Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made in laying statutory instruments related to EU exit preparedness; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Rutley
The Government has made good progress in laying the up to 600 statutory instruments required by exit day to ensure a functioning statute book. As of 30 January, my department has laid 92 exit related statutory instruments. All exit related statutory instruments are published on legislation.gov.uk, and include ‘EU Exit’ in their title.
Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
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 support the Northumbrian lamb industry in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal and tariffs on its products are imposed.
Answered by George Eustice
It is in everyone’s interests to secure a good deal with the EU and that is exactly what we are committed to. Whilst preparing for all outcomes, as any responsible government would, we are also preparing for the possibility of no deal.
We are in close contact with the sheep sector across the UK working to understand and anticipate the effects on the sector of the UK leaving the EU without a trade deal. Significant work is already underway to ensure that UK exporters can maintain access to EU markets after March 2019.
Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hen harrier nests there were on (a) RSPB and (b) non-RSPB reserves in each of the last six years; how many of those nests failed to have any chicks fledge; and what the causes of each of those nest failures were.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has primary control over access to two known hen harrier breeding sites: the RSPB reserve at Geltsdale and United Utilities landholding in the Bowland Fells, a special protection area.
Table 1. Breeding data from sites primarily controlled by RSPB
Year | Area | Outcome | Likely reason for failure |
2014 | Bowland | 5 chicks fledged |
|
2014 | Bowland | 4 chicks fledged |
|
2015 | Bowland | Nest failed | Unknown - chicks dead in nest |
2015 | Bowland | 1 chick fledged |
|
2015 | Bowland | Nest failed | Male missing |
2015 | Bowland | Nest failed | Male missing |
2015 | Bowland | Nest failed | Male missing |
2015 | Bowland | Nest failed | Predation |
2015 | Geltsdale | Nest failed | Male missing |
2016 | Geltsdale | 1 chick fledged |
|
2018 | Bowland | 4 chicks fledged |
|
2018 | Bowland | 4 chicks fledged |
|
2018 | Bowland | 5 chicks fledged |
|
Table 2. Breeding data from sites primarily controlled by other bodies
Year | Area | Outcome | Likely Reason for failure |
2013 | County Durham | Nest failed | Female disappeared/deserted |
2013 | Northumberland | Nest failed | Abnormal eggs |
2014 | Cumbria | 2 chicks fledged |
|
2014 | Peak District | 4 chicks fledged |
|
2015 | Cumbria | 2 chicks fledged |
|
2015 | Cumbria | 3 chicks fledged |
|
2015 | Cumbria | 3 chicks fledged |
|
2015 | Northumberland | 4 chicks fledged |
|
2015 | Northumberland | 5 chicks fledged |
|
2016 | Northumberland | 2 chicks fledged |
|
2016 | Northumberland | 5 chicks fledged |
|
2017 | Northumberland | 4 chicks fledged |
|
2017 | Northumberland | 3 chicks fledged |
|
2017 | Northumberland | Nest failed | Suspected predation |
2017 | Northumberland | 3 chicks fledged |
|
2017 | Northumberland | Nest failed | Likely bad weather - chicks dead in wet nest |
2017 | Yorkshire Dales | Nest failed | Suspected predation |
2017 | Yorkshire Dales | Nest failed | Suspected predation |
2018 | Yorkshire Dales | Nest failed | Desertion |
2018 | Yorkshire Dales | Nest failed | Desertion |
2018 | Northumberland | Nest failed | Predation |
2018 | Northumberland | Nest failed | Predation or deserted |
2018 | Northumberland | Nest failed | Predated |
2018 | Northumberland | 4 chicks fledged |
|
2018 | Northumberland | 5 chicks fledged |
|
2018 | Northumberland | 2 chicks fledged |
|
2018 | Cumbria | 2 chicks fledged |
|
2018 | Cumbria | 4 chicks fledged |
|
2018 | Yorkshire | 4 chicks fledged |
|
Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government plans to publish its Peat Strategy.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The England Peat Strategy will be published in 2019.
Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the level of risk of diseased potato importation into the UK as a result of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by David Rutley
Our plant health biosecurity arrangements currently protect UK businesses and the environment from pests and diseases, including those related to potatoes, and we will continue to protect the nation’s plant health biosecurity during and after our departure from the EU. Our work to prepare for leaving the EU will ensure that our high biosecurity standards will continue to be met in ways that support trade and the smooth flow of goods.
Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
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 Farmers' Guardian article Major seed potato market could be killed off with no-deal Brexit, published on 13 August 2018, what information his Department holds on the legality of selling sell seed potatoes to EU countries after March 2019 in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government is committed to pursuing a negotiated outcome which maintains our ability to export all seed to the EU and recognises that this issue is of particular concern for the seed potato industry. However, it is our duty as a responsible Government to prepare for all eventualities, including no deal, until we can be certain of the outcome of those negotiations.
The EU has stated in its Preparedness Notice for plant reproductive material that, in a no deal scenario, UK seed of all species will be subject to its equivalence requirements for third countries. This means that UK seed will not be marketable in the EU until the EU recognises UK processes as equivalent. Defra, with input from the devolved administrations, has made an initial application to the EU Commission for third country equivalence. More detailed information is being prepared in anticipation of discussion with the EU shortly. If approved, this would allow UK exports of seed potatoes to continue as they do now.
Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
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 ensure the responsible management of heather moorland to minimise the risk of uncontrollable wild fires; and if he will make it his policy to include controlled burning in accordance with the Heather and Grass Burning Code as part of that management.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government and its agencies are working with moorland owners, land managers and their representatives to put in place long term management plans and stewardship agreements to restore the hydrology and vegetation on degraded blanket bogs. Raising water tables and increasing the coverage of sphagnum moss allows the processes of recovery that store carbon and reduce the risk of ignition of these habitats by wildfire. The risk of severe damage by wildfire on a wet, well functioning blanket bog is relatively low. In accordance with the Heather and Grass Burning Code, managed one-off burning or cutting firebreaks may help to reduce the risk of fires starting on other habitats such as dry heath, and reduce the spread of fire around likely ignition points.
Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
What progress has been made on implementing his Department's 25 Year Environment Plan.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government is already implementing commitments in the plan. We recently consulted on proposals to ban UK sales of ivory, are bringing into force rules to reduce water pollution from agriculture and are legislating to set limits on air pollutants emitted from medium sized combustion plants. Since the plan’s publication, several supermarkets and restaurants have pledged to tackle plastic packaging and single-use plastics.
Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what taxpayer funded grants including EU funds have been received by the RSPB in the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
The department publishes details of all expenditure over £25,000, including grants, at https://data.gov.uk/dataset/financial-transactions-data-defra.
The majority of grants are made under the Darwin/Official Development Assistance (ODA) initiative. The RSPB also receives funding under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Details of specific grants made under CAP in the 2015 and 2016 European Community financial years (16 October – 15 October) can be found via http://cap-payments.defra.gov.uk.
Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
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 page 11 of the RSPB's Reserves 2012 report, what information his Department holds on the population of priority bird species on RSPB reserves since 2012.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Defra does not hold information on the population of priority bird species on RSPB reserves.