Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in Northern Ireland on the adequacy of the Noise Act 1996.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Noise Act 1996 gives local authorities powers to serve warning notices to deal with noise from dwellings and licensed premises that exceeds a permitted level between 11pm and 7am. There have not been any recent discussions on the adequacy of the Noise Act 1996 between Defra and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of blue-green algae on water quality in UK rivers.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) works with others including local authorities and Public Health England to manage waterbodies affected by blue-green algae and the risks they pose. The EA does not routinely monitor for blue-green algae but attends incidents and analyses samples where appropriate, assessing the risks and notifying water body owners, abstractors, Environmental Health Officers, as necessary.
Excessive nutrient enrichment is a major cause of algal blooms. The Government recognises this and is taking action to reduce nutrient pollution. The Environment Act 2021 sets legally binding goals to cut agricultural nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment entering water by 40% by 2038 (compared to a 2018 baseline), and to reduce phosphorus loadings from treated wastewater by 80% by 2038 (compared to a 2020 baseline). We have also committed to a review of the Environmental Improvement Plan, which will outline how Defra will meet these targets.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help support the game keeping industry.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not currently have specific policies that support the gamekeeping profession. However, in addition to our work to support the farming sector, Defra works across Government to ensure policies are rural proofed with the aim of supporting rural businesses and communities.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of recent trends in levels of water pollution in England.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra publishes an annual suite of indicators that assess progress on protecting and improving the water environment. These reports are publicly available at GOV.UK. The latest report has several trend assessments, each one is useful for understanding different parts of the water environment and for understanding trends from different pressures, such as those from the water industry. One of the trend assessments, covering data from 1990 to 2023, shows a generally improving national situation for many pollutants over that time, though some exceptions remain. The Environment Agency and Defra are working hard with many partners to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas and won’t change our focus until reductions in pollution are observed across the board.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on new dog breeding laws.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Animal welfare is a devolved matter in the UK. This means that responsibility for animal welfare policy in each of the nations, including the regulation of dog breeding, is the responsibility of the relevant nation’s Ministers.
Defra works closely with the devolved Governments on a range of shared priorities, including animal welfare, and will discuss any relevant matters as necessary, including at meetings of the Interministerial Group (EFRA).
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the devolved Administrations on improving water safety.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works closely with the devolved Governments on a range of shared priorities and will discuss any relevant matters as necessary, including at meetings of the Interministerial Group (EFRA).
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on trends in the level of avian influenza outbreaks.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Disease control is a devolved matter, and it is for the devolved administrations to assess their disease risks and respond accordingly. However, each of the four UK administrators are an integral part of the decision-making process and are represented at the National Disease Control Centre ‘bird table’ meetings. Representatives of each devolved administration also sit on both the Animal Disease Policy Group (a UK wide policy decision making group) and the joint Government – Industry Avian Influenza Core group.
Further information on the avian influenza situation and controls in Northern Ireland can be found on the DAERA-NI website at https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/avian-influenza-ai.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 adequacy of local authorities' Local Flood Risk Management Strategies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed to supporting communities and ensuring flood risk management is fit for the challenges we face now and in the future. Local flood risk management is a devolved matter, but we will work to improve resilience and preparation across central government and local authorities to better protect communities across the UK.
Protecting communities around the country from flooding is one of the Secretary of State’s five core priorities. That is why we set up a Flood Resilience Taskforce to provide oversight of national and local flood resilience and preparedness ahead of and after the winter flood season. This marks a new approach to preparing for flooding and working between national, regional and local Government, including the devolved administrations, and flood risk partners.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of food security.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The second United Kingdom Food Security Report (UKFSR) was published in December 2024. The UKFSR sets out an analysis of statistical data relating to food security in the UK, fulfilling the duty in the Agriculture Act 2020 to present a report on food security to Parliament at least once every three years.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 help tackle instances of drought.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Drought plans must be produced by Water Companies every 5 years. A drought plan is a tactical plan that shows how a secure water supply is maintained, while minimising impacts on the environment during dry weather and drought.
There are a range of actions/tools that can be utilised in a drought plan. These range from Temporary Use Bans (known as 'hosepipe bans'), drought permits-which enable companies to take more water from environment (as prescribed in the Water Resources Act 1991 (WRA91)). In addition, there are also Drought Orders which enable companies to take further water from environment and/or other abstractors and implement water restrictions or restrict other non-essential use.
Defra Minister Hardy attended the National Drought Group, chaired by the Environment Agency, held on 5 June, to ensure actions are being taken to secure water supplies, should recent dry weather continue. We continue to monitor the situation and further National Drought Group meetings are planned, should the dry weather continue.