Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
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 the effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on livestock exports to the EU.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is in everyone’s interests to secure a good deal with the EU and that is what we are committed to. However, as any responsible government would, we are preparing for the possibility of no deal – and in all future scenarios we will be ensuring our high animal welfare standards are maintained.
We have been working on no deal livestock contingency planning, dealing with sector specific issues and preparing for all outcomes.
We have plans in place to ensure that the movement of animals and animal products is not disrupted. This includes a new import notification system, set to be ready by the end of March, and increased capacity amongst Official Veterinarians for Export Health Certificates to export foods of animal origin outside the EU.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of appeals to the Independent Agricultural Appeals Panel against decisions of the Rural Payments Agency were upheld in the last calendar year.
Answered by George Eustice
During the 2017 calendar year, the Independent Agricultural Appeals Panel and then the Minister of State reviewed 29 cases appealing against decisions made by the Rural Payments Agency. Of these, ten were upheld in the customer’s favour and a further four were partially upheld.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government will make it its policy to ban the use of single-use plastic coffee cups in Government buildings.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan, published in January this year, includes a commitment to remove all single-use consumer plastics from central Government offices. This commitment will be delivered and reported under the sustainable procurement reporting section of the Greening Government Commitments.
A number of Departments, including Defra, are already taking steps to eliminate single-use consumer plastics from their operations. Plastic drinking cups have been removed from Defra-run offices and replaced by glasses, and plastic coffee cups are soon to be banned from office catering outlets. The Department is currently tendering for a new catering contract which will prohibit single-use plastics from this summer.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) start up and (b) running costs of the proposed independent environmental watchdog to be established after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
On 10 May, the Government launched a consultation on proposals to establish an independent environmental body through the Environmental Principles and Governance Bill. Our intention is that this new body would hold the Government to account on our environmental standards when we have left the EU. The public consultation runs for 12 weeks until 2 August.
The costs of establishing and running the new body are dependent on its functions, which are the subject of the ongoing consultation.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what legal identity is planned to be in place to prevent EU vessels operating inside the Orkney and Shetland 12 nautical mile zone during the proposed 21-month implementation period after EU treaties and the derogation for exclusive use of the Orkney and Shetland 12 nautical mile zone cease to apply to the UK.
Answered by George Eustice
The implementation period agreed between the UK and EU was endorsed by the European Council on 22 March.
Under the agreement, current fisheries rules and enforcement arrangements will continue to apply. This includes provisions relating to access to waters within the UK’s 6-12 nautical mile zone.
Access to fish in UK waters after the implementation period will be a matter for negotiation. Access will be on our terms, under our control and for the benefit of UK fishermen.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what date the 1964 London Fisheries convention will cease to apply to the UK; and from that date all EU fishing vessels will be excluded from the UK's 6 to 12 nautical miles zone.
Answered by George Eustice
The 1964 London Fisheries Convention will cease to apply to the UK on 2 July 2019. During the implementation period, current access arrangements will continue, including access to the 6 to 12 nautical miles zone where permitted under current EU rules. After 2020, we will decide who can access our waters and on what terms. Any decisions about giving access to vessels from the EU, and other coastal states, to our waters will then be a matter for negotiation.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
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 reduce noise pollution in the oceans.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The UK monitors activity generating impulsive noise from pile driving, seismic surveys, detonation of unexploded ordnance, and some sonar activity via the UK Marine Noise Registry (https://mnr.jncc.gov.uk/). To address sources of continuous noise, the UK is establishing a noise monitoring network, consisting of long-term monitoring stations deployed in coastal waters. Starting in 2018, UK agencies will participate in the EU-funded JOMOPANS project to develop joint monitoring in the North Sea.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
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 help reduce rising levels of plastic in the oceans.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We are taking a series of steps to deal with ocean plastics, including our ban on microbeads. Microbeads used in rinse off products end up in the marine environment and damage the marine life. While some countries have opted to ban only those plastic particles added for exfoliating and cleansing purposes, our ban covers all microplastic particles in rinse-off personal care products. It is one of the toughest bans in the world. The ban on the manufacture of rinse-off personal care products containing microbeads will begin on the 9th of January 2018, and the ban on sale will follow six months later
From 2 October to 20 November an independent working group set up under the Litter Strategy for England held a call for evidence on measures to reduce littering of drinks containers and promote recycling. This included seeking evidence on the costs, benefits and impacts of deposit and reward and return schemes. The Working Group is due to provide advice to Ministers on potential incentives for drinks containers early in 2018. Any decisions on suitable measures to then take forward will rest with Ministers.
In the autumn Budget the Government also announced a call for evidence in 2018, seeking views on how taxing and charging the most environmentally damaging single use plastics could help reduce waste.
Since the introduction of the Single Use Carrier bag charge in October 2015, we have seen a drop of around 83% in the consumption of single-use carrier bags with the seven major retailers distributing around 9 billion fewer single-use plastic bags, compared with pre-charge levels. The charge has generated approximately £95 million from retailers towards good causes since it was introduced.
In addition, the Government is developing a renewed strategy on resources and waste that looks ahead at opportunities outside the EU. This will set out the detail of how we will meet the ambitions for resources and waste that are set out in the Clean Growth Strategy, Industrial Strategy and the forthcoming 25 Year Environment Plan.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff of his Department are responsible for dealing with reducing the levels of plastic in the oceans.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Given the various sources of plastic that ends up in the marine environment and the transboundary nature of the problem, Defra has a number of teams looking at how we can reduce levels of plastic in the oceans.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of potential human health hazards posed by rising levels of plastic in the oceans.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The impact of plastic pollution on human health was assessed in a recent report by the Government Science Office titled “Future of the Seas: Plastic Pollution”. This found that the current evidence on the effect of microplastic pollution on human health does not indicate that consumption of fish and shellfish is harmful to human health. It also acknowledged that more work is needed to fully understand the impact of microplastics and macroplastics on the marine environment and potential links to human health.