Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to introduce new clean air targets in line with World Health Organisation guidelines; and if he will fund (a) local and (b) regional authorities to tackle the worst areas of air pollution in the course of this parliament.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to meeting current legal targets for air quality, including the targets recently set under the Environment Act 2021, and will review the policy measures needed to achieve them. We will deliver a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy, including a series of interventions to reduce emissions so that everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines are intended to inform the setting of air quality standards and are not ready-made targets for direct adoption as they do not consider achievability or individual countries’ circumstances. However, we will consider WHO guidelines as part of an evidence led process when considering future targets.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
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 take steps is to promote (a) wider and (b) more accessible footpath access in (i) parks and (ii) other public spaces.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities already consider the needs of those with mobility problems when managing the public rights of way network for the area they are responsible for. They are required to produce rights of way improvement plans which must set out how the public rights of way network will provide a better experience for users including those with mobility problems.
The King Charles III England Coast Path and the new Coast to Coast National Trail will be made as accessible as possible where it is feasible to do so.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
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 take steps to promote stray animal (a) trap-neuter-return, (b) rescue and (c) adoption initiatives.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are no plans to promote activities relating to stray animals. A number of animal welfare organisations such as Cats Protection and RSPCA already support neutering through community neutering programmes.
There are also a large number of organisations that rescue and rehome stray animals. Members of the public can already check if the rescue centre they use is a member of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes, which has standards for animal assessments, neutering and rehoming procedures that all members adhere to.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
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 support local anti-littering initiatives.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Littering is a crime that blights communities and the environment. Local authorities already have a range of powers to tackle littering including the ability to issue fixed penalty notices of up to £500. They must spend the income from these penalties on enforcement or clean up.
At this stage, the Government has not yet made an assessment of how it can further support local anti-littering initiatives.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to expand the deposit return scheme for plastic and aluminium drinks containers to include glass drinks containers.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
UK Government, Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland consulted in 2019 and 2021 on the detail of introducing a DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In January 2023 we published the government response to the 2021 consultation, setting out policy decisions and next steps for introducing the scheme (link here).
As outlined in the government response, glass bottles will not be captured by DRS in England and Northern Ireland as the respective governments believe the addition of glass will add additional complexity and challenges to delivery of DRS in particular to the hospitality and retail sectors, as well as additional consumer inconvenience. Given concerns raised on managing glass in a DRS, delivery of the scheme will focus on plastic bottles and aluminium/steel cans in England and Northern Ireland.
Whilst not in-scope of the DRS in England and Northern Ireland, glass drinks bottles will be covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging scheme in both nations, which will place targets on producers in relation to glass recycling. The proposed recycling target for glass packaging under EPR is 83% by 2030. Producers will also be responsible for the costs of managing glass packaging in household waste and disposed in street bins provided by local authorities.
England and Northern Ireland welcome continued engagement with the glass sector on how glass recycling rates can be improved through kerbside collections.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to expand the Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information Regulations 2021 to include (a) laptops, (b) smartphones and (c) other e-waste currently not included.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
There are no plans at present to expand the Ecodesign Regulations to include laptops and smartphones. However, in November 2021, the then Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published the Energy-related Products Policy Framework, which set out how the Government plans to push products to use less energy and reduce carbon emissions and other resources. This will help achieve Carbon Budgets 5 and 6 and to save consumers money on their energy bills. Defra will also publish a consultation reviewing the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations this summer, which will seek views on potential policies to increase the resource efficiency, reuse and recycling of waste electricals.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were imported through the Pet Travel Scheme in each year from 2012 to 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The number of dogs imported through the Pet Travel Scheme in each year from 2017 to 2021 are as follows:
Year | Number of Dogs |
2017 | 287016 |
2018 | 312996 |
2019 | 307263 |
2020 | 163562 |
2021 | 162923 |
In line with data retention the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) does not hold data prior to 2017 so previous years have not been supplied.
The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals.
The information provided is a true reflection of the information that APHA has access to. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data, as we can only rely on the information that has been input into the pets returns by a third party.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many ferrets were imported through the Pet Travel Scheme in each year from 2012 to 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The number of ferrets imported through the Pet Travel Scheme in each year from 2017 to 2021 are as follows:
Year | Number of Ferrets |
2017 | 765 |
2018 | 112 |
2019 | 101 |
2020 | 45 |
2021 | 60 |
In line with data retention the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) does not hold data prior to 2017 so previous years have not been supplied.
The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals.
The information that we have provided is a true reflection of the information that APHA has access to. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data, as we can only rely on the information that has been input into the pets returns by a third party.
For information, the number of ferrets imported in 2017 is much higher than later years. This is because 619 ferrets were imported in October 2017.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cats were imported through the Pet Travel Scheme in each year from 2012 to 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The number of cats imported through the Pet Travel Scheme in each year from 2017 to 2021 are as follows:
Year | Number of Cats |
2017 | 26480 |
2018 | 29570 |
2019 | 31890 |
2020 | 21972 |
2021 | 28667 |
In line with data retention the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) does not hold data prior to 2017 so previous years have not been supplied.
The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals.
The information provided is a true reflection of the information that APHA has access to. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data, as we can only rely on the information that has been input into the pets returns by a third party.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
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 of the UK re-joining the EU pet passport scheme.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The UK has been formally ‘listed’ as a ‘Part 2’ third country for the purposes of the EU pet travel scheme, which means that new rules apply to pet movements from Great Britain (GB) to the EU and to Northern Ireland. The pet health and documentary requirements for such pet travel are set out under the EU Pet Travel Regulations.
Defra recognises the impact that these changes are having on pet owners and assistance dog users. We are continuing to seek agreement from the European Commission on awarding GB ‘Part 1’ listed status and recognition of the UK’s tapeworm-free status, and we see no valid animal health reason for these not to be granted.
Achieving these would alleviate a number of pet travel rules for all travellers. We have one of the most rigorous pet checking regimes in Europe to protect our biosecurity and we are engaging with the EU to progress this issue.