Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 publish a timetable for a public consultation on the use of (a) cages for laying hens and (b) farrowing crates for pigs.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.
The use of enriched ‘colony’ cages for laying hens and farrowing crates for pigs is an issue we will want to fully consider in due course.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 implications for his policies of the Scottish Government’s consultation on a proposal to phase out the use of cages in Scotland’s laying hen sector.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and wants to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.
Intergovernmental discussions between Defra and the devolved Governments on animal welfare matters are ongoing and the use of enriched ‘colony’ cages is an issue we will want to fully consider in due course.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 role of waste incineration capacity in the management of residual wastes in England.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to creating a roadmap to a circular economy, a future where we keep our resources in use for longer, waste is reduced, we accelerate the path to net zero, we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs, our economy prospers, and nature thrives. As part of this we will consider the role of residual waste treatment, including energy from waste and landfill, in the context of circularity, economic growth, and reaching net zero.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 adherence to animal welfare requirements of abattoirs in receipt of funding from the Smaller Abattoir Fund.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Applications to the Smaller Abattoir Fund (SAF) closed on 30 September. All abattoirs eligible under the SAF are registered and approved by the Food Standards Agency, who are also consulted during the assessment of applications. The Food Standards Agency monitor and enforce animal welfare regulations in all approved slaughterhouses.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 Written Statement of 18 July 2024 on First steps to reform water sector, HCWS3, under what circumstances compensation payments to customers will be triggered through the proposed strengthened protection and compensation for households and business measures.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State recently announced a series of initial steps towards ending the crisis in the water sector. This included strengthening protection and compensation for households and businesses when their basic water services are affected through the Guaranteed Standards Schemes (GSS). Subject to consultation, the amount of compensation customers are legally entitled to when key standards are not met will more than double and payments will also be triggered by a wider set of circumstances including Boil Water Notices.
The Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS) covers incidents of interruption to supply, low water pressure, and customer service incidents. This includes failing to respond to written complaints, keep appointments, and sewer flooding to customer properties. Subject to consultation, the scope these standards may be broadened.
I would also refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by the Secretary of State on 18 July: Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 Written Statement of 18 July 2024 on First steps to reform water sector, what steps he is taking to establish customer panels; and what mechanisms for accountability to customers will the customer panels have.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State recently announced a series of initial steps towards ending the crisis in the water sector. This included announcing consumers will gain new powers to hold water company bosses to account through powerful new customer panels. For the first time in history, customers will have the power to summon board members and hold water executives to account.
We will provide further details on these panels in the coming months.
I would also refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by the Secretary of State on 18 July: Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 paragraph 13 of the report by the Chief Executive of the South Tees Development Corporation, published on 16 December 2021, whether she has had recent discussions with the South Tees Development Corporation on the potential impact of the the excavations of quayside at South Bank Quay Phase One on levels of contamination in the River Tees in the period between 18 August 2021 and 16 December 2021.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra Ministers have had a number of meetings with those who live and work in the area, including representative of the South Tees Development Corporation. The independent Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel (CMEP) published its report in January 2023 and it is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/panel-of-independent-experts-publish-findings-into-crab-deaths. In their independent investigation, the CMEP assessed land-based sources of contaminants as potential factors in the unusual crustacean mortality event along the north-east coast of England in 2021 and 2022. The panel concluded that a novel pathogen was about as likely as not to have caused the crustacean mortality.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 paragraph 13 of the report by the Chief Executive of the South Tees Development Corporation, published on 16 December 2021, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the the excavations of quayside at South Bank Quay Phase One on levels of contamination in the River Tees in the period between 18 August 2021 and 16 December 2021.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The work referenced in the report by the Chief Executive of the South Tees Devel-opment Corporation, published on 16 December 2021, relates to the redevelopment of South Bank Quay. This work was set out and approved as part of a local authority planning permission, which would have specifically detailed the site remediation plans within a remediation strategy. The Environment Agency did not input into this planning process. Under the Planning Regime, it is the responsibility of the Local Planning Au-thority to ensure that issues such as land contamination and risks to controlled waters are addressed appropriately by the developer. This includes ensuring that remediation activities if required are undertaken by the developer and that there are no remaining unacceptable risks posed to the environment as part of the proposed development.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 report by the Chief Executive of the South Tees Development Corporation, published on 16 December 2021, whether she has had recent discussions with the Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel on the land-based excavations set out in paragraph 13 of that report.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel (CMEP) considered land-based sources of toxins in their independent report and their conclusions reflect this consideration. The CMEP has been stood down, but the Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Gideon Henderson, is now consulting with relevant experts who served on the CMEP about the specifics detailed in the South Tees Development Corporation report, to check these specifics do not alter the conclusions of the report.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 report by the Chief Executive of the South Tees Development Corporation, published on 16 December 2021, whether the (a) Marine Management Organisation and (b) Environment Agency have undertaken investigations into the land-based excavations set out in paragraph 13 of that report; and whether those organisations have provided advice on the (i) potential toxicity of the materials excavated, (ii) remediation and destination of those materials and (iii) steps to help tackle any concerns.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The work referenced in the report by the Chief Executive of the South Tees Development Corporation, published on 16 December 2021, relates to the redevelopment of South Bank Quay. This work was set out and approved as part of a local authority planning permission, which would have specifically detailed the site remediation plans within a remediation strategy. The Environment Agency did not input into this planning process. This is because, using a risk based approach, this planning application was screened out of the Environment Agency’s Planning Screening Tool. Under the Planning Regime, it is the responsibility of the Local Planning Authority to ensure that issues such as land contamination and risks to controlled waters are addressed appropriately by the developer. This includes ensuring that remediation activities if required are undertaken by the developer and that there are no remaining unacceptable risks posed to the environment as part of the proposed development.