Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
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 to help tackle environmental harm in (a) Broxtowe Constituency and (b) Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) advises and regulates businesses across the energy, agriculture, and waste sectors. They are the environmental regulator for water companies, prosecute and act against those who pollute the environment, and they reduce and protect against flood risk. As a Category 1 Responder (with the emergency services) under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 they have a duty to warn, inform, and respond to flood incidents and prevent environmental damage.
The EA advises on planning applications within their statutory remit for all local planning authorities, including assessing flood risk and potential impacts to main rivers or controlled waters. They also work with local planning authorities ensuring flood risk, climate change, land contamination, and the water environment are included in their evidence base and policies for local plans.
In addition, they partner with the Joint Unit for Waste Crime, local authorities, and local police forces, to tackle environmental waste crime.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on discontinuing the use of gestation cages for pigs.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The UK banned gestation crates (also known as sow stalls) in 1999.
The use of farrowing crates for pigs is an issue we are currently considering very carefully.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of standards of food and drink imports.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The UK maintains high standards on food that is offered to consumers. For example, all food sold in the UK must comply with food compositional standards and labelling legislation whether it is produced domestically or imported into the UK. These rules protect consumers from lower quality products and enable them to make informed choices.
Defra periodically reviews and updates food compositional standards regulations to ensure they remain fit for purpose and reflect innovation in food production and changing consumer preferences.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what flood prevention and relief measures have been considered for Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) is making plans to allocate £20 million to schemes in Nottinghamshire.
This includes:
The EA is also working with other Risk Management Authorities to deliver:
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
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 increasing funding to help tackle the knotweed in Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the impacts caused by invasive species, including Japanese knotweed.
Funding is available for control and management of Japanese knotweed and other invasive plant species through Defra’s Environmental Land Management (ELM) Countryside Stewardship scheme. Furthermore, Defra funds research to identify cost and time effective ways of managing this species through biocontrol. Information about the research can be found on CABI's website.
Additionally, the Government has developed guidance on how to prevent the spread of Japanese knotweed and other harmful weeds, as well as how to treat and dispose of them, which can be found on GOV.UK: How to stop invasive non-native plants from spreading - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).