Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote use of National Trails.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Since 2013 the promotion of national trails and the ‘acorn’ (registered trademark) has been carried out by Walk Unlimited, a social enterprise, which champions the network through its website www.nationaltrail.co.uk. It works with the individual trail partnerships who remain responsible for providing information on their trail to the national site and for local promotion. Natural England also encourages individual trail partnerships and the emerging England Coast Path partners to consider promotion of both the individual trails and stretches of those trails and the promotion of the family of national trails.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of people who use National Trails every year.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The most recent estimate from 2013 is that at least 70 million visits are made each year to places passed through by a national trail.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will set out all land owned by the Forestry Commission where development has been granted for holiday centres or associated tourist developments.
Answered by George Eustice
Listed below are the sites on land managed by the Forestry Commission where there have been the most significant visitor developments. Many of these are long standing and where required the necessary planning consents are in place. The sites where planning permission has been granted and work has not started or is in progress are noted.
Forestry Commission Visitor Centres
Alice Holt Forest
Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest
Bolderwood Car Park and Visitor Site
Cannock Chase Forest
Dalby Forest
Delamere Forest – consent granted - redevelopment pending
Fineshade Wood
Grizedale
Haldon Forest Park – consent granted - redevelopment pending
Hamsterley Forest
Hicks Lodge
High Lodge Thetford Forest
Kielder Castle Visitor Centre
Kielder Water and Forest Park
Moors Valley Country Park
Rosliston Forest
Sherwood Pines
Thames Chase Forest Centre & Broadfields
Wendover - consent granted – redevelopment underway
Whinlatter
Wyre
Westonbirt Arboretum
Forest Holidays Cabin Sites
Keldy, North Yorkshire
Cropton, North Yorkshire
Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire
Thorpe Forest, Norfolk
Blackwood Forest, Hampshire
Forest of Dean
Deerpark, Cornwall
Delamere Forest - Consent granted - development pending
Camping in the Forest Campsites
Hollands Wood, New Forest
Aldridge Hill, New Forest
Ashurst, New Forest
Denny Wood, New Forest
Holmsley, New Forest
Longbeech, New Forest
Matley Wood, New Forest
Ocknell, New Forest
Roundhill, New Forest
Setthorns, New Forest
Postern Hill, Savernake
Bracelands, Forest of Dean
Christchurch, Forest of Dean
Sherwood Forest – under development
Third Party Developments (not listed above)
Matlock, cabin site
Rosliston, cabin development with Local Authority
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage Parish Councils to adopt single-use plastic-free policies.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
We published our 25 Year Environment Plan on 11 January. This states our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste and, in particular, the waste from single use plastics. The steps we will take to achieve this include exploring the introduction of plastic free aisles by retailers; exploring how we can develop our producer responsibility schemes to give producers more incentives to design more resource efficient products; and extending the carrier bag charge to small retailers.
HM Treasury published a call for evidence on 13 March that seeks views on how the tax system or charges could reduce the amount of single use plastics waste by reducing the unnecessary production of these items; increasing reuse wherever feasible; and increasing the levels of recycling.
The Government would like to see all levels of government support the 25YEP and its initiatives, including parish councils.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that effective biosecurity measures are in place to protect flora in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
We are committed to doing all we can to prevent plant pests and diseases reaching our borders and to build the resilience of our flora and other trees and plants. Our approach, led by the Government Chief Plant Health Officer, involves the systematic, proactive screening of potential new and emerging risks, which are listed in the Plant Health Risk Register.
There are regulations on importing plants and products from outside the UK where it is known that certain pests or pathogens are present. These are updated regularly in response to new evidence, such as that published by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation. We are working collaboratively with the EU and the broader international community, industry, NGOs, landowners and the public to reduce the risks of pests and diseases entering the country and the impact of newly established pests, including substantial programmes of work on, for example, the oak processionary moth and ash dieback.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential health risks caused by the urban fox population; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Foxes can carry a range of parasites and diseases relevant to the health of people and domestic pets. There is, however, no evidence that foxes are a major risk to public health, or to pet dogs in England. Britain is currently rabies-free and measures are in place to keep it that way.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with local authorities on increases in the urban fox population; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
We have not had recent discussions with local authorities about increases in the urban fox population.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that online marketplaces abide by all UK and EU laws on the sale of seahorses.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Seahorses are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Trade of seahorses into, and from, the EU is regulated by CITES permits, however they can be freely traded within the EU without a CITES permit provided that they have been legally acquired.
It is for the police, including the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), which is partly funded by Defra, to investigate any cases involving the illegal trading of seahorses, including intelligence concerning potential illegal trading on online marketplaces. The NWCU has investigated a number of such cases.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions have taken place for the illegal sale of seahorses in the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Identifying the number of defendants prosecuted for the illegal sale of seahorses from those prosecuted for the illegal sale of other endangered species recorded in data held centrally by the Ministry of Justice would incur disproportionate costs.
Defra does not hold any other data regarding the number of prosecutions for the illegal sales of seahorses.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department will make staged funding available for the England Coastal Path as it opens.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Natural England will provide funding for the England Coast Path as stretches of the coast are opened under Part 9 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. We are aiming to complete the England Coast Path by 2020.