Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 consider reforming the monitoring system for PM10 emissions from quarries; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on public health.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Particulate matter emissions from quarries are regulated under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) 2016, including through emission limits and monitoring requirements on total particulate matter. We will keep standards for PM10 emissions from quarries under review to ensure emissions controls and monitoring requirements are up-to-date.
Monitoring stations measure PM10 levels in various locations across the UK. Information and data are available through the webpage UKAIR. All locations are currently assessed as being below the PM10 limit value set out in the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010, based on monitoring and modelling.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 the adequacy of the approved monitoring scheme for PM10 admissions from quarries.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Particulate matter emissions from quarries are regulated under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) 2016, including through emission limits and monitoring requirements on total particulate matter. We will keep standards for PM10 emissions from quarries under review to ensure emissions controls and monitoring requirements are up-to-date.
Monitoring stations measure PM10 levels in various locations across the UK. Information and data are available through the webpage UKAIR. All locations are currently assessed as being below the PM10 limit value set out in the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010, based on monitoring and modelling.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 protect British (a) farmers and (b) produce from the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in (i) Hungary and (ii) Slovakia.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has stepped up measures to protect the UK from Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) following recent outbreaks in Central Europe and Germany. This includes a ban on imports of live animals and certain animal products to Great Britain from Hungary, Slovakia and Austria. We have also imposed an equivalent ban from the region of Germany that experienced an FMD outbreak in January.
From 12 April 2025 we have also extended restrictions on personal imports. Travellers are no longer permitted to bring meat or dairy products from cattle, sheep, goats, or pigs into Great Britain from any EU country for personal use.
Together Government, travellers, animal keepers and the livestock industry must do everything we can to keep FMD out and protect animal health and welfare. We urge livestock keepers to be extra vigilant and report any suspicion of FMD or other notifiable disease immediately.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 potential merits of a (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory scheme to require drive through fast food outlets to print car registration details on purchased food packaging.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not think it would be appropriate to require take-away food vendors to implement a vehicle registration number printing and tracing system for packaging due to the potential costs involved, which may outweigh any benefits. Data protection concerns have been raised. However, we strongly support voluntary initiatives to reduce littering.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 issues guidance on the management of large wild deer populations.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Native deer are an important part of our natural heritage and their activities can benefit some habitats. However, excessive foraging, bark stripping and trampling can have negative impacts on woodlands. Defra therefore provides a range of support for managing deer impacts.
The Forestry Commission and Natural England contribute to the production and updating of online guidance on all aspects of managing deer impacts. This is done in partnership with stakeholders, through the Deer Initiative Partnership. Guidance is available via its website.
Guidance is additionally available via a team of Deer Officers within the Forestry Commission, who also oversee applications for Countryside Stewardship grants to help with deer impacts management (including by lethal control), at all scales, from local to landscape scale.
Natural England publishes guidance on gov.uk on when to apply for a licence to kill or take deer in the close season or at night.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will publish the results of the consultation for the Environment Improvement Plan 2023 with specific reference to a national deer management strategy for England.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On the 30th July 2024, we announced a rapid review of the 2023 Environmental Improvement Plan which has now concluded. We published a statement of key findings from the rapid review on 30 January 2025. We will develop a new, statutory plan to protect and restore our natural environment with delivery information to help meet each of our ambitious Environment Act targets. This will be published later this year.
We are considering how to go further to reduce the impacts of deer on our woodlands and shall have an update in due course.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department issues to local authorities on the Aarhus Convention.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Aarhus Convention concerns access by the public to environmental information, to participation in environmental decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters. Defra does not issue specific guidance to local authorities on the Convention.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 has taken to provide more data to horticulture businesses on (a) sanitary and phytosanitary border movements and (b) inspection rates generated from the Import of products, animals, food and feed system.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our checks are intelligence-led and based on biosecurity risk. To protect the integrity of this approach, we cannot share granular data on movements and inspections. Traders should continue to follow the published guidance which sets out Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) inspection rates.
Regarding communication with horticulture businesses, there is regular official level engagement with the Horticultural Trade Association (HTA) concerning the border and there has been throughout the development of the BTOM; including the recent November 21st roundtable on plants, cut flowers, and the border.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 (a) protect the livestock sector from the confirmed outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Germany and (b) prevent the disease entering the UK.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK is currently free from foot and mouth disease (FMD) and has a robust contingency plan in place to manage risk as set out in the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain. Controls include strict prohibitions on the imports of animals and products of animal origin from countries in which FMD is present; a comprehensive veterinary surveillance system to detect new and emerging disease threats; and active follow up and veterinary investigation of any suspect reports of notifiable disease.
Following confirmation of FMD in Germany, Defra has taken rapid action to protect the UK. This includes, suspending the commercial import of susceptible animals from Germany and restricting personal imports of animal products from across the European Union. The need for further controls is being kept under review as further information on the situation in Germany becomes available.
FMD guidance is available on GOV.UK and livestock farmers are urged to be extra vigilant and report any suspect disease immediately.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 improve border infrastructure for importing (a) large plants and (b) trees.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra continues to work with port operators to ensure that there are effective import inspections of large plants and trees to maintain the UK’s high biosecurity standards, including ensuring equipment is available to handle goods. Defra has laid legislation which will implement an exemption to enable certain large commodities to be unloaded and inspected in outside areas at these facilities, subject to certain requirements. This will come into force on 30 January 2025.