Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will set out the Government’s priorities for the 2024 Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16).
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK played a leading role at COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in securing agreement to a historic package of measures to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Our priority for COP16 and beyond is to drive global delivery of these agreements both at home and abroad, by working closely with our international partners.
We have a number of priorities for COP16. These include supporting a global review of those National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans which will have been published by the time of the COP, in order to assess the extent to which the world is on track to meet the commitments made at COP15; finalising the details of the global mechanism for the sharing of benefits arising from the use of Digital Sequence Information (DSI) on genetic resources; and increasing the mobilisation of resources from all sources to halt and reverse biodiversity loss globally, including through the newly-established Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, to which the UK has already made an initial contribution of £10million.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which Ministers will attend COP16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK’s delegation to COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity was led by the Environment Secretary, who attended along with Ministers from two other Departments. The details of the delegation for COP16, including Ministerial representation, will be determined closer to the time but will be led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in other countries on COP16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministers and senior officials across Government, led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, are in close and ongoing contact with their global counterparts about preparation for COP16. In addition, the Environment Secretary and Lord Benyon spoke to a number of their international opposites at the COP28 meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 implications of the Stannington gas flood in Sheffield Hallam constituency for his policies on the level of investment in maintaining and upgrading water infrastructure.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set in the Plan for Water, the Government recognises the need for additional investment in water infrastructure. Ofwat set out a £51 billion five-year investment package in its 2019 Price Review, including requirements for water companies to cut leaks by 16% and reduce mains bursts by 12% between 2020 and 2025. We have also set a statutory water demand target, where leakage will need to reduce by 37% by 2038, this is part of the trajectory to achieving a 50% reduction by 2050. Ofwat will hold water companies to account for delivering leakage reduction targets, with financial penalties if they fail to meet them.
In the specific case of the Stannington gas flood, a high-pressure water main rupture led to water ingress into the gas distribution network, impacting around 35 properties. Yorkshire Water responded by replacing the water main away from the gas network and providing a £60 goodwill initial automatic payment to affected customers and compensating for any property and appliance damage.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she expects the Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (England) Regulations 2023 to be debated in the House of Commons.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We remain committed to introducing a ban on electronic collars controlled by hand-held devices that deliver an electric shock to cats or dogs. Parliamentary business will be scheduled and announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2023 to Question 189114 on Hedges and Ditches: Conservation, what is her expected timeline for when the consultation on regulatory arrangements will be published.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 28 June 2023, we launched a consultation on how we can best protect hedgerows through effective, proportionate regulation as we phase out farm subsidies and cross compliance rules. The consultation will be open for 12 weeks and closes at 23:59 on 20 September 2023.
We want to ensure the regulations work for wildlife, the environment and for farmers. This consultation is seeking views on the best way to maintain and improve existing protections, as well as our approach to enforcement. We would like everyone who cares about hedgerows – including farmers, stakeholder organisations and members of the public – to read our consultation document and share their views on our plans.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 potential impact on nesting birds of delinking publicly funded farm payments and minimum good practice requirements for hedges because of the transition from basic payments to the Environmental Land Management scheme.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the importance and value of hedgerows, which have a key role in conserving and enhancing biodiversity, tackling climate change and enhancing our countryside. As we move away from legacy EU Common Agricultural Policy arrangements, we are committed to ensuring our high environmental standards are maintained and that we have the right framework in place. Whilst the majority of hedgerows are on agricultural land, approximately a fifth are not. It is important, therefore, that all landowners recognise their importance and do their bit to protect them.
The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 set legal protections for hedgerows in England and Wales outside of cross compliance. These existing regulations prohibit the removal of most countryside hedgerows (or parts of them) without first seeking approval from the local planning authority. It decides whether a hedgerow is ‘important’ and should not be removed because of its wildlife, landscape, historical or archaeological value. Alongside the Hedgerows Regulations, all wild birds, their eggs and their nests are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which prohibits killing, injuring or taking of wild birds or taking or damaging their eggs and nests. These regulations jointly provide important protections for most countryside hedgerows and for nesting wild birds.
