Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 provide ring-fenced funding to local authorities for the planting of trees.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra supports local authorities’ tree planting activity through access to several of the Nature for Climate Fund Grant schemes, such as the Local Authorities Treescape Fund (LATF) and the Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF).
The £4.4 million LATF is available for local authorities to plant and encourage natural regeneration of trees to restore neglected green spaces in their communities. This fund is aimed at establishing more trees in locations outside of woodlands including riverbanks, hedgerows, parklands, urban areas, beside roads and footpaths, in copses and shelterbelts, including neglected, disused and vacant community spaces.
The UTCF will provide up to £6 million of funding over the next two years for planting around 44,000 large trees in towns and cities. This fund is targeted at the managers of urban land with a broad applicant base, including local authorities.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 sets targets for the number of trees planted in the UK each year.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has committed to bring tree planting rates across the UK up to 30,000 hectares per year by the end of this parliament in May 2024. The England Trees Action Plan set out our target of trebling woodland creation in England to contribute to this, and we will continue to work with the Devolved Administrations to deliver a UK-wide step change in tree planting and establishment.
The England Trees Action Plan is supported by an intended £500 million from the Nature for Climate Fund. In the recently launched Net Zero Strategy, the Government also announced that it will boost the Nature for Climate fund with a further £124 million of new money, ensuring total spend of more than £750 million by 2025 on peat restoration, woodland creation and management – above and beyond what was promised in the manifesto. As set out in the Net Zero Strategy, we will consult on a statutory tree planting target to provide further long-term clarity.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) adequacy of the supply of water to households and businesses and (b) ability to drain surface water in the future.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
a)
Water companies have a statutory duty to provide clean and reliable water to customers under the Water Industry Act 1991. Statutory water resources management plans show how water companies will meet this duty and manage water supply and demand for at least the next 25 years. These plans are revised every five years and will be consulted on in 2022.
The Government is working closely with water regulators and the water industry to improve the resilience of water supplies. The Government recognises that continued action is required and it is committed to reducing demand for water and increasing supply in parallel.
b)
Through the Environment Act, the Government will make statutory the requirement for sewerage undertakers to develop and publish a drainage and sewerage management plan to assess fully their network capacity, infrastructure needs and impact of their activities on the environment. This planning process will help sewerage companies to assess network capacity and work with local authorities and other bodies who are responsible for parts of the drainage system.
The Government is reviewing the implementation of Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 in England. Schedule 3 was designed to set ministerial standards for the construction of sustainable drainage systems on new developments.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment he has made of having an all-in deposit return system and an on-the-go system in respect of the potential effects of those systems on (a) the climate and (b) healthy oceans.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is estimated that 80% of man-made debris in the marine environment originated on land before being thrown, blown or washed into rivers, canals and the seas. Keep Britain Tidy surveys have found high levels of drinks related litter, including 52% of surveyed sites containing litter related to non-alcoholic drinks and 20% of litter on beaches demonstrated to be as a result of food and drinks packaging.
The Government believes that the introduction of a deposit return scheme will help reduce the impact of littered drinks containers on our environment. Our current impact assessment on the introduction of a deposit return scheme assumes that the scheme can reduce drinks containers being littered by an estimated 85%.
The impact assessment also suggests that the 'All-in' model has the potential to lead to carbon emissions savings worth £6 million by year 11 and the 'On-the-go' model has the potential to lead to carbon emissions savings worth £1 million by year 11.
We are currently analysing the responses to the recent consultation on the deposit return scheme for drinks with a view to publishing a government response and final impact assessment in due course. This will include a final decision on the scope and materials to be included in the scheme.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 intends to include all drinks containers of (a) glass, (b) plastic and (b) aluminium in the scope of the proposed Deposit Return Scheme; and what steps he plans to take to help ensure equitable treatment of materials and avoid market distortion in the implementation of that Scheme.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have now consulted twice on introducing a deposit return scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and are analysing the responses to the second consultation, with a view to publishing a government response later this year. The government response will include a final decision on the scope and materials to be included in the deposit return scheme. An impact assessment for the introduction of the scheme will also be published.
Any materials not included within the scope of a deposit return scheme will be included under the reformed packaging producer responsibility regime to ensure equitable treatment of packaging materials, which would then be collected through kerbside recycling collections.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 it his policy to include glass in the scope of the proposed Deposit Return Scheme to help maintain the market for existing glass drinks container materials; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have now consulted twice on introducing a deposit return scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and are analysing the responses to the second consultation, with a view to publishing a government response later this year. The government response will include a final decision on the scope and materials to be included in the deposit return scheme. An impact assessment for the introduction of the scheme will also be published.
Any materials not included within the scope of a deposit return scheme will be included under the reformed packaging producer responsibility regime to ensure equitable treatment of packaging materials, which would then be collected through kerbside recycling collections.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 made an assessment of the potential merits of all-in deposit return scheme, including glass, for the stability of the drinks container materials market.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have now consulted twice on introducing a deposit return scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and are analysing the responses to the second consultation, with a view to publishing a government response later this year. The government response will include a final decision on the scope and materials to be included in the deposit return scheme. An impact assessment for the introduction of the scheme will also be published.
Any materials not included within the scope of a deposit return scheme will be included under the reformed packaging producer responsibility regime to ensure equitable treatment of packaging materials, which would then be collected through kerbside recycling collections.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to ensure that all of England’s rivers and lakes achieve a good ecological status.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed to delivering clean and plentiful water, using a range of approaches to tackle the many pressures the water environment faces. We will be setting at least one new, legally binding target on water quality through the Environment Bill.
Working closely with the Environment Agency (EA), we are tackling river and lake pollution from poor farming practices with regulation, financial incentives and educational schemes for farmers. Our Catchment Sensitive Farming programme is giving important advice and support to farmers, operating across England, in the areas of highest risk of water pollution from agriculture, directing effort where it is needed most and maximising value for money for the taxpayer. Our new Environmental Land Management scheme, which we are rolling out over the course of this Parliament, will also reward farmers for sustainable farming practices that protect and enhance water quality.
Water company investment in environmental improvements has been scaled up to £7.1 billion over the period 2020-25. The storm overflow task force and new measures through the Environment Bill will focus effort on sewage discharge from storm overflows and our new chemicals strategy will build on an already robust statutory regime to ensure chemicals are managed and handled safely. To improve river levels and flows, the EA made changes to over 300 abstraction licences since 2008, which has returned 47 billion litres of water a year to the environment. We know that there is a lot of work to do in order to meet our goals for clean and plentiful water, set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan. We will take considered, focused and informed action to drive real progress.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to ban microplastics; and if he will launch a review into the environmental impact of floral foam.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In general, we prefer to help people and companies make the right choice, rather than banning items outright. There may, however, be times when a ban is appropriate as part of a wider strategic approach. To tackle microplastics we have already introduced one of the world's toughest bans on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products. This will help to stop billions of these tiny plastic pieces from entering the ocean and being eaten by marine wildlife. The Government does not currently have plans to launch a review into the environmental impact of floral foam. However, we will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic products and/ or materials to take a systematic approach to reducing the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products.
The Government has set out the first restrictions to be initiated under its new chemical regulation system, UK REACH, to tackle risks posed by chemicals. The launch of the UK REACH programme includes plans to initiate the restriction process on lead ammunition and certain harmful substances in tattoo inks and permanent make-up. We are keeping other issues that we did not initiate in the restriction process for this year under review. This includes scoping what further action could be taken to address intentionally added microplastics based on the best available evidence.
To tackle plastic pellet loss we support Operation Clean Sweep, an initiative led by industry through the British Plastics Federation, to address incidents of plastic pellet loss. This initiative addresses this problem at all stages of the supply chain. At the British-Irish Council Marine Litter Symposium in 2019, Ministers recognised the need to address plastic pellets and considerable progress has been made in developing solutions to reduce plastic pellet loss. The administrations have supported the development of a Publicly Available Specification developed by the British Standards Institution, which sets out how any business handling or managing pellets can reduce pellet loss. This is the first of its kind and will be published in July this year. All administrations will promote it through their networks.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 plans to take to prevent pet shops in England using breeding licences held in Northern Ireland to avoid the ban on third party puppy sales.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK is a world leader in animal welfare, and the Government is committed to cracking down on unscrupulous breeders who breed dogs purely for financial greed at the expense of animal welfare.
Since April 2020, in line with the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 (the 2019 Amendment to the 2018 Regulations), pet shops, pet dealers and other commercial pet sellers have been prevented from selling puppies and kittens in England that they have not bred themselves. This applies in cases where puppies are bred outside of England meaning that a pet shop in England is already prohibited from selling puppies bred in Northern Ireland unless they have bred them themselves.
This addresses welfare concerns associated with puppies and kittens bought and sold by third parties, including the early separation of animals from their mothers and the keeping of puppies and kittens at inappropriate commercial premises.
Local authorities are responsible for licensing a business to determine whether a licence holder has bred the animals they are selling. Our updated guidance to the 2018 Regulations, which has been amended to reflect the changes brought in by the 2019 Amendment, sets out how local authorities might determine whether someone can be said to have bred the animals they are offering for sale. This guidance has been shared with local authority licensing officers who have powers to investigate and enforce breaches of the guidance.