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Written Question
Fly-tipping
Friday 20th October 2023

Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)

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 support local councils in tackling fly-tipping.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The PM’s Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan sets out how we will help councils take tougher action against those who fly-tip. This includes significantly raising the upper limit on the penalties councils can issue to £1,000 for fly-tipping and £600 for householders who give their waste to an unauthorised carrier, which we did in July. We have also increased transparency on the use of these penalties by publishing league tables and consulted stakeholders on ringfencing the money raised from these penalties for enforcement and clean up activity.

This builds on the £1.2m Defra has provided in grant funding to help more than 30 councils implement projects cracking down on fly-tipping. A selection of case studies from round one are available online so that others can learn about those interventions which were most successful. These can be found at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/fly-tipping-intervention-grant-scheme. We have recently launched another grant opportunity that could see a further £1m handed out in grants to help more councils tackle the issue.

With the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, we are developing a toolkit to help councils and others tackle fly-tipping. So far, the group has published a guide on how to present robust cases to court and a new framework which sets out how to set up and run effective local partnerships. The toolkit, and other resources, are available online at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/fly-tipping-intervention-grant-scheme.


Written Question
Waste Disposal: Erith and Thamesmead
Friday 20th October 2023

Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the level of illegal waste disposal in Erith and Thamesmead constituency in the last 12 months.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency’s Kent and South London enforcement team respond to reports of illegal disposal of waste and seeks to take proactive and targeted action within the Erith and Thamesmead area.

In the last 12 months the Environment Agency have received two reports of illegal disposal of waste in the Erith and Thamesmead area. Both reports concern the illegal disposal of commercial waste by burning. The Environment Agency attended one site and since this visit, have received no further reports of burning from this location. In the case of the second report, the Environment Agency issued a letter giving advice and guidance on waste disposal to the business address of the company suspected of the burning. Since this letter was sent, they have received no further reports of burning. The Environment Agency currently have no active investigations into the illegal disposal of waste in Erith and Thamesmead area.

The Environment Agency also conducts proactive days of action to target specific waste offences and waste streams. The last day of action was held on the 18 September 2023 covering the Erith and Thamesmead areas in the London borough of Bexley. The operation was conducted in partnership with officers from Environment Agency, Metropolitan Police, Openreach and the London Borough of Bexley. The purpose was to target uninsured/unlicensed drivers and hauliers believed to be engaged in illegal waste activities. Based on intelligence the focus was on scrap metal dealers known to be operating in the Thamesmead area. The day gathered valuable intelligence and enforcement action was taken against several un-registered waste carriers.

Additionally, the latest fly-tipping incident data held by Defra shows that in 2021/22 the London Borough of Bexley reported a total of 5096 fly-tipping incidents and the London Borough of Greenwich reported a total of 8666 fly-tipping incidents. In response to these reports 407 actions were taken by the London Borough of Bexley and 918 actions by the London Borough of Greenwich.


Written Question
Animal Breeding: Animal Welfare
Friday 20th October 2023

Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent the breeding of animals that are genetically predisposed to (a) Brachycephaly and (b) other deformative conditions.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

The law on the breeding and sale of dogs, and the breeding and sale of rabbits and cats as pets, who can suffer from brachycephaly was updated and improved in 2018. Under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations) anyone in the business of breeding and selling dogs and/or who breeds three or more litters of dogs in a twelve-month period, as well as anyone in the business of breeding and selling rabbits or cats as pets, needs to hold a valid licence issued by their local authority.

Licencees must achieve and maintain statutory minimum animal welfare standards, which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse or revoke licences, and are prohibited from breeding from dogs if it can be reasonably expected that this would lead to health or welfare problems for the mother or her puppies.

Defra is currently undertaking a post-implementation review of the 2018 Regulations which will consider whether the regulations have met their objectives, and where there could be scope for further improvements. The review will be published soon.


Written Question
Neonicotinoids: Pollinators
Thursday 19th October 2023

Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what account her Department took when authorising the use of the neonicotinoid Cruiser SB in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022 of research on the effects of neonicotinoids on (i) bees and (ii) other pollinators.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The EU withdrew approval for the outdoor use of three neonicotinoid pesticides (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) on any crops, including crops such as sugar beet which are harvested prior to flowering, due to the risk of harmful effects on pollinators, in December 2018.

The UK supported this move, and this has not changed. The restrictions on neonicotinoids were justified by the growing weight of scientific evidence that they are harmful to bees and other pollinators. This restriction remains in place.

In considering the applications for use of Cruiser SB on sugar beet in 2021 and 2022, a range of evidence was considered on the impacts of the proposed use of the product on people, pollinators, and the environment. Information on these decisions can be found here.


Written Question
Pesticides: Neonicotinoids
Thursday 19th October 2023

Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the (a) environmental and (b) ecological effects of the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The EU withdrew approval for the outdoor use of three neonicotinoid pesticides (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) on any crops, including crops such as sugar beet which are harvested prior to flowering, due to the risk of harmful effects on pollinators, in December 2018.

The UK supported this move, and this has not changed. The restrictions on neonicotinoids were justified by the growing weight of scientific evidence that they are harmful to bees and other pollinators. This restriction remains in place.

In considering the applications for use of Cruiser SB on sugar beet in 2021 and 2022, a range of evidence was considered on the impacts of the proposed use of the product on people, pollinators, and the environment. Information on these decisions can be found here.


Written Question
Pesticides: Neonicotinoids
Thursday 19th October 2023

Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made a recent assessment of the implications for her policies of the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on pollinators.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The EU withdrew approval for the outdoor use of three neonicotinoid pesticides (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) on any crops, including crops such as sugar beet which are harvested prior to flowering, due to the risk of harmful effects on pollinators, in December 2018.

The UK supported this move, and this has not changed. The restrictions on neonicotinoids were justified by the growing weight of scientific evidence that they are harmful to bees and other pollinators. This restriction remains in place.

In considering the applications for use of Cruiser SB on sugar beet in 2021 and 2022, a range of evidence was considered on the impacts of the proposed use of the product on people, pollinators, and the environment. Information on these decisions can be found here.


Written Question
Animal Experiments and Animal Welfare
Thursday 16th March 2023

Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to (a) establish the UK as a leader in the protections for animal rights and (b) reduce animal testing that does not constitute vital medical research.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government's Action Plan for Animal Welfare was published in May 2021 and can be found here.

The use of animals remains important for improving the understanding of how biological systems work, in the development of safe new medicines, treatments and technologies, and in testing chemicals. Government’s current approach is to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs) through UK Research and Innovation, and to ensure that the UK has a robust regulatory system for licensing animal studies and enforcing legal standards. The legal framework in the UK requires that animals are only ever used in science where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed to achieve the scientific benefit, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.

The Home Office Regulator will only grant licences to use animals in science where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed to achieve the scientific benefit, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.


Written Question
River Thames: Waste Disposal
Thursday 16th March 2023

Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)

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 clean the banks of the river Thames from plastics and other waste.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The riparian owner is usually responsible for clearing watercourses and waterside land and they will be best placed to understand how to tackle local issues such as littering. The statutory Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse sets out the standards of cleaning that litter authorities are expected to be able to achieve on waterside land.

We have been proud to support and endorse national clean-up initiatives such as the Great British Spring Clean, and the Great British Beach Clean, and we will continue to use our influence to encourage as many people and businesses as possible to participate in these types of events again.


Written Question
Environment Protection
Monday 23rd January 2023

Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the press release published 28 September 2020 entitled PM commits to protect 30% of UK land in boost for biodiversity, what percentage of (a) land and (b) sea is currently protected.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

The UK Government is committed to protecting 30% of land and sea in the UK by 2030 (30by30). On land, 28% of the UK and 26% of England is currently designated as a protected area. We recognise, however, that many of these areas are not delivering for nature as they could. We consulted on our approach to 30by30 in the Nature Recovery Green Paper, which closed in May 2022. We are now in the process of analysing responses and will publish a Government response on conclusion of this exercise.


Nearly 8.3% of the global ocean is now protected. We have established a comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas covering 40% of English waters, and we are now focusing on making sure they are properly protected.


Written Question
Marine Environment: International Cooperation
Friday 20th January 2023

Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he expects the UK to meet its Global Ocean Alliance 30by30 target to protect England's seas by 2030.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

Since 2019, the UK has been leading the Global Ocean Alliance of countries championing ambitious ocean action under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), including the target to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 which was agreed at the CBD COP15 in Montreal, December 2022.

The 30by30 target is a global target. Nearly 8.3% of the global ocean is now protected. Achieving a global 30by30 target will require an international effort, from all countries and sectors. The UK is leading the way. We have established a comprehensive network of 374 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) covering 40% of English waters, and we are now focusing on making sure they are properly protected.

The Government is committed to protecting 30% of land and sea in the UK by 2030 (30by30). We consulted on our approach to 30by30 in the Nature Recovery Green Paper, which closed in May 2022. We are now in the process of analysing responses and will publish a Government response on conclusion of this exercise.