Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have put in place to deal with any long spring and summer drought, in particular in relation to the potential impact of such a drought on food supplies and public health.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Government has a range of policies in place to mitigate the impacts of drought, including the impact on food supplies and public health:
The impacts of drought on food supply are mitigated by the UK’s robust and reliable food industry, which is experienced in dealing with scenarios that can affect food supply, from adverse weather damaging crops to transport issues abroad. The size and diversity of the industry is a key factor in enabling the food sector to remain resilient to food supply chain disruptions. The expertise, capability, levers and resilience to plan for and respond to food supply disruption lies within the industry.
The health effects of drought are primarily indirect, including: injury, risk to public and private water supply; dust-related problems for those with pre-existing respiratory and cardiovascular disease; and impacts on mental health and wellbeing. PHE specifically plans for the risks of hot weather, including drought, in the Heatwave and Summer preparedness programme of the Heatwave Plan for England - which became operational in June 2020.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many trees have been planted in (1) England, (2) Scotland, and (3) Wales, in each of the last three years; and what were the respective acreages of (a) replanting of existing woodlands, and (b) new afforestation.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Forestry Commission produces statistics on woodland planting and restocking by area, but not by tree numbers, in the UK. These are Official Statistics produced to meet the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics.
Woodland area statistics can be found on the Forest Research website together with background information at: https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/forestry-statistics/
The area of new planting (woodland creation) and publicly funded restocking for each country in each of the last three years, taken from the published statistics, which report in hectares, is shown below.
Woodland Area (thousands of hectares)
Year (ending 31/3) | New planting | Restocking |
England | ||
2016-17 | 1.15 | 3.00 |
2017-18 | 1.50 | 2.04 |
2018-19 | 1.42 | 1.65 |
Wales | ||
2016-17 | 0.40 | 1.67 |
2017-18 | 0.24 | 1.71 |
2018-19 | 0.52 | 1.44 |
Scotland | ||
2016-17 | 4.76 | 11.07 |
2017-18 | 7.14 | 9.66 |
2018-19 | 11.21 | 11.19 |
Note: Publicly funded restocking is defined in the statistics as restocking of Forestry England, Forestry and Land Scotland, Natural Resources Wales Forest Service Woodlands and grant aided restocking of private sector woodland. This means that the level of restocking is under-reported in these statistics.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consult the National Grid and other electricity suppliers about the use of the greenhouse gas sodium hexafluoride as an insulation material in medium and high-voltage electrical installations, including switchgear; in particular about leaks of gas into the atmosphere, the extent of this problem and its global impact; and whether they will publish their findings.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We have interpreted this question as referring to sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
In the EU Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulation (2014), equipment containing sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) is subject to containment provisions, including leak checking obligations, a requirement to repair any detected leakages without undue delay and the need to use appropriately qualified personnel to perform these tasks. The Regulation also prohibits the intentional release of F-gases into the atmosphere, where the release is not technically necessary for the intended use.
The EU F-gases Regulation requires that the Commission publish a report by 1 July 2020, assessing whether cost-effective, technically feasible, energy-efficient and reliable alternatives exist, which make the replacement of SF6 possible in new medium-voltage secondary switchgear. It also requires that a comprehensive review of the EU F-gas regulation, including a consultation process, is published by December 2022.
All requirements of the Regulation, including the above, will be retained in UK law after EU exit.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the EU's Circular Economy Package; and what steps, if any, they are taking to implement the concept of a circular economy in the UK.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what research they are conducting into extended producer responsibility to assist in the reduction of pollution by plastics and to encourage the use of recyclable and bio-degradable packaging.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they intend to take to prevent the export of waste products from the UK.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what incentives they intend to offer to (1) producers, (2) wholesalers, and (3) retailers, to reduce the amount of packaging in the economy, in particular non-reusable plastic packaging.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the amendment of the Basel Convention on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes in June 2019 to include a list of plastic products; and what plans they have to review that amendment's effect annually.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to commission research into the capacity of the world's deserts to accommodate toxic wastes and non-recyclable plastics.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with food retailers about providing food and other products that would otherwise have to go to landfill sites to food banks; and what plans they have to encourage (1) food retailers to participate in, and (2) the further development of, such provision.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We continue to work with key stakeholders across the food chain to overcome the barriers to redistribution and explore solutions through The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), supported by funding from Defra.
All large retailers have relationships with redistribution organisations and we have seen a large increase in redistribution which has almost doubled since 2015 (96% increase), or an additional £81 million of food equivalent to an extra 65 million meals a year. This has been helped by a 63% increase in supply of food from major retailers in recent years.
There is still more that can be done, the Government announced in October 2018 a £15m pilot fund for 2019/20 that aims to increase the redistribution of surplus food through a series of grant opportunities. The winners of which will be announced later in the year. We have already awarded £4.2 million of this fund to projects.
In line with its commitment in the Resources and Waste Strategy the Government has also appointed Ben Elliot as its Food Waste Reduction Champion. He has been meeting - and continues to work with - business leaders from restaurants and large food retailers to further develop solutions to prevent good food from being wasted.