Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has he made of the possibility of recycling disposable nappies.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government has asked the Waste and Resources Action Programme to carry out an assessment of difficult to recycle materials including disposable nappies and this report will be published shortly. I have met Proctor and Gamble who have developed a technology to recycle nappies and understand they are in discussions with several local authorities to establish a facility in the UK. We want to encourage more recycling and to make it easier for households to recycle and will say more about how we will do this in our forthcoming Resources and Waste Strategy.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when Natural England plans to issue Sweetman guidance for the purposes of local plans; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Natural England and Defra are considering the implications of the Sweetman 2 (People Over Wind) judgment from the Court of Justice of the European Union. Natural England and Defra are working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, including on any external guidance that may be necessary.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when Natural England plans to issue Sweetman guidance for the purposes of local plans; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Natural England and Defra are considering the implications of the Sweetman 2 (People Over Wind) judgment from the Court of Justice of the European Union. Natural England and Defra are working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, including on any external guidance that may be necessary.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures is he taking to reduce the amount of water leakage by water companies; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Total leakage has fallen by a third since 1994, following investment by water companies. However, there is still more to do.
The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out the Government’s ambitions for reducing demand on water resources. This includes support for Ofwat’s target for water companies to reduce leakage by 15% by 2025.
The Secretary of State recently called in water company Chief Executives who did not meet their leakage targets this year to explain this failure and what actions they were taking to improve their performance - particularly in light of this summer’s dry weather.
In their draft business plans, water companies have proposed an average reduction of 16% by 2025. It is now for Ofwat to scrutinise these plans.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the provisions of the White Paper, The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, Cm9593, will enable him to bring forward legislative proposals for a ban on the export of livestock.
Answered by George Eustice
I refer my Hon Friend to the reply given to the Honourable Member for South Thanet, on 16 July 2018 PQ UIN 162599.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
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 is taking to prevent the penetration of foreign insects into the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government undertakes systematic screening of pest and disease risks which may be introduced through trade. We carry out risk-based inspections at our borders to prevent the entry of such pests. Our inspectors are highly effective in comparison to their peers: the UK consistently makes more interceptions of harmful organisms than any other EU member state (around 40% of the total for the EU). We work to stop pests and diseases before they arrive through international surveillance to spot new risks, take action at the border with stringent biosecurity checks on plant imports, and have robust contingency plans to tackle the pests and diseases that do make it through.
The Asian Hornet poses a significant threat to native wildlife and is listed as a key species within the GB invasive non-native species strategy framework. As part of this, Defra devised a joint Asian Hornet contingency plan which is the only national scale contingency plan in the EU for an invasive species outside plant and animal health. Early detection is vitally important to the success of the plan. We have established an alert system which allows the public to report sightings which are then identified by the National Bee Unit (NBU). There is also a network of sentinel apiaries that carry out active surveillance for the species.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
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 bring forward legislative proposals to (a) require producers to list all ingredients in bread and (b) establish a definition of sourdough as being additive-free and leavened using only a culture of naturally occurring yeast.
Answered by George Eustice
The Food Information for Consumers Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 and the General Food Law Regulation (EC) 178/2002 both require that the labelling and advertising of food must not mislead the consumer. EU Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 requires that all pre-packaged loaves display a full ingredient list.
A restricted number of additives are permitted in in sourdough bread under EC Regulation 1333/2008 – there are no plans at present to change these. However when we leave the EU there will be an opportunity to review this. The Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 contain a few, limited definitions but the focus on the legislation is on the fortification of white and brown flour with certain nutrients, mostly for restorative purposes. There are no current plans to include a legal definition for sour dough within the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 but the baking industry itself may consider agreeing a code of practise about what should be described as a UK sourdough bread.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures he is taking to prevent (a) African Horse sickness and (b) West Nile Disease from entering the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
African horse sickness (AHS) and West Nile virus (WNV) are both notifiable in the UK. Defra has well established processes for the prevention, early identification and control of exotic notifiable diseases such as AHS and WNV.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures he is taking to prevent (a) African Horse sickness and (b) West Nile Disease from entering the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
African horse sickness (AHS) and West Nile virus (WNV) are both notifiable in the UK. Defra has well established processes for the prevention, early identification and control of exotic notifiable diseases such as AHS and WNV.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of commercially available slug pellets on garden birds and hedgehogs; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
Slug pellets are regulated as pesticides. This means that they may only be sold and used if scientific risk assessments find no harmful effect on people and no unacceptable effects on the environment. Possible effects on birds and mammals are considered as part of the environmental assessment. Regulatory decisions are regularly reviewed so that safety can be reassessed using the latest data and scientific knowledge.
Slug pellets containing metaldehyde are currently being reviewed with the scientific assessment being carried out by the Health and Safety Executive and the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides. The issue of impacts on birds and mammals is being carefully considered.