Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
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 has produced guidance for operators of sewage processing plants on the use of covers in areas of high population density.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The operation of sewage processing plants is a matter for water companies who must comply with any permit conditions that have been set.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
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 has produced guidance for operators of sewage processing plants on the use of Nereda reactors in areas of high population density.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The operation of sewage processing plants is a matter for water companies who must comply with any permit conditions that have been set. The use of Nereda reactors, a particular type of wastewater treatment process, must be in accordance with any relevant permit conditions.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
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 information on food packaging is accessible for blind and partially-sighted people.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The availability and accessibility of essential food information to all consumers is vitally important. It is already a requirement that food information must be easily visible, clearly legible and where appropriate indelible, in addition to there being a required minimum font size for mandatory information
We are aware of moves by some retailers to provide information on food in braille format, and the government is interested in seeing how this works
We know there are other exciting possibilities, including the use of mobile phone apps and QR codes via which consumers with visual impairments may be able to access not only the basics, but the full range of information available on the label, as well as additional information provided via the App or QR code.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority since 14 February 2020 on improving access to flood insurance for tenants.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra ministers have not met with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) since the 14 February 2020.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority since 14 February 2020 in respect of improving access to flood insurance for people on low incomes.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra ministers have not met with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) since the 14 February 2020.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what dates he has had meetings with the Financial Conduct Authority since 14 February 2020 at which the functioning of the UK's flood insurance market has been discussed.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra ministers have not met with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) since the 14 February 2020.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford 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 discussions he has had with the Rural Development Programme for England Network on potential changes to deadlines for funding applications during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials have had a number of discussions with rural stakeholders about the impact of COVID-19 on existing and future Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) projects. Application deadlines for some RDPE schemes, including Historic Buildings Grants, have already been extended. We are examining the timetable for the current round of the Growth Programme and will inform applicants of any changes if they are made.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford 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 December 2018 document, Our Waste, Our Resources: A strategy for England, what steps her Department has taken to extend the lives of products through repair, reuse and remanufacture.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our Strategy is guided by the objectives of maximising the value of resource use and minimising waste and its impact on the environment. One of our underlying principles is to prevent waste, where we can, from occurring in the first place.
With this in mind, we have taken steps towards supporting ecodesign of products so they are durable, repairable and capable of remanufacture. We are seeking powers in the Environment Bill to put in place, subject to consultation, ecodesign and consumer information requirements for non-energy using products. As to energy-using products, we will seek to drive change to ensure products can be repaired, reused and remanufactured making use of powers on ecodesign that we are taking back from the EU. The powers in the Environment Bill will enable us to supplement these requirements with consumer information requirements to facilitate sustainable purchasing. We are also reviewing the contribution that producer responsibility schemes for priority products could make to encourage better product design.
Additionally, we are in the process of developing a new Waste Prevention Programme for England, on which it is intended to consult this year, aimed at supporting reuse, repair and remanufacture as well as other means of waste prevention.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to bring forward legislation on increased sentencing for animal cruelty in this session of Parliament.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Romford, Andrew Rosindell, on 22 February 2019, PQ 208811.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford 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 guidance entitled, Procurement policy note 03/14: promoting tax compliance, how many suppliers were allocated contracts by his Department as a result of complying with (a) one and (b) more than one of the mitigating circumstances after failing the tax compliance questions.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. To obtain the information a manual search through individual records would be required as this is not recorded on departmental systems.