Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason he plans that the public consultation on the definition of irreplaceable habitats and principles for compensation for use in the Biodiversity Net Gain system due to come into force from January 2024 will be launched in the second half of 2024.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Biodiversity net gain will become mandatory for most major new development from January 2024, for small sites from April 2024 and for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects from 2025. When mandatory biodiversity net gain comes into force, the list of irreplaceable habitat for biodiversity net gain purposes will broadly mirror the existing list within planning policy.
The consultation will launch in the second half of 2024 to allow stakeholders time to adapt to the new mandatory requirement and evidence to be gathered from the early phase of implementation, as well as to allow Defra time to consider the impact of any new list or definition on wider planning policy.
We have published the draft secondary regulations on irreplaceable habitat.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 has taken to improve the (a) water quality and (b) biodiversity of (i) lakes, (ii) rivers and (iii) waterways (A) nationally and (B) in Romford constituency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In April, we published our landmark Plan for Water, to deliver clean and plentiful water for people, businesses and nature. The Plan for Water set out a suite of policy actions to tackle every source of pollution and increase our resilience to drought. This is essential to provide habitats for biodiversity to thrive. The Plan is underpinned by three things:
(A) In Romford constituency
As a member of the Roding, Beam and Ingrebourne (RBI) Catchment Partnership, the Environment Agency is working with local partners to improve the water quality and biodiversity of waterbodies within Romford. Examples of current projects within Romford are:
Yellowfish and Junior River Wardens Project - The Environment Agency is working with Groundwork East to deliver a combined Yellowfish and Junior River Wardens project working with schools along the River Ingrebourne and River Rom. This unique new approach will help embed and sustain local learning, education and messaging around surface water and river health. Junior River Wardens helps participants experience the valuable role they can have monitoring water quality. Yellow Fish is shown to increase public awareness of issues affecting local rivers and the wider environment and how everyone can play a part.
Mink Eradication - The RBI Catchment Partnership is working collaboratively to deliver a catchment wide approach to Mink Eradication, building on the Mink Eradication project Essex Wildlife Trust have been running across Essex. Mink are a problematic invasive species in this location who pose a threat to water voles and other native species. Thames Chase Trust have applied for funding from the Environment Agency next financial year to further build on this catchment wide approach and deliver a project to trap Mink on the River Rom.
Additionally, as a statutory consultee in the planning process, the Environment Agency comments on development proposals that could potentially impact main rivers in Romford. They make sure that where possible developments comply with the Water Framework Directive as embedded within the river basin management plan. This ensures that they secure benefits for biodiversity and river geomorphology.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are planning to introduce any measures to include HIV education as a part of the school curriculum in order to promote understanding about HIV and tackle stigma among children; and, if so, what are their plans.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In September 2020 the government made Relationships Education compulsory for primary school pupils, Relationships and Sex Education compulsory for secondary school pupils and Health Education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.
In secondary schools, the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance states that pupils should be taught factual knowledge around sex, sexual health, and sexuality, set firmly within the context of relationships. Pupils should learn about contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), developing intimate relationships and resisting pressure to have sex. Further information and a link to the guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
To support teachers to deliver these topics safely and with confidence, the department has produced RSHE Teacher Training Modules. The ‘intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health’ topic specifies that by the end of secondary school, pupils should know how the different STIs, including HIV/AIDS, are transmitted, how risk can be reduced through safer sex and the importance of and facts about testing. Pupils are also taught about HIV/AIDS at Key Stages 3 and 4 of the science curriculum. Further information and a link to the training modules can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health.
From primary education onwards, age appropriate Relationships Education supports pupils to treat each other with kindness, consideration and respect, including understanding the importance of respectful relationships and the different types of loving and healthy relationships that exist.
The department will be launching a public consultation by the end of this year on a draft revised RSHE guidance, so that interested parties can contribute their comments and ideas, including on sexual health and STIs, including HIV/AIDS education. The department will carefully consider responses received and intends to publish the final guidance in 2024.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to her Department's consultation entitled Planning for new energy infrastructure: revisions to National Policy Statements, when she plans to publish the revised National Policy Statement EN-5.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government carried out a public consultation which closed on 23 June and is on track to present the updated National Policy Statements to Parliament and publish them alongside the response to the Electricity Networks Commissioner’s Report later this month.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will commission a working group to consider advances in cable ploughing technology before publishing a new EN-5 Electricity Networks National Policy Statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government sets the rules for a robust and independent planning process. The design and development of energy transmission infrastructure, including which technology would be used for construction of a project, is a matter for the developer, with the implications of that choice considered through the planning process. The Government carried out a full public consultation on its National Policy Statements - including EN-5 - earlier this year and will shortly be publishing them and laying them before Parliament ahead of designation.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Environment Agency report that said Thames Water had so far failed to show that the proposed Teddington direct river abstraction was "feasible or environmentally acceptable", what further assessments of impacts on habitats, biodiversity net gain and health, as well as social impacts on local communities, Thames Water will be expected to produce.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The feasibility of Teddington is considered as part of Thames Water’s statutory Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP) development with specific guidelines for environmental assessment. WRMPs are also subject to Strategic Environmental Assessment. The feasibility and the environmental acceptability of Teddington is being investigated as part of the RAPID (Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development) gated process and with more detailed project level environmental and social impact assessment undertaken to support planning or Development Consent Order applications, notably Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations requirements. EIA is also needed to support any applications for other regulatory consents. In all cases impacts on habitats, biodiversity net gain and health, as well as social impacts on local communities need to be considered and public consultation is required.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the New Hospital Programme in Preston and Lancaster; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The New Hospital Programme (NHP) scheme for Royal Preston Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary is at the early stages of development and the trusts are currently exploring options for sites, including investment at Furness General Hospital. This will include a public consultation, expected in 2024. The trusts have received an overall indicative funding allocation for their scheme to support planning, and up to the end of the 2022/23 financial year, the trusts have received £11.36 million in fees and funding for the development of their scheme.
We are working closely with Preston and Lancaster on how our national standardised approach, Hospital 2.0, can support their plans using standardised designs to streamline approvals and speed up construction. This will deliver improvements for patients and staff whilst driving cost reduction and decreasing overall development timescales.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
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 9 May 2023 to Question 183276 on Grass: Plastics, what steps her Department plans to take to help people and companies make the right choice, in the context of the purchase of artificial grass.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have taken a number of steps to help people and companies make the right choice in the purchase and use of artificial grass. In the 25 Year Environment Plan, we committed to introduce stronger new standards for green infrastructure and to support local authorities to assess provision. This new Green Infrastructure Framework was launched by Natural England in February. This shows what good green infrastructure looks like and helps local authorities, developers and communities to improve provision in their area. Included in this framework is a planning and design guide that references guidance on permeable surfaces in front gardens and advice from the RHS on the greening of front gardens, driveways and parking areas.
The Environment Act 2021 contains an ambitious package of reforms to restore and enhance nature and green spaces. This includes a new mandatory requirement for biodiversity net gain in the planning system, to ensure that new developments enhance biodiversity. In future, eligible developments will be required to enhance biodiversity through the biodiversity net gain requirement. This will incentivise more nature positive development.
The strengthened biodiversity duty, which came into force on 1st January 2023, requires all public authorities to consider how they can conserve and enhance biodiversity through the exercise of their functions. Public authorities will also have to have regard to Local Nature Recovery Strategies, Species Conservation Strategies and Protected Site Strategies in complying with the duty.
More widely, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities consulted in December 2022 on updating the National Planning Policy Framework to recognise the threat to wildlife created by developers using artificial grass when building new homes. The response to this consultation will be published in the Autumn.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has carried out an impact assessment on its proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government's proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework were subject to a full public consultation that ran from December 2022 to March 2023.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to monitor the National Screening Committee’s progress on reviewing the case for including Spinal Muscular Atrophy in the NHS newborn screening programme; and what his timetable is for making a decision on that matter.
Answered by Will Quince
The review of whether to screen for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is under active consideration. At the June UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) meeting this was tabled for discussion. Minutes of this meeting are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-meeting-june-2023/uk-nsc-minutes-june-2023
The UK NSC supported the proposal to commission a cost effectiveness modelling study and to start planning a high-quality in-service evaluation to support a UK NSC recommendation. Due to these new decisions made at the June meeting, no timetable has yet been developed.
As per the UK NSC’s published process, the committee will hold a three-month public consultation on SMA inviting stakeholders and members of the public to comment and submit further evidence for consideration. It will keep the public abreast of developments via its blogs and ongoing stakeholder engagement activities.