Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total emissions were in England of (a) PM2.5, (b) PM1 and (c) PM0.1 in (i) 2018 and (ii) 2017.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Defra publishes the report: ‘Air Pollutant Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland’ in the autumn each year. This report provides the total annual emissions in England of PM2.5. 2018 total emissions of PM2.5 in England will be published in autumn 2020, and 2017 total emissions of PM2.5 in England will be published in autumn 2019. The URL for the latest report is:
Emissions of PM1 and PM0.1 are not estimated for England, however they are estimated for the UK. The National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) website holds the database of UK annual emissions for a wide range of air pollutants including PM2.5, PM1 and PM0.1.
The database for UK emissions of particulate matter from 1970 to 2017 can be accessed from the following URL: http://naei.beis.gov.uk/data/data-selector?view=pms.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons the number of pilot projects initially envisaged as part of the environmental land management scheme has been reduced.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
My officials are currently developing plans for the National Pilot of the Environmental Land Management scheme. Among other things, this will involve deciding how many farmers and other land managers will take part. Decisions on specific numbers have not yet been made. The pilot is likely to begin with relatively small numbers of participants to help test the prototype system, identify problems and make improvements. The intention is to increase numbers of participants throughout the three year pilot period to test the system on a larger scale.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
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 he has made of the effectiveness of the 2012 revisions to the Statutory Guidance on dealing with contaminated land.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The 2012 Statutory Guidance was issued following an extensive review with the contaminated land sector, local authorities, other interested Government departments and agencies. In 2014, Defra funded research to assess the level of understanding and impact of the revised guidance. This assessment is publicly available: http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=12496_SP1011-AssessmentoftheImpactoftherevisedStatutoryGuidance.pdf.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
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 (a) has taken and (b) is planning to take in response to the recommendations on planting trees made by the Climate Change Committee in its report Net Zero – The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming, published in May 2019.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Committee on Climate Change published its report on 2 May. We very much welcome this analysis and will be responding in a timeframe that reflects the urgency of this crucial issue.
The Government is driving forward its manifesto commitment to plant 11 million trees over the course of this parliament.
We have kick started a vast Northern Forest, which will see 50 million trees planted from Liverpool to Hull; allocated £10 million to plant new trees in our towns and cities through the urban trees challenge fund; and appointed a Tree Champion to lead our engagement on a new English Tree Strategy. In the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor announced £50 million to help plant new woodlands through the Woodland Carbon Guarantee.
We have recently consulted on Best Practice Guidance and issued the Urban Tree Manual, which support the sustainable management of trees. The National Planning Policy Framework, published in July 2018, encourages better recognition of trees and woodlands for the wider natural capital benefits they can provide.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
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 (a) has taken and (b) is planning to take to encourage local authorities to implement the recommendations on planting trees made by the Climate Change Committee in its report Net Zero – The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming, published in May 2019.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Committee on Climate Change published its report on 2 May. We very much welcome this analysis and will be responding in a timeframe that reflects the urgency of this crucial issue.
The Government is driving forward its manifesto commitment to plant 11 million trees over the course of this parliament.
We have kick started a vast Northern Forest, which will see 50 million trees planted from Liverpool to Hull; allocated £10 million to plant new trees in our towns and cities through the urban trees challenge fund; and appointed a Tree Champion to lead our engagement on a new English Tree Strategy. In the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor announced £50 million to help plant new woodlands through the Woodland Carbon Guarantee.
We have recently consulted on Best Practice Guidance and issued the Urban Tree Manual, which support the sustainable management of trees. The National Planning Policy Framework, published in July 2018, encourages better recognition of trees and woodlands for the wider natural capital benefits they can provide.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
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 has taken to ensure the maintenance of access to the EU’s rapid alert system for food and feed after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Food safety is one of the Government’s top priorities on leaving the EU. The UK Government is committed to maintaining a strong relationship with the EU Commission on Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). The exact arrangements for UK participation in RASFF will be a matter for the next phase of the negotiations and part of wider discussions on the co-operation of UK authorities with EU agencies.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
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 publish a regular progress report on the operation of the Environmental Land Management Scheme’s tests and trials; and the funding from the public purse is available to participants in those trials.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
In advance of the introduction of the new Environmental Land Management System, we will use tests and trials as a means to work with farmers, land managers and stakeholders so that they can contribute to the contents and design of the new system. This will enable us to test and trial elements of the new system with different user groups to understand how and if they work in a real life environment. We expect to be able to approve the first of the tests and trials in the near future. The level of funding will be based on an assessment of the expected outcomes of the individual proposals and the provision of value for money.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
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 for funding for rural development after the end of the LEADER programme and when the UK ceases to have access to EU Structural Funds; and what priority will rural businesses, communities and the environment receive in relation to the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Through the socio-economic schemes within the Rural Development Programme for England we are investing over £500 million in rural business and communities. This includes over £250 million for rural business growth and broadband infrastructure through the Growth Programme and £150 million for locally-identified business and community priorities through LEADER.
Our manifesto committed to establishing the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to reduce inequalities between communities by raising productivity, following our departure from the EU. The Fund will operate across the UK in rural and urban areas. It will tackle inequalities between communities, especially in those parts of our country whose economies are furthest behind. Leaving the EU will allow us to spend money according to our own priorities rather than those set by the EU.
It is intended that simplified administration will ensure that investments are targeted effectively to align with the challenges faced by places across the country and supported by strong evidence about what works at the local level. This includes considering current European investments in rural economies and lessons from the community-led LEADER programme.
We want to ensure that the UKSPF works for rural businesses, communities and the environment, and the design of the fund will take into account the dynamics of rural economies and the particular challenges faced by rural communities. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is responsible for delivering the UKSPF. Defra officials are working closely with MHCLG to develop the ways in which the UKSPF will support the rural economy after we leave the EU.
We will consult widely on the design of the UKSPF. Over the past year we have held 25 engagement events across the UK with over 500 representatives from a breadth of sectors, in order to aid policy development. The consultation will build upon these early conversations with decisions on how it will operate, its priorities and budget to be determined at the forthcoming spending review.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2019 to Question 254107 on Farmers: Suicide, if he will set up a round table for hon. Members representing agricultural constituencies to discuss what steps can be taken to reduce the number of suicides of farmers and farm workers.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
This is a good suggestion and I would welcome the opportunity to explore further with colleagues representing agricultural constituencies these important issues that were raised in debate on 22 May.
Defra and the Department for Health and Social Care work closely together to monitor and improve mental health and wellbeing in rural communities and I suggest that officials from both departments join us in this discussion.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
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 the (a) names and (b) locations by region of each of the Environmental Land Management Scheme pilots.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Environmental Land Management (ELM) pilot is planned to run for three years starting from late 2021 and will cover the whole of England. The first tests and trails, informing different elements of ELM, should start shortly and the proposals ELM have received to date are spread across the whole of England.