Asked by: Lord Bishop of Exeter (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the damage caused by the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle to the UK's forests.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have a dedicated programme of risk and horizon scanning, which continuously and proactively assesses emerging threats to plant health and the potential impact on the UK.
The eight-toothed spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus, is a serious pest on spruce in Europe and could cause significant damage to Britain’s forestry and timber industries. The beetle is primarily a secondary pest, preferring stressed or weakened trees. However, under the right environmental conditions, beetle numbers can increase enough to result in attacks on healthy trees.
Ips typographus is a priority, regulated pest with a surveillance programme and contingency plan in place. The pest risk analysis for Ips typographus that provided the basis for the current entry of the pest on the UK Plant Health Risk Register, is being updated and will be issued for consultation shortly.
In 2018 a breeding population of Ips typographus was first confirmed in Kent, as part of routine surveillance by the Forestry Commission. Further findings have been identified in the South-East of England in 2021-23. Evidence demonstrates that outbreaks have resulted from natural dispersal (blow over) of the pest from the continent. There is no evidence of within-UK spread, or of impacts on healthy spruce in the UK.
All outbreak sites are subject to robust eradication action, and a demarcated area is in place restricting the movement and felling of susceptible material. Monitoring of the 2018 outbreak indicates that eradication action on that site has been successful.
We continue to fund research into the impact and spread of Ips typographus. Over the longer term, the Forestry Commission is encouraging landowners to remove susceptible spruce from the South-East and replant with other species. Financial support is available for this through the Tree Health Pilot.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government has taken steps with international allies to help prevent the Myanmar military from receiving proceeds generated by the Myanmar mining industry.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Myanmar's extractive sector is highly exploitative of both natural resources and the people who work within it. Unregulated mining and logging has led to land degradation, water pollution, deforestation and forced displacement. It is also a vital source of revenue for the military. Since the military coup in Myanmar, the UK has led international efforts to reduce the military's access to revenue, arms and equipment. To prevent the military from profiting off natural resource extraction, we have sanctioned Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), the two largest military owned conglomerates, who are involved in mining and other extractive industries. We have also sanctioned Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE), Myanmar Pearl Enterprise (MPE) and Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE), the main state-owned entities responsible for the mining of precious stones and timber. We have also strengthened our Overseas Business Risk Guidance, to warn companies of the risks associated with Myanmar's extractive sector. We will continue to do all we can to cut the military's access to revenue, through both sanctions and non-sanctions measures.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking with international counterparts to protect global populations from damage caused by negligent exploitation of natural resources by private companies.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Good governance is essential if national economies and local communities in developing countries are to benefit from the exploitation of natural resources, such as mineral reserves and timber. This is necessary to ensure that revenues from natural resources are invested to support education, health and economic development and to ensure that natural resources provide jobs and benefits to local communities. For example, in the forest sector, the UK supports efforts to tackle illegal logging and promote trade in legal timber in global timber markets. UK support provided through the Forest Governance, Markets and Climate programme (£280 million, 2011-23) ensures that illegal timber is eliminated from supply chains in countries with valuable forest resources, that the rights of local forest-dependent communities are respected and that companies in the timber industry are held accountable for their actions.
The UK also works to promote reform in industries which are closely associated with the destruction of natural resources, such as forests and encourage companies to operate in ways that reflect best practice. For example, through Partnerships for Forests (£120 million, 2015-23), the UK supports public-private partnerships with companies operating in the palm oil, rubber, cocoa, coffee, soya and cattle industries, which are helping to protect and restore forests, provide local jobs and livelihoods and ensure recognition and respect for local community rights. This work is helping to drive bad practice out of these industries and protect local communities and global populations from the damage caused by deforestation.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what advice the UK government is providing to UK companies in Myanmar involved in (a) oil, (b) gas, (c) timber, (d) gems and (e) other extractive industries on the payment of revenue and loyalties to the military-controlled government.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign Secretary and the International Trade Secretary have written to British Companies active in Myanmar to make clear our expectation that they do nothing to support the military. We are clear that the military must pay the price for their actions, that is why we are exploring all options to put pressure on their economic interests, this includes sanctions.
