Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
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 help reduce the (a) number and (b) duration of sewage discharges into waterways in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.
The Government remains committed to reducing both the frequency and duration of storm overflow spills, in line with the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan (SODRP). The SODRP will eliminate ecological harm from all storm sewage discharges by 2050.
The Water (Special Measures) Act is introducing independent monitoring of every sewerage outlet, with water companies required to publish real-time data for all emergency overflows. Discharges will have to be reported within an hour of the initial spill. This will match the pre-existing duty for storm overflows. This will meet the Government commitment to ensure monitoring of every outlet.
Furthermore, the Independent Water Commission, led by Sir Jon Cunliffe, will recommend reforms to reset the water sector. The Independent Water Commission: interim report was released on 03 June 2025. Final recommendations will be published this summer and presented to both the UK and Welsh Governments.
As part of Price Review 2024 (2025-30), Northumbrian Water is investing £1.1 billion to reduce storm overflow spills by 28% by investing in 159 spill reduction schemes. As part of this cycle, 23 investigations and asset improvements are planned across the Newcastle upon Tyne and Wallsend constituency.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made a recent assessment of the role of allotment sites in meeting the objectives of her plans for biodiversity net gain.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The biodiversity value of allotments is recognised in the biodiversity metric that we intend to use for biodiversity net gain, subject to a recent consultation. We are currently analysing responses to the consultation on this metric and will publish a response in due course. We have also been engaging with the sector to discuss how biodiversity net gain might affect allotments and how the approach could incorporate the delivery of new allotments.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
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 potential merits for reducing single-use plastics by allowing larger e-liquid bottles for e-cigarettes.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government has made no specific assessment of the potential merits for reducing single-use plastics by allowing larger e-liquid bottles for e-cigarettes.
Regardless of size, e-liquid bottles can and should be recyclable. The Government's landmark Resources and Waste Strategy sets out our plans to eliminate avoidable plastic waste over the lifetime of the 25 Year Plan and drive up recycling rates. We will also be introducing a new world-leading tax on plastic packaging which will apply to businesses producing or importing plastic packaging which doesn't meet a minimum threshold of at least 30% recycled content, subject to further consultation, from April 2022. Together with the government's reform of the Packaging Producer Responsibility system, this will transform the economic incentives of producers by encouraging more use of recycled plastic and driving up recycling rates.
The Department of Health and Social Care is undertaking a post implementation review of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 that provides the regulatory framework for e-cigarettes. This includes a public consultation, which closed on the 19 March, which allowed the opportunity for people to share their opinions on the regulations. The Government will publish its response later this year.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much emergency funding he plans to allocate to Forestry England to enable that organisation to continue (a) operating and (b) paying staff (i) during and (ii) after lockdown.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Defra and the Forestry Commission are discussing options to manage financial impacts arising from COVID-19. With reduced income from timber and visitors, Forestry England (FE) has made use of the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to reduce costs, protect jobs and retain staff. FE continues to manage and care for the nation’s forests, adapting working practices in line with public health guidelines.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the level of funding required from the public purse to enable Forestry England to maintain its activities (a) during and (b) after the covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Defra and the Forestry Commission are discussing options to manage financial impacts arising from COVID-19. With reduced income from timber and visitors, Forestry England (FE) has made use of the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to reduce costs, protect jobs and retain staff. FE continues to manage and care for the nation’s forests, adapting working practices in line with public health guidelines.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
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 ensure that Forestry England is able to maintain the (a) wages of its staff, and (b) number of jobs in its organisation during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Defra and the Forestry Commission are discussing options to manage financial impacts arising from COVID-19. With reduced income from timber and visitors, Forestry England (FE) has made use of the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to reduce costs, protect jobs and retain staff. FE continues to manage and care for the nation’s forests, adapting working practices in line with public health guidelines.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
If he will bring forward legislative proposals to recognise animal sentience.
Answered by David Rutley
There has never been any question that this Government’s policies on animal welfare are driven by the fact that animals are sentient beings. However, the Government has been very clear that we will make any necessary changes required to UK law in a rigorous and comprehensive way to ensure animal sentience is recognised after we leave the EU.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on creating a replacement for the European School Milk Scheme.
Answered by George Eustice
The Secretary of State and I have regular discussions with ministers in other government departments on a range of matters.
We want children to be healthy and well-nourished and the dairy industry makes an important contribution to this. Alongside the European Union (EU) scheme, the Government is already doing a great deal nationally to promote children’s dairy consumption through, for example, the much larger national free Nursery Milk Scheme, and by ensuring the availability of milk for pupils under the School Food Standards, including free milk for disadvantaged pupils. The longer-term approach to the EU Scheme is still under consideration.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
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 number of school children who will be affected by the discontinuance of subsidies from the European School Milk Scheme.
Answered by George Eustice
The Secretary of State and I have regular discussions with ministers in other government departments on a range of matters.
We want children to be healthy and well-nourished and the dairy industry makes an important contribution to this. Alongside the European Union (EU) scheme, the Government is already doing a great deal nationally to promote children’s dairy consumption through, for example, the much larger national free Nursery Milk Scheme, and by ensuring the availability of milk for pupils under the School Food Standards, including free milk for disadvantaged pupils. The longer-term approach to the EU Scheme is still under consideration.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the levels of bovine TB in areas which are (a) under and (b) not under badger control measures.
Answered by George Eustice
The report on the comparison of the effect of the first two years of badger control in the first two areas is available here: