Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to meet its target to create 30,000 hectares of new woodland each year from May 2024.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
After the Nature for Climate Programme ends, the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) and Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG) will transition to become part of the Countryside Stewardship scheme – one of the new environmental land management (ELM) schemes. We will take a phased approach to the transition of EWCO and WCPG into the ELM schemes to ensure there is no gap in offering grants to applicants for woodland creation. The future Countryside Stewardship woodland creation offer will largely mirror the EWCO offer.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of trees planted during this Parliament.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Forestry Commission produces statistics on all new planting of woodland for the UK. These can be found in Forestry Statistics on the Forest Research website. These statistics are reported for each financial year in thousands of hectares. The latest available figures are for 2022-23 published in September 2023.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) has been found within their Department's estate.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For now, the focus is on bringing together the information we hold about the Government estate into one place. This work is being coordinated by the Office for Government Property.
Survey work is underway.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of business preparedness for future controls on the import of (a) food and (b) fresh products from the EU.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following publication of the draft Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) in April 2023, the Government ran a six-week engagement period with industry. The feedback received is reflected in the final BTOM, notably the decision to delay implementation by three months, to January 2024, giving businesses more time to prepare. Before implementation of controls, awareness of and readiness for new controls will be boosted through a series of engagement events. Further guidance will be available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, while balancing wider ministerial and parliamentary responsibilities.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 had recent discussions with the Scottish government on taking steps to align the (a) deposit return scheme and (b) extended producer responsibility scheme across the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular meetings with counterparts in the Devolved Administrations to discuss a range of issues including alignment on the Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers. The Extended Producer Responsibility scheme (EPR) is UK-wide and will be introduced through a single UK-wide Statutory Instrument. Most recently I discussed EPR with the Devolved Administrations on 28 June.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many sewage leaks have been recorded within their Department's estate in the last twelve months.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has had no sewage leaks on our estate over the last 12 months.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 announcement on 23 March 2023 that it plans to introduce a phased reduction in the use of peat for the professional horticultural sector from 2026, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of that ban on the on the capacity of UK growers to supply garden centres with the same number of tree and plant varieties.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
An impact assessment was completed alongside our consultation in 2022. As the plans for the legislation evolve that assessment will be updated alongside our legislative proposals. The Government is currently co-funding research into peat free growing media with the RHS and industry leaders over the next three years; this research will expand the knowledge base regarding the quality of peat free growing media and our understanding of particular technical difficulties.
Technical exemptions have already been identified for plugs using less than 150ml of substrate and for casing material for mushroom production. Evidence provided for other plant types or production processes requiring a technical exemption will be considered and we will be engaging with the sector to refine any of these. We are proposing that the legislation will be framed to allow ministers to amend the dates, or modify the exemption, where exigent circumstances mean that the removal date is shown to be unachievable. The proposed legislation will be brought forward when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 announcement on 23 March 2023 that it plans to introduce a phased reduction in the use of peat for the professional horticultural sector from 2026 onwards, how will the technical exemptions be determined; and what her planned timescale is for announcing what these will be.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
An impact assessment was completed alongside our consultation in 2022. As the plans for the legislation evolve that assessment will be updated alongside our legislative proposals. The Government is currently co-funding research into peat free growing media with the RHS and industry leaders over the next three years; this research will expand the knowledge base regarding the quality of peat free growing media and our understanding of particular technical difficulties.
Technical exemptions have already been identified for plugs using less than 150ml of substrate and for casing material for mushroom production. Evidence provided for other plant types or production processes requiring a technical exemption will be considered and we will be engaging with the sector to refine any of these. We are proposing that the legislation will be framed to allow ministers to amend the dates, or modify the exemption, where exigent circumstances mean that the removal date is shown to be unachievable. The proposed legislation will be brought forward when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 has made an assessment of how the cost of any difference in the usage of utilities by workers in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme can be (a) accounted for and (b) passed on to workers; and if she will publish further guidance for employers on the usage of utilities by workers in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
While individual farm businesses are responsible for charging seasonal workers for their usage of utilities, approved scheme operators must comply with requirements outlined in the sponsor guidance. This includes ensuring farm businesses with whom they have placed workers do not impose additional, unnecessary charges on workers, whether directly or indirectly. The new team within the Home Office compliance network will focus specifically on farm businesses in this sector and ensure sponsors are adhering to this guidance and fulfilling their sponsorship responsibilities.