We remain committed to the principle of 'do no harm' with sanctions, and therefore wish to ensure that any measures balance the risk of disproportionately affecting poor people in Myanmar and imposing a cost on the military. In addition, as set out in the written ministerial statement of 25 February, we are reviewing our approach to Trade and Investment in Myanmar, and while that review takes place have suspended all trade promotion activity including the resources listed.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
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 as to whether there are sufficient supplies of heat-treated pallets to meet EU regulations covering the transport of products from 1 Jan 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
After the end of the Transition Period, all wood packaging material (WPM) moving between Great Britain (GB) and the EU must be treated and appropriately marked in compliance with international standards (ISPM 15). This is in line with international requirements for trade and is in place to protect both the EU and GB from harmful plant pests and diseases.
Defra has established a strong relationship with the WPM industry. The UK Timber Pallet and Packaging Confederation (TIMCON), the Freight Transport Association , National Association of Pallet Distributors, the European Federation of Wooden Pallet and Packaging Manufacturers (FEFPEB) and the Closed Pallet Pooling Coalition have been working hard with Defra and industry to ensure there are sufficient compliant pallets available for 1 January 2021. This will ensure our biosecurity is maintained and trade continues to flow with as little disruption as possible.
The WPM industry have been working tirelessly to both increase the stock of compliant WPM and to grow our WPM treatment capacity by increasing the number of heat treatment facilities (kilns) and their hours of operation and by simplifying and improving ISPM15 processes to reduce the time needed to treat their WPM. In a recent survey of the industry, 70% of respondents indicated they were confident that they would be fully ready by the end of the Transition Period. TIMCON is also strongly encouraging FEFPEB and EU national associations to engage and support their countries’ WPM industries to increase their own stocks of compliant pallets.
Defra, the Forestry Commission and other relevant plant health authorities are continuing to work closely with the WPM sector to address what further actions they need to take to manage this new requirement by the end of the Transition Period.
As there will be no immediate change to the biosecurity threat of WPM originating from the EU at the end of the Transition Period, GB will maintain its current risk-based checking regime for EU WPM.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the (a) volume and (b) proportion of domestic wood production that has been used for fuel purposes in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Forestry Commission published these data in ‘Forestry Statistics 2018’.
Table 1 | Deliveries of UK grown softwood, 2013-2017 | |||
| ||||
| thousand green tonnes |
| ||
Year | Woodfuel | Deliveries to all markets | % of total deliveries used by energy markets |
|
2013 | 1,250 | 10,547 | 12 |
|
2014 | 1,500 | 10,903 | 14 |
|
2015 | 1,600 | 10,265 | 16 |
|
2016 | 1,550 | 10,419 | 15 |
|
2017 | 1,600 | 10,478 | 15 |
|
Source: industry surveys, industry associations.
Notes:
Table 2 | Deliveries of UK grown hardwood, 2013-2017 | |||
| thousand green tonnes |
|
| |
Year | Woodfuel | Deliveries to all markets | % of total deliveries used by energy markets |
|
2013 | 400 | 532 | 75 |
|
2014 | 400 | 537 | 74 |
|
2015 | 400 | 566 | 71 |
|
2016 | 400 | 597 | 67 |
|
2017 | 600 | 738 | 81 |
|
Source: industry surveys, industry associations.
Notes:
Other includes round fencing and roundwood exports.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the available supply of UK-sourced virgin and waste wood that has been used for (a) wood panel manufacturing, (b) sawmill products, (c) paper manufacturing and (d) wood fuel in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This data is published in Forestry Statistics 2018.
Table 1 | Inputs to Wood-based Panel Mills, 2013-2017 | ||||
thousand green tonnes | |||||
Year | UK roundwood1 | Sawmill products | Imports2 | Recycled wood fibre3,4 | Total |
2013 | 1,263 | 1,709 | 0 | 853 | 3,825 |
2014 | 1,283 | 1,809 | 0 | 812 | 3,904 |
2015 | 1,334 | 1,687 | 17 | 852 | 3,890 |
2016 | 1,248 | 1,749 | 39 | 838 | 3,874 |
2017 | 1,059 | 1,726 | 22 | 923 | 3,730 |
Source: Forestry Statistics 2018 (Forestry Commission, September 2018),
based on data from: Wood Panel Industries Federation
Notes:
Table 2 | Inputs to Wood-based