In addition to these legislative protections, our new Environmental Land Management schemes will also continue to fund the improvement and management of hedgerows, in recognition of their historical, cultural and environmental value to our countryside.
We will be consulting shortly on what the regulatory arrangements for hedgerows should be after cross compliance ceases at the end of 2023 and how we can best continue to improve and protect hedgerows.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the gap in legal protection for hedgerows because of the transition from basic payments to the Environmental Land Management scheme that will arise on 31 December 2023 will be filled on 1 January 2024.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the importance and value of hedgerows, which have a key role in conserving and enhancing biodiversity, tackling climate change and enhancing our countryside. As we move away from legacy EU Common Agricultural Policy arrangements, we are committed to ensuring our high environmental standards are maintained and that we have the right framework in place. Whilst the majority of hedgerows are on agricultural land, approximately a fifth are not. It is important, therefore, that all landowners recognise their importance and do their bit to protect them.
The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 set legal protections for hedgerows in England and Wales outside of cross compliance. These existing regulations prohibit the removal of most countryside hedgerows (or parts of them) without first seeking approval from the local planning authority. It decides whether a hedgerow is ‘important’ and should not be removed because of its wildlife, landscape, historical or archaeological value. Alongside the Hedgerows Regulations, all wild birds, their eggs and their nests are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which prohibits killing, injuring or taking of wild birds or taking or damaging their eggs and nests. These regulations jointly provide important protections for most countryside hedgerows and for nesting wild birds.
In addition to these legislative protections, our new Environmental Land Management schemes will also continue to fund the improvement and management of hedgerows, in recognition of their historical, cultural and environmental value to our countryside.
We will be consulting shortly on what the regulatory arrangements for hedgerows should be after cross compliance ceases at the end of 2023 and how we can best continue to improve and protect hedgerows.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 is taking steps to help tackle the sale of (a) Ferber Painting Badger Killer, (b) Ferber Painting Hedgehog Killer and (c) other illegal poisons that are used on protected species.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government strongly condemns any attempts to harm or kill hedgehogs or badgers with either of the named Ferber Painting products, and the use of any poisons targeted at our protected species. Badgers and hedgehogs are both protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Those found guilty of such illegal activities can expect to face the full force of the law, including potentially severe fines and custodial sentences.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is investigating after being made aware of Ferber Painting products being advertised for sale online for the control of protected species.
There are strict regulations in place in Great Britain (GB) to make sure that products for pest control are used properly. Products must be authorised before they can be made available on the market and must be used in accordance with the conditions of that authorisation. There are no such authorisations for the two Ferber Painting products referenced.
It is a criminal offence to fail to comply with the laws that regulate the supply of chemicals in GB, or to use chemicals in a way which harms people, pets, protected species or the wider environment, with penalties that may lead to unlimited fines or imprisonment.
There are robust, multi-agency arrangements in place for enforcing the illegal supply and use of chemicals which include HSE, the Environment Agency, the police and local authorities, with the illegal poisoning of protected species investigated by a dedicated Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme. HSE will be engaging with these agencies where appropriate as part of this investigation.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 will respond formally to the recommendations in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit Report: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, published in August 2021.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We welcome this report and the fact that it recognises the UK's global leadership in fighting wildlife and forestry crime. We invited the UN to undertake this analysis and we are proud to be the first G7 country to request this assessment.
We are carefully considering all the recommendations to help us build on the positive progress we have already made in tackling wildlife crime. This will include strategic engagement with our partners that have responsibilities where individual recommendations are concerned such as the devolved administrations, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the National Wildlife Crime Unit.
Progress has already been made in response to the report. For example, this year Defra has more than doubled its funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) from £165,000 per year to over £1.2 million over the next three years. Additionally, Border Force has increased numbers in their team specialising in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Defra is not under any obligation to formally respond to the UNODC's assessment, but we will identify where we can act, including with stakeholders, to strengthen the UK's approach to tackling wildlife and forestry crime.