Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the Government response to the consultation on commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into Great Britain, launched in August 2021.
Answered by Mark Spencer
In August 2021 we launched a consultation on the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. It was a wide-ranging consultation with excellent engagement and some complex issues to work through. The consultation response will be published soon.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 revised Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) England Regulations 2023; and for what reason those regulations were not brought forward for approval before their proposed commencement date.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Government remains committed to introducing a ban on the use of e-collars. We will pursue new regulations to deliver this commitment on a revised timeline.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data his Department holds on (a) the level of phosphorus in, (b) the nutrient budget calculation for phosphorus in, (c) the required reduction in phosphorus levels to meet water quality targets for and (d) the date by which that reduction must be achieved for the River Avon Special Area of Conservation; and what steps Natural England is taking to meet those targets.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England (NE) gather monitoring data to track levels of phosphorus in the River Avon Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Phosphorus concentrations in the headwaters of the River Avon are typically around 0.1 mg/L, and in some reaches are even higher, declining to around 0.065 mg/L in the lower reaches.
The River Avon Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) sets out further evidence and supporting information on phosphorus levels in the river. This includes information on the reductions in phosphorus loads from different sources that would be required to achieve the SAC water quality targets, and the measures that must be in place in order for these reductions to be achieved.
The Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England (NE) have also been reviewing the reduction targets and measures against the updated ‘polluter pays’ fair share targets and will update the NMP as needed following this review. The latest information indicates the annual average nutrient load passing through the Avon (nutrient budget) for the SAC is around 55 tonnes Ortho-phosphorus a year. Reductions to meet the SAC target potentially equate to around 47% from all sources.
Subject to Ofwat approval and expected advice from Defra on the implementation of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, necessary water company reductions are expected to be met over PR24 and PR29. The EA and NE will be looking for similar reductions from the agricultural sector over this time frame but details around this need to be finalised.
The EA and NE are working with a number of partners, stakeholders and landowners in the River Avon to ensure nutrient loads are managed and reduced effectively. This includes delivering advice schemes like Catchment Sensitive Farming to reduce diffuse pollution from agriculture, supporting innovative river restoration schemes that optimise phosphorus reduction, and providing sustainable development advice to developers. There will be further engagement with stakeholders as part of any NMP update.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what mitigation measures are available to developers of brownfield land who have been affected by the ban on phosphates in central Christchurch.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are currently two parties operating phosphate credit schemes in the River Avon catchment. These are available directly to local developers within Christchurch, which is now a part of the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council (BCP) area. Natural England continues to work closely and positively with the local authorities affected and suppliers of phosphate credits.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the target date is for the completion of works to upgrade the Stony Lane Wastewater Treatment plant in Christchurch; and whether the upgrade will require the removal of all phosphates.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has made clear that reducing phosphorus pollution must be a priority for the water industry through setting a legally binding target to reduce phosphorus pollution by 80% by 2038 against a 2020 baseline, with an interim target of a 50% reduction by 2028.
Christchurch sewage treatment works is operated by Wessex Water Services Limited. All water companies, including Wessex Water, are currently developing their business plans for the next water industry investment period, and agreeing these plans with the water industry regulators.
These plans, including all upgrades which will be undertaken as part of the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP), will be made available to the public after Ofwat’s final determination in December 2024. Until then, the Government is not able to share specific information around which sewage treatment works are, or are not, included in the programme.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 Environment Agency is taking to ensure that the Avon Valley path between Burton and Christchurch is maintained.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Maintenance of public rights of way, including decisions to divert or extinguish them, is a matter for the local authority.
The Environment Agency and Natural England are working with local landowners and South West Water to review future flood risks that may impact assets that cross the flood plain, including the stretch of the Avon Valley path between Burton and Christchurch.
Public access on rights of way and common land in floodplains is regularly affected by winter flooding events. The frequency and duration of such events appears to be changing as a result of climate change, and adapting towards natural flood management needs to consider and balance this alongside rights of public access, public safety as well as land use.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 estimate of the quantity and proportion of halal (a) beef and (b) lamb sold in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mark Spencer
We do not hold data that would allow us accurately to estimate the quantity of halal beef and lamb sales in the last 12 months.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 issued guidance for local councillors on what may constitute an imperative reason of overriding public interest under Part 6 of the Conservation of Habitats Regulations 2017.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Defra guidance on how competent authorities, including local authorities, must decide whether a plan or project which affects a Habitats site can go ahead and how to consider imperative reasons of overriding public interest (IROPI) can be found on Gov.UK.
Habitats regulations assessments: protecting a European site - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 potential merits of requiring halal meat to be labelled with a declaration as to whether it comes from animals that are stunned before slaughter.
Answered by Mark Spencer
In 2021, Defra ran a call for evidence to gather data on the potential impacts of different types of labelling reform for animal welfare, including considerations around method of slaughter. We received over 1,600 responses and a summary of these responses is available on GOV.UK. Based on the information gathered, we will continue to work with stakeholders to explore how we can harness the market to improve food information for consumers.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which schools in Christchurch constituency are registered for the school milk subsidy scheme.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The School Milk scheme offers a financial contribution to the cost of providing certain milk products to schoolchildren across the UK. The majority of applications to the scheme are made by local authorities, specialist companies and bodies who register and claim on their behalf of individual schools. No central information on participating schools is therefore held centrally to provide a breakdown to the level of individual parliamentary constituencies.