Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 17 November 2016 (HL Deb, col 1532), what assessment they have made of the current state of the footpath network in England; and whether its condition has improved or worsened since that answer.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Responsibility for the management and maintenance of the 118,000 miles of public rights of way in England lies with local authorities.
Natural England assess the condition of the network of National Trails, which are maintained to agreed Quality Standards. The last assessment covered the 2017/18 reporting year and noted that the number of out of condition items (such as gates and stiles) remained relatively low during the monitoring period.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 17 November 2016 (HL Deb, col 1532), what was the outcome of their discussions with the chief executive of the Ramblers.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
I have met the Chief Executive of the Ramblers several times since November 2016. At these meetings we discussed a number of areas including the England Coast Path, National Trails, rights of way reform and the 25 Year Environment Plan. We noted the positive working relationship between our organisations and agreed to continue engagement on these matters in future.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether proposals under the Northern Forest scheme will include any rewilding schemes.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
As part of the 25 Year Environment Plan, the Government is providing £5.7m to support the existing Northern Forest (NF) partnership of the Community Forests and the Woodland Trust to accelerate the development of the NF. This four-year kick-start investment will fund the planting of at least 1.8m new trees across the NF by 2022.
Our investment is provided to accelerate tree planting and woodland creation.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had since the announcement of the Northern Forest scheme on its possible extension to Lancashire or a part of that county.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The core Northern Forest (NF) area will see at least 1.8m new trees, funded by our £5.7m four-year investment planted in Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and the Humber. Beyond the core area of the NF, our investment will also fund new woodland creation in surrounding halo areas, of which Lancashire is included, where the NF partnership has judged that new woodland there would be beneficial.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding they will provide towards the Northern Forest scheme in each year from 2018–2023; and in each year how much of this is expected to be spent on (a) tree planting, (b) land acquisition, and (c) administration and other expenses.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
As part of the 25 Year Environment Plan, the Government is providing £5.7m to support the existing Northern Forest (NF) partnership of the Community Forests and the Woodland Trust to accelerate and develop the NF. This four-year kick-start investment will fund the planting of at least 1.8m new trees across the NF by 2022.
Of the £5.7m funding, £5.2m is allocated to be spent on trees and £500,000 on supporting the NF partnership with administration and project management. None of our £5.7m investment is allocated for land acquisition.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress is being made on the Northern Forest scheme and (1) how many trees have been planted so far, (2) how many will be planted in each of the next five planting seasons, (3) in which local authorities or national parks they will be planted, and (4) how many trees will be planted in cities and other urban areas.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
As part of the 25 Year Environment Plan, the Government is providing £5.7 million to support the existing Northern Forest Partnership of the Community Forests and the Woodland Trust to accelerate develop the Northern Forest. This four-year kick-start investment will fund the planting of at least 1.8 million new trees across the Northern Forest by 2022.
1) In year one (2018/19) our investment funded the planting of 103,980 trees against a planting target of 100,000 trees.
2) Our investment is for four delivery years (2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22). Over the remaining 3 years it will fund the planting of a further 1.7 million trees.
3) It will fund the planting of new trees in parts of the North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales and Peak District. The majority of planting will be in the counties of Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Humber. We do not have a breakdown for individual local authorities.
4) It will fund the planting of at least 300,000 trees in cities and other urban areas over four years (2018/19 – 2021/22). 55,360 trees were planted in urban areas in year one.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are on track to meet their commitment, made in December 2014, that the English Coastal Path will be completed and open in 2020; and if not, what are the reasons for any delays.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which sections of the English Coastal Path are now open; and what are the expected opening dates of the remaining sections in each area.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what encouragement and incentives they are providing to supermarkets (1) to reduce the number of single-use and other containers, and (2) to provide facilities for customers to bring and use their own multi-use containers.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Packaging has an important and positive role to play in reducing product damage and food waste. The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations require producers to ensure that the packaging they use is the minimum to ensure safety and hygiene and to meet consumer expectations. If anyone receives a product they believe to be over packaged, they should report it to Trading Standards who are responsible for enforcing these regulations.
The Government is working with retailers and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to encourage their efforts to reduce waste and to explore the introduction of plastic free supermarket initiatives in which fresh food is sold loose, giving consumers the choice. WRAP has published a technical report on the evidence for providing fresh produce loose and we are working with Morrisons to evaluate its current trial of selling produce loose, to assess the impact on food waste.
In April last year, WRAP and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched their world-leading UK Plastics Pact, with support from the Government, and all the major supermarkets have signed up to it. The Pact brings these organisations together with four key targets for 2025 that aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. They include action to eliminate problematic or unnecessary single use plastic packaging items. Our proposed reforms will support supermarkets in achieving those targets.
Earlier this year, the Government launched a suite of consultations to overhaul the waste system. This included proposals to replace existing packaging waste regulations with Extended Producer Responsibility to ensure packaging producers pay the full costs of disposing of the packaging they use. Consultations were also launched on introducing a deposit return scheme for drinks containers and increasing consistency in recycling collection, as well as introducing a tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled content. These consultations have now closed and a summary of responses will be published in due course.
These reforms support delivery of the Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy for England, published last year, which sets out our plans to reduce plastic pollution and move towards a more circular economy. This builds on the commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of (1) reusable, and (2) disposable, nappies on the (a) environment, and (b) collection and disposal of refuse; and what incentives they are encouraging for the use of reusable nappies.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government recognises the need to address the issues associated with the environmental impact of nappies. In line with the Resources and Waste Strategy published in December last year, we are considering the best approach for a range of products.
There are a number of policy measures available to us, including standards and consumer information, and we believe the right approach for each product requires careful consideration taking account of various factors, for example, waste benefits versus energy usage. We are therefore carrying out some new research into the impacts of reusable and disposable nappies. This will help us decide on the best course of action for the future and in terms of Government support.