the Office for Environmental Protection, Progress in improving the natural environment in England 2023/2024, published on 16 January, that they may not meet environmental standards for maritime areas.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
My department welcomes the Office for Environmental Protection’s report reviewing “Progress in improving the natural environment in England 2023/2024”. We will respond in full to this report in due course.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
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 10 December 2024 (HL3098), whether their policy on energy from waste has changed; and if so how, following the publication of the Residual waste infrastructure capacity note on 30 December 2024.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Residual Waste Infrastructure Capacity Note assesses our residual waste treatment capacity need to 2035, as well as giving consideration to the long-term residual waste reduction target. The Capacity Note shows that, as of 2022-23, there were certain areas in England where significant volumes of non-recyclable household waste are sent to landfill. There is also a need to divert non-household wastes away from landfill.
The Capacity Note was published which set out that the Government will only back new energy from waste projects that meet strict conditions. Proposals for new facilities will have to demonstrate a clearly defined domestic residual waste treatment capacity need to facilitate the diversion of residual waste away from landfill, or enable the replacement of older, less-efficient facilities. Additionally, new facilities will have to maximise efficiency and support the delivery of economic growth, net zero and the move to a circular economy.
The Government encourages those developing energy from waste facilities (at all stages in the process) to consider forecast changes to future capacity, demand, and the Government’s circular economy opportunities, in light of the evidence published in the Capacity Note.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current level of bad debt in the water sector and what plans they have to reduce that debt.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The occupier of a property has a legal responsibility to pay the water bill of that property. Water sector bad debt is money owed to water companies which customers are failing to pay off.
This Government expects all water companies to proactively engage with supporting their customers and to put robust support in place to help customers make payments on any outstanding debt.
Between 2019 and 2024 bad debt cost the sector £2.205 billion. Under Ofwat’s PR24 Final Determinations, companies have committed to contributing £197 million of funding to reduce the number of households in debt.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will consider a single budget for the maintenance and dredging of watercourses, rather than two separate ones as at present for capital and operational maintenance.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Currently, dredging is part of the Environment Agency’s routine maintenance programme on its watercourses.
To ensure we protect the country from the devastating impacts of flooding, we will invest £2.4 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience, by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. Longer term funding decisions will be made at the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many miles of maintenance and dredging of minor watercourses will be achieved this year.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency plan to carry out dredging on 147 miles (236km) of watercourses for which they are responsible in 2024/25. Figures can be subject to change based on in-year inspections and the potential to have a requirement to redistribute resources to incident response and recovery.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase self-sufficiency in food; and what are the latest figures for self-sufficiency in (1) fruit, and (2) vegetables.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK’s self-sufficiency ratio has been stable for several decades, currently producing 62% of all the food we need, and 75% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. UK food security is built on supply from diverse sources: strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes.
UK food security is high and strengthening it by supporting our farmers and food producers is a top priority for this Government. This government will protect farmers from being undercut in trade deals; lower energy bills; use the Government purchasing power to back British produce; introduce a land-use framework, the first ever Cross-Government Rural Crime Strategy; and set up a new British Infrastructure Council.
The latest figures for 2023, as set out in the government’s official statistics, show that the UK is 53% self-sufficient for fresh vegetables and 16% self-sufficient for fruit.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of household waste was (1) recycled, (2) reused, (3) sent to landfill, and (4) used as resource in 'Energy from Waste', in each of the past 3 years.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Figures for England have been taken from published statistics and also calculated from data held in the WasteDataFlow web portal. The information is provided in the table below:
Table 1: Percentage of household waste by main disposal route for the past 3 years in England
Percentage of Household waste sent for Reuse, Recycling or Composting | Percentage of Household Waste sent to Landfill | Percentage of Household Waste sent for Energy Recovery | |
2020/21 | 42.3% | 7.7% | 47.9% |
2021/22 | 42.5% | 8.1% | 47.4% |
2022/23 | 41.7% | 7.3% | 48.9% |
Source: WasteDataFlow
The percentages above will not sum to 100% as some household waste is sent to ‘Other' treatments or to non-energy from waste (EFW) incineration. Other treatment refers to input to mechanical biological treatment (MBT), residual material recovery facilities (MRFs), refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and other plants prior to treatment and disposal.
A separate figure for reuse is not available. Household waste sent for energy recovery does not include waste sent for non EfW incineration.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy on developing energy from waste.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy, a future where we keep our resources in use for longer, waste is reduced, we accelerate the path to net zero, we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs, our economy prospers, and nature thrives. As part of this we will consider the role of Energy from Waste, including waste incineration, in the context of circularity, economic growth, and reaching net zero.
As we move towards a circular economy there will still be a need for the safe and sanitary management of residual waste. In accordance with the Waste Hierarchy, sending residual waste that cannot currently be prevented, prepared for reuse, or recycled to Energy from Waste plants is preferable to disposal in landfill.
Defra will publish an analysis of municipal residual waste treatment infrastructure capacity including exports, against expected future residual waste arisings in England, so we can understand what future capacity may be required following implementation of the packaging reforms. This analysis will support decision making relating to planning for new residual waste treatment infrastructure.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 28 October (HL Deb col 1009) and 20 November (HL Deb col 259), what are the cumulative effects and regulatory burdens they have identified in relation to flood prevention measures such as sustainable drainage systems.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are many requirements that developers must comply with when designing and building new developments. For example, developers must provide funding for schools, hospitals, and other local infrastructure projects among other things.
The cumulative impact of these requirements could render some developments unviable for developers, if unchecked. The Government must be mindful of these concerns at this time, during one of the most acute housing crises in living memory.
The Government is considering how to achieve our ambitions on sustainable drainage while being mindful of the impact on developers and to ensure that we are achieving environmental protections whilst also deliver much-needed housing.