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, how many supertrawlers were given permission to fish in UK Marine Protected Areas in the last year for which data are available.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are considering our policies for large-scale pelagic vessels or ‘supertrawlers’ and working with industry to develop more robust management of the non-quota species which these vessels are targeting alongside quota stocks. Any action needs to be evidence-based and in line with the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. However, these trawlers operate by targeting shoals of fish in the mid-upper water column and do not touch the seabed. This means that they are unlikely to damage the seabed habitats, such as reef and sediment habitats, that most Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designated to protect.
Marine regulators assess on a site-by-site basis which fishing activities could prevent MPAs from achieving their conservation objectives. Byelaws are developed using an evidence-led process to determine what management is required to protect sites and to not restrict non-damaging fishing. 60% of our 178 English MPAs are already protected from damaging fishing activity, including byelaws this year in the first four offshore sites, which ban bottom towed gear over sensitive habitats. We are aiming to have all MPAs in English waters protected from damaging fishing activity by 2024.
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, how many UK Marine Protected Areas her Department expects will meet their conservation goals.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a devolved competency and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Our aim is that all our MPAs will meet their conservation goals. On 16th December, we announced a set of legally binding targets for the environment. This includes one for MPAs, which is for 70% of protected features in MPAs to be in favourable condition by 2042, with the remainder in a recovering condition. To help achieve this, the Marine Management Organisation has an ambitious programme to introduce bylaws to restrict the most damaging fishing activity, like bottom trawling.
We know that if we stop damaging activities and manage our sites properly then protected features will begin to recover.
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 his Department is taking to inform the public about the spread of (a) Japanese knotweed and (b) other harmful weeds; and if his Department will take steps to provide further support to the public to help tackle these weeds.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the threats posed by invasive species, including Japanese knotweed, and has a comprehensive Great Britain Non-native Species Strategy designed to tackle these threats. Japanese knotweed is listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it an offence to allow the plant to escape or cause it to grow in the wild. The Weeds Act 1959 allows the Secretary of State for Defra to take statutory action to control the spread of five other harmful weeds, including common ragwort which is the most reported of these.
The Government has developed guidance on how to prevent the spread of Japanese knotweed and other harmful weeds, as well as how to treat and dispose of them, which can be found on GOV.UK:
How to stop invasive non-native plants from spreading - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Government also run awareness raising campaigns such as 'Be Plant Wise' and Invasive Species Week, as well as providing species information and online training materials on biosecurity on the GB NNSS website.
In addition, the Code of Practice on How to Prevent the Spread of Ragwort supports the public by providing guidance on the most appropriate means of ragwort control, taking into account both animal welfare and environmental considerations.
Defra also continues to fund biocontrol research to tackle Japanese knotweed. It is hoped that this will provide a cost and time effective way of managing this species.
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 Living Wage Foundation's real wage calculator, if he will make estimate of how many (a) direct employees, (b) contractors and (c) agency workers who work in his Department and relevant agencies and public bodies receive a wage below that of either (i) the UK Real Living Wage outside of Greater London or (ii) the London Living Wage inside of Greater London.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
As of 6 July 2022, taking into account pay review process which will be effective from 1 July, it is expected there will be no direct employees (excluding students and apprentices) on rates lower than the Living Wage Foundation published rates.
Wage information relating to contractors is not held. The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 are complied with by all organisations, which ensure parity of pay for agency workers with rates paid to employees
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 he will make an assessment of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of hunting trophy (a) imports and (b) exports as a result of delays in bringing forward legislative proposals.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Covid-19 pandemic has delayed the publication of the Government response to the recent consultation and call for evidence on controls on the import and export of hunting trophies. I have no plans to make an assessment of the impact of this delay on imports and exports of hunting trophies. However, we are continuing to work on this important area and a response will be published as soon as possible.
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, how many trees have been planted under the Urban Tree Challenge Fund in (a) London and (b) Erith and Thamesmead constituency to date.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To date 1,932 Government funded trees have been planted under the Urban Tree Challenge Fund in London, of which 18 trees have been planted in the Erith and Thamesmead constituency.
The planting of a further 10,918 trees is planned under the Urban Tree Challenge Fund in London by the end of March 2021, of which 13 are planned to be planted in the Erith and Thamesmead constituency. Some of these may be planted by charities or private organisations.
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 his Department has to encourage the use of alternatives to cages on farms that breed partridges and pheasants.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We are committed to maintaining our position as world leaders in animal welfare and want to improve and build upon that record, working in partnership with farmers to support healthier, higher welfare animals. We are exploring options with all the industry sectors, including the gamebird industry, to see how welfare standards can be further enhanced and in a way that is sustainable.
The welfare of gamebirds is currently protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering. This is backed up by the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes, which encourages the adoption of high standards of husbandry.
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 his Department plans to take to protect Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Marine protection is a devolved matter and the information provided relates to England only.
We have essentially completed building our comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas, with 177 sites covering 40% of English waters. All Marine Protected Areas are protected through the planning and licensing regime to ensure activities such as offshore developments do not cause damage. For fishing, good progress has been made to protect sites in the inshore area with over 90 marine protected areas now with byelaws in place to prevent activities such as trawling which could damage protected features on the seabed. The Common Fisheries Policy has inhibited our ability to properly protect offshore areas. At the end of the Transition Period, we will use new powers contained in the Fisheries Bill to put byelaws in place as we have done in the inshore environment. A Call for Evidence for the first sites will be launched shortly, followed by the formal consultation in early 2021. As part of the Environment Bill targets work, we are developing a target requiring that our Marine Protected Areas are effectively protected so that they achieve their conservation objectives.
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 his Department has made of trends in the level of nitrogen dioxide in the air in Erith and Thamesmead constituency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Mayor of London is responsible for air quality in the capital and has reserve powers under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 to reflect this.
As part of these responsibilities the Mayor of London carries out monitoring of air quality in London, and this is likely to include an assessment of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels in Erith and Thamesmead.
The most recent national compliance assessment for NO2 shows that all road links in Erith and Thamesmead that are included in the assessment were below the annual mean limit value for NO2 of 40 µg/m³ in 2019, with the highest concentration recorded at 37.6 µg/m³ on the A2016. The full data is available online at https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/gis-mapping/.
The UK is compliant with our air quality obligations for all pollutants with the exception of NO2 concentrations at roadside locations, and we have put in place a £3.8 billion plan to tackle this issue. More widely, the Government’s Clean Air Strategy sets out an ambitious programme of action to reduce air pollution from a wide range of sources. Our Environment Bill delivers key parts of this strategy and makes a clear commitment to set a legally binding target to reduce fine particulate matter and enables local authorities to take more effective action to tackle air pollution in their areas.
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 his Department is taking to ensure that the UK meets its targets on air quality.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK meets all legal air quality obligations, except for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration limit values at the roadside, and the latest UK compliance data in 2019 shows an improvement since 2018.
The Government published the UK plan for tackling roadside NO2 concentrations in July 2017, followed by a supplement in October 2018. The plan and supplement set out how the Government will achieve compliance with legal limits for NO2 in the shortest possible time, supported by a £3.8 billion investment into air quality and cleaner transport.
In January 2019, the Government also published a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy, which aims to cut air pollution across all sectors and sits alongside the 2017 plan. This strategy sets out the comprehensive action required across all areas of government and society to reduce air pollution and meet our ambitious air pollutant emission targets for 2020 and 2030.
The Environment Bill delivers key parts of the Clean Air Strategy and will enable and drive more effective action to improve air quality.