Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Update Report from the Lead Ammunition Group, published in April, into harmful effects of lead shot on humans and animals.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government is currently considering the Update Report from the Lead Ammunition Group.
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is currently carrying out a review of the potential risks presented by lead ammunition to establish if a case can be made to regulate their use within the EU.
The Government will consider both the Lead Ammunition Group Update Report and the findings of the ECHA review before deciding whether any changes to the current Regulations are required. The EHCA review is expected to be published in the summer.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
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 withdrawal and archiving of guidance by Defra, as part of its Smarter Guidance Review, on the ability of local authority environmental health officers to deal effectively and appropriately with statutory nuisances.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Issues that could be ‘statutory nuisances’ are local issues best dealt with at a local level. The Government believes that current legislation provides local authorities with the necessary powers to deal with statutory nuisances and does not consider it appropriate to provide ‘best practice’ guidance to local authorities. Local authorities need to be able to take account of local circumstances when determining how best to apply the powers available to them.
Detailed guidance was withdrawn under the 2010-2015 government’s Smarter Guidance review and replaced with user-friendly general guidance setting out the duties of local authorities under the statutory nuisance regime. The Smarter Guidance review was part of the Red Tape Challenge and was launched in response to a detailed review that found a lack of clarity between legal obligation and an accumulation of ‘best practice’ guidance which, in many cases, could be better provided by other bodies.
The Smarter Guidance review therefore consulted on proposals to simplify guidance to focus on legal obligations. This consultation process sought views on user needs, including those of environmental health officers (EHOs). EHOs therefore had an opportunity to express any views about the impact of the guidance changes on their ability to perform their role before a final decision was taken on whether or not to revise or archive specific documents.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether there is a widespread risk of lead poisoning in migratory waterbirds resulting from the use of lead ammunition, for the purpose of interpreting the Guidelines to Resolution 11.15, <i>Preventing Poisoning of Migratory Birds</i>, agreed at the Eleventh Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Through the Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (England) Regulations 1999, the use of lead shot ammunition is restricted to protect waterfowl from lead poisoning. Its use is banned on all foreshores, certain Sites of Special Scientific Interest and for the shooting of all ducks and geese, coot and moorhen. The supply of lead weights for fishing is also prohibited. One recent piece of research suggests compliance with the Regulations is relatively low with around 70% of wild duck carcasses bought from game dealers in England having been shot with lead ammunition. We will continue to look at how the Lead Shot Regulations can be better implemented.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the levels of compliance with the Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (England) Regulations 1999, as amended, and the effectiveness of those Regulations in reducing lead poisoning of waterbirds.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Through the Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (England) Regulations 1999, the use of lead shot ammunition is restricted to protect waterfowl from lead poisoning. Its use is banned on all foreshores, certain Sites of Special Scientific Interest and for the shooting of all ducks and geese, coot and moorhen. The supply of lead weights for fishing is also prohibited. One recent piece of research suggests compliance with the Regulations is relatively low with around 70% of wild duck carcasses bought from game dealers in England having been shot with lead ammunition. We will continue to look at how the Lead Shot Regulations can be better implemented.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the finding of the Lead Advisory Group, reported by the Chairman in his letter of 3 June 2015 to the Secretary of State, that 10,000 children are growing up in households where "they could regularly be eating sufficient game shot with lead ammunition to cause them neurodevelopmental harm and other health impairments".
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Food Standards Agency has identified that lead shot game is unlikely to be a significant source of exposure for the majority of consumers but recognises that it may be a significant additional contribution for frequent consumers and vulnerable groups. The FSA has advised that those consuming high levels of such game should reduce their intake, especially vulnerable consumers such as children and pregnant women. The FSA is considering what further action is required to raise awareness of their advice, particularly with vulnerable groups such as parents and carers of young children.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord De Mauley on 18 November (HL2662), what proportion of the £1.6 million spent by the Environment Agency’s Climate Ready Programme is allocated to communicating to the wider public, as opposed to organisations, the risks, opportunities and impacts of climate change on the well-being and economy of the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
The Environment Agency’s Climate Ready support service focuses on the priority risks and sectors in the National Adaptation Programme report, published by the Government in July 2013 and, therefore, targets organisations rather than the general public.
The service provides advice and support to help businesses, public sector and other organisations to adapt and build resilience to climate change. Support service work is available directly to the public, including the Climate Ready bulletin that is produced on a monthly basis and sent out to anyone who has registered to receive it. These bulletins publicise the events and information that the service and its partners continue to make available.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has spent on communicating to the public the future risks, opportunities and impacts of climate change on the well-being and economy of the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
Defra spent £8.3 million in 2013-14 under its core adapting to climate change programme. This included £1.6 million to the Environment Agency’s Climate Ready Support Service (CRSS) to help organisations across England adapt to a changing climate, through targeted engagement with key sectors and their representative bodies. Adaptation is mainstreamed across Government, and other Defra programmes also communicate climate change and impacts to their respective partners and sectors. Defra also participates in a DECC-led cross-Government communications group promoting unified and consistent messaging on climate change.
Defra continues to help build the nation’s resilience to a changing climate primarily through the implementation of the first National Adaptation Programme report published last July, the implementation of our Strategy for the second round of the Adaptation Reporting Power and improving our understanding of climate risk through the second Climate Change Risk Assessment due in 2017.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister has lead responsibility for communicating to the public the future risks, opportunities and impacts of climate change on the well-being and economy of the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
Dan Rogerson, hon. Member for North Cornwall, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, is the Minister responsible for communicating information about, and adapting to, the risks, opportunities and impacts of climate change on the UK.