Japanese Knotweed Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Lord Glenarthur
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Japanese Knotweed
Lord Glenarthur Excerpts(11 years, 3 months ago)
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Lord De Mauley
My noble friend is certainly right that it is an offence to allow it to be introduced into the wild but we think that that is a step too far. It is a real challenge to get it under control and we want to find an effective biocontrol before we consider a move such as that suggested by my noble friend.
Lord Glenarthur
My Lords, can my noble friend say to what extent the spread of this knotweed has developed throughout the whole of the United Kingdom and to what extent the devolved Administrations are playing their part in trying to eradicate it?
Lord De Mauley
That is also an important point. The Welsh Government are a member of the project consortium for the natural control of Japanese knotweed and have been a major funder of the research. The licensing authorities in England and Wales work closely together to ensure a consistent approach. We have kept the Scottish Government updated at key points in the project, although, to answer my noble friend’s first question, Japanese knotweed is not such a significant problem in Scotland.