Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to ensure that the trees lost as a result of Storm Arwen are replaced.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Forestry is devolved and so this answer is for England only.
Initial efforts have been focused on supporting the emergency services and utility providers in re-establishing essential networks and infrastructure with ongoing work to make sure impacted forests are safe for public access. It is estimated that it will take over a year to plan and implement the full recovery effort.
A felling licence is not required to harvest trees that are no longer growing such as those that are blown over or snapped by the wind or are dead or dangerous. In some situations, this may lead to blown trees being cleared with no obligation for the owner to restock. In England, Defra and the Forestry Commission are investigating how regulation and incentives could be used to reduce the risk that there is a loss of tree cover or woodland area in these situations. Regulatory arrangements for clearing windblown trees vary between devolved administrations.
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 is supported by an intended £500 million from the Nature for Climate Fund. In the 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.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the extent of damage to forest and wooded areas as a result of Storm Arwen in (a) Wansbeck, (b) Northumberland and (c) the North East.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Using satellite imagery, Forest Research estimates that around 5,500 hectares of woodland was damaged by Storm Arwen. Of this, around 1,700 hectares was in England and most damage occurred in the North East. A map showing suspected areas of windblow is available to the public at https://windblow-assessment-forestergis.hub.arcgis.com/ and is being used to validate satellite imagery. A summary of this information will be made available in February.
Forestry England is continuing to survey the forests it manages in Northumberland and the wider North East and it will be some time before the full extent of damage is known. There are no Forestry England woodlands within the Wansbeck constituency.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
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 recent locust swarms in Africa and South Asia on the supply of imported food into the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We continuously monitor a range of regularly reported and publicly available statistics and data on supply of food to the UK. Through these close observations, we are aware of how locust swarms are affecting parts of Africa and Asia, and their impact on the countries affected. There is currently no specific impact on trade volumes as a direct result of the locust swarms.
We are also including a new requirement in the Agriculture Bill for the UK Government to report on food security to Parliament at least once every five years, demonstrating the importance we place on this subject. The report will contain information on food supply including the role of strong domestic production alongside diverse sources of supply. The report is a major undertaking and will draw evidence from a wide range of sources including an analysis of the key trends.
The UK has a robust and reliable food industry that is experienced in dealing with scenarios that can affect food supply, from adverse weather damaging crops to transport issues abroad. The size and diversity of the industry is a key factor in enabling the food sector to remain resilient to food supply chain disruptions. The expertise, capability, levers and resilience to plan for and respond to food supply disruption lies within the industry.
The Government has well established ways of working with the food industry on potential disruptions to the supply chain, and we will continue to work closely with stakeholders and industry to support preparations for a range of scenarios. We also engage widely with international partners to share information and good practice guidance regarding the security and resilience of food supply.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
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 as part of the international response to the continued existence of wet markets in (a) China and (b) other countries throughout the world.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Whilst the sale of wildlife in “wet markets” has been suspected as the source of the current COVID-19 pandemic, conclusive evidence is not yet available. Research into the origin of the virus causing COVID-19 is ongoing, and the UK is working with the international scientific community to determine the source of the outbreak. When we have sound evidence, we will support the delivery of swift and effective policy interventions where needed.
We recognise however that ‘wet markets’ selling live animals and meat are a high risk environment for the transmission of disease from animals to other animals, and from animals to humans, if they are not subject to high standards of biosecurity and hygiene. It is essential that strict food hygiene and health standards are met, and we agree with the WHO that markets should close if these standards are not met.
In the meantime, the UK continues to provide leadership in the efforts to combat and end the illegal wildlife trade, which not only increases the risk of zoonosis, but contributes to loss of biodiversity and increased corruption.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of commercial recycling waste that became refuse derived fuel in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Information on the amount of commercial waste collected for recycling and that became refuse derived fuel or solid recovered fuel is not available. Data specifically on the collection of commercial waste for recycling are not gathered from industry. Other available data through waste data returns on waste treatment do not make it possible to reliably derive the original source of the data.
Data on the amount of commercial waste sent for recycling are not routinely quantified and published each year. The best available estimate of the recycling rate for non-household municipal waste by the commercial sector is around 35 per cent. This is based on work carried out by WRAP and published in the impact assessment related to ‘Consistent municipal recycling in England’.
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The Environment Bill includes powers to introduce electronic tracking of waste to help improve the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of waste data, including data on commercial waste. In parallel the Government is working with industry on the development of waste tracking technology to ensure it meets users’ needs.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of commercial recycling waste that became solid recovered fuel in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Information on the amount of commercial waste collected for recycling and that became refuse derived fuel or solid recovered fuel is not available. Data specifically on the collection of commercial waste for recycling are not gathered from industry. Other available data through waste data returns on waste treatment do not make it possible to reliably derive the original source of the data.
Data on the amount of commercial waste sent for recycling are not routinely quantified and published each year. The best available estimate of the recycling rate for non-household municipal waste by the commercial sector is around 35 per cent. This is based on work carried out by WRAP and published in the impact assessment related to ‘Consistent municipal recycling in England’.
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The Environment Bill includes powers to introduce electronic tracking of waste to help improve the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of waste data, including data on commercial waste. In parallel the Government is working with industry on the development of waste tracking technology to ensure it meets users’ needs.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of commercial recycling waste that was re-purposed in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Information on the amount of commercial waste collected for recycling and that became refuse derived fuel or solid recovered fuel is not available. Data specifically on the collection of commercial waste for recycling are not gathered from industry. Other available data through waste data returns on waste treatment do not make it possible to reliably derive the original source of the data.
Data on the amount of commercial waste sent for recycling are not routinely quantified and published each year. The best available estimate of the recycling rate for non-household municipal waste by the commercial sector is around 35 per cent. This is based on work carried out by WRAP and published in the impact assessment related to ‘Consistent municipal recycling in England’.
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The Environment Bill includes powers to introduce electronic tracking of waste to help improve the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of waste data, including data on commercial waste. In parallel the Government is working with industry on the development of waste tracking technology to ensure it meets users’ needs.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of household recycling that was burned for energy in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 February 2020 to PQ 549.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the level of emissions from waste to energy plants in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) contains historic estimates of air pollutant emissions from emissions from waste (EfW) plants. EfW plants are permitted through the Environment Permitting Regulations and have to report annual site emissions to the UK regulators for inclusion in the UK Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR), if they fall above the reporting threshold. This data is used to generate the NAEI estimates for this sector.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much waste was land-filled in the UK in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The total tonnage of waste sent for landfill in the UK is available for alternate years only. The most recent data available is for 2016 and goes back to 2010:
| Thousand tonnes |
Year | Total waste sent for landfill (UK) |
2010 | 50,707 |
2012 | 48,567 |
2014 | 48,178 |
2016 | 52,271 |
Full datasets are available on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/env23-uk-waste-data-and-management. The next update, with 2018 figures, will be published in March 2020.