Asked by: Alex Baker (Labour - Aldershot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to help tackle illegal waste in Aldershot constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to tackling waste crime, which is a blight on our local communities and the environment and damages legitimate businesses. My department is considering what further measures to pursue to tackle waste crime, including regulatory reform.
The Environment Agency assesses all reports of suspected waste crime. All information and any intelligence is recorded and used to target resources where the offending poses the greatest risk and harm to people and the environment. The Environment Agency do not currently have any active high risk illegal waste sites recorded in the Aldershot constituency. Due to concerns about ongoing criminal activity in the area, a number of vulnerable landowners in the constituency have been contacted proactively to reduce the risk of thousands of tonnes of waste being illegally deposited on their land. Waste crime is borderless, those carrying waste have been stopped on multi-agency days of action in Hampshire and neighbouring Surrey to ensure they are compliant with the law.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve the awareness of carbon monoxide poisoning risks among British tourists overseas.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We provide information and guidance in our Travel Advice on the issues most likely to be of relevance to British nationals visiting or living in each country/territory. In determining what we include in our Travel Advice we assess a range of factors, including drawing on local knowledge and monitoring trends in consular cases. The risk of carbon monoxide poisoning is currently covered in our Travel Advice pages for China and Nepal. In addition, two of our Travel Aware partners, RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) and the Safer Tourism Foundation, run campaigns and continue to develop messaging to alert travellers to the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning around the world. We regularly review the work we do with all our Travel Aware partners ensuring that they are highlighting appropriate issues to British travellers.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to make an assessment of Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law in the context of it's recent military activity in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are monitoring the situation closely and continue to call on Israel to uphold their obligations to peace, stability, and security under international law. The Israeli government has stated that their presence in the Golan Heights buffer zone is defensive, limited and temporary - and we expect them to adhere to this commitment It is longstanding UK policy that the Golan Heights are occupied territory, and we do not recognise Israel's annexation of them. We oppose the construction of illegal settlements.
Asked by: Alex Baker (Labour - Aldershot)
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 help (a) farmers and (b) food producers use sustainable farming methods in Aldershot constituency.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government’s commitment to farmers and food producers remains steadfast. We will always champion British farming to boost rural economic growth, strengthen food security and improve the environment.
Defra has allocated £5 billion for the farming budget over two years. This will include the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history: £1.8 billion for environmental land management schemes. This enables us to keep momentum on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector, with the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and Landscape Recovery all continuing. This funding will deliver improvements to food security as well as the environment, in the Aldershot constituency and across the country.
Publicly funded research and innovation, including investments under the Farming Innovation Programme, an innovation programme which aims to drive up productivity and enhance environmental sustainability, is enabling us to adapt to climate change more effectively, while improving levels of food security.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2024 to Question 5420 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Pentland Communications and Sovereign Strategy, where on gov.uk details are published of meetings between special advisers and external organisations that are not senior media executives.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of external meetings held by Special Advisers are published in line with the requirements set out in guidance here.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Enhanced Trade Partnership between his Department and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on the local economy.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Greater Manchester Combined Authority have developed an enhanced local partnership to target local and national support to identified high export growth potential businesses in the GM region. This was launched on 21st November and we expect to understand initial impacts on export growth after 12 months.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many alcohol industry representatives have Ministers in his Department met with since July 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Details of ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce a compensation scheme for farmers for any damages to crops by (1) beavers and (2) wild boars, or to provide other financial support for farmers whose land beavers and wild boars are living on or travelling through.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and so this reply applies to England only.
Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship and Landscape Recovery offer support for farmers through payments for actions that deliver both environmental and agricultural benefits. Some actions can be used to mitigate the effects of species such as beavers and wild boar, for example by buffering of watercourses or restoration of habitats, allowing space for their activity. Beaver protection and management capital grants are available in Countryside Stewardship to protect permanent crops and trees from beaver damage, and to manage beavers and their dams where there is a risk of serious damage or flooding to crops, infrastructure, or human or animal health.
Asked by: Baroness Fookes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will take account of the role played by environmental horticulture in their definition of green jobs.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The ONS defines green jobs as: "employment in an activity that contributes to protecting or restoring the environment, including those that mitigate or adapt to climate change" (2024, ONS - Experimental estimates of green jobs, UK - Office for National Statistics [see attached]). Given the wide-reaching nature of this definition, any occupations or tasks within environmental horticulture that fall under the definition, including for example tasks related to nature conservation, will therefore be included.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the communique for the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs held on 18 November will be published on GOV.UK, given their commitment to publish communiques within two weeks of the Inter-Ministerial Group taking place.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The four Governments have committed to jointly agreeing a communique for the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs within two weeks of the meeting taking place. Each government will then take the necessary steps to arrange for publication on respective websites as soon as possible. Some governments published the communique on their relevant websites earlier this month and it has now been published on GOV.UK (attached).