Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
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 a recent assessment of the potential merits of banning sky lanterns.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
An assessment of sky-lanterns was carried out in 2023.
The research examined the risks that sky lanterns, and other items including helium balloons, pose to the environment. The research suggests the risks posed by sky lanterns and helium balloons remain low. It also explored a ban on the sale of sky lanterns and indicated this would result in lost economic activity. The research report is available at: https://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/ProjectDetails?ProjectId=21420. Based on this assessment, we therefore consider existing controls to be sufficient.
Local authorities already have powers to apply local controls to restrict or ban the use of sky lanterns or balloons on council or public land and, according to stakeholders, around 150 councils have already introduced a ban.
We also support voluntary initiatives aimed at minimising the risks associated with sky lanterns. Initiatives include a voluntary Code of Practice for sky lanterns developed by industry with Government support to ensure that they are manufactured to be safe and are sold responsibly.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
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 potential merits of updating guidelines on the level of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Drinking Water Inspectorate’s (DWI) guideline value on individual types of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) of 100 nanograms per litre was agreed with the UK Health Security Agency to be a robust level with an appropriate margin to ensure our drinking water is safe to drink. There is no evidence of PFAS concentrations above this value in drinking water supplies. The DWI has provided further direction to water companies to develop appropriate and focused strategies to protect drinking water supplies and work is continuing across Government to help us assess levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources and potential risks to inform future policy and regulatory approaches.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to respond to Thames Water's s35 application for its Teddington Direct River Abstraction proposal.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Thames Water have requested that the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs gives a direction under Section 35 of the Planning Act 2008 for the Teddington Direct River Abstraction. The Secretary of State will respond to Thames Water in line with the statutory timeframe required.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to issue a decision on Thames Water’s revised draft Water Resources Management Plan.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We expect to decide the next steps on Thames Water’s draft water resources management plan in the new year.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of airport noise action plans in reducing noise pollution for overflown communities.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is committed to ensuring that noise is managed effectively to promote good health and minimise disruption to people’s quality of life.
Defra is required to produce, consult on and publish Noise Action Plans for transport noise, under the terms of the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006, every five years to help manage noise. Under the Regulations airport operators are the competent authority for preparing airport Noise Action Plans.
The latest round of airport Noise Action Plans is currently underway and due to be published in 2024.
It is up to individual airports to determine, including through public consultation, the most effective measures to implement within an action plan.
Defra is working with the Department for Transport which has commissioned the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct a critical review of the efficiency and effectiveness of Noise Action Plans in managing aviation noise around airports.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to open its public consultation into banning the use of plastic in wet wipes; and what her provisional timetable is for bringing forward a ban of their use.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The consultation on the proposed ban on wet wipes containing plastic will be launched in due course.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's Environment Improvement Plan 2023, published on 31 January 2023, what assessment she has made of the impact of water recycling schemes on the (a) target of reducing phosphate levels by 80 per cent by 2038 and (b) control the release of antimicrobials into aquatic environments.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Any water recycling option being considered by water companies in their draft statutory water resources management plans, must meet the environmental requirements for wastewater treatment discharges into the environment, including for phosphates or antimicrobial release. Water regulators, including the Environment Agency, will be responding to the consultations on the draft plans before the plans are referred to the Secretary of State later this year.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's publication Our Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published on 12 May 2021, whether it is still her Department's policy to review restrictions on the import of (a) fur, (b) foie gras and (c) hunting trophies from endangered animals.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Action Plan for Animal Welfare outlined our intention to explore potential action on the import of animal fur. We have since conducted a Call for Evidence on the fur sector along with other forms of engagement with interested parties. We are continuing to build our evidence base on the fur sector.
We are committed to building a clear evidence base to inform any potential future decisions relating to foie gras imports.
The Government has pledged to ban the import of hunting trophies from thousands of species. We are committed to a ban that is among the strongest in the world and leads the way in protecting endangered animals. We are supporting the Private Member’s Bill led by the Honourable Member for Crawley that will deliver this.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implication for his polices of Thames Water’s proposal to convey millions of litres of treated wastewater into the River Thames at Teddington Weir, including (a) potential health implications, (b) impact on biodiversity and (c) safeguards to protect water quality.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Environment Agency (EA) has reviewed work undertaken by Thames Water to understand the risks and mitigation required for a Teddington Direct River Abstraction (DRA) scheme through the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) gated process to ensure it meets stringent environmental standards. The EA is currently reviewing any proposals for new water resources options through the statutory Water Resources Management Plan consultation and more detailed assessment of Teddington DRA through the RAPID gated process.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce deforestation (a) in the UK and (b) overseas.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In England, when a felling licence is issued, there is a presumption to replant after tree felling. The Forestry Commission also has an enforcement capability under the Forestry Act 1967 (as amended) to combat unlicensed and illegal felling, with additional measures in the Environment Act 2021 that will commence on 1 January 2023 that will enhance these enforcement tools.
Where trees are felled without restocking conditions attached, Open Habitats Policy provides definition if compensatory woodland planting is required. Similarly, the introduction of Biodiversity Net Gain will also define compensatory planting required as a result of woodland habitat loss due to planned development if permitted.
The UK Government has introduced world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Act to help tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains. We recently ran a consultation to seek views on how we should implement Environment Act provisions, including which commodities we should regulate through the first round of secondary legislation, and have since published a summary of responses, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tackling-illegal-deforestation-in-uk-supply-chains.
Deforestation is a global issue that requires global collaboration, and this world-leading due diligence legislation will help tackle as part of a wider package of measures, designed to improve the sustainability of our supply chains contribute to global efforts to protect forests and other ecosystems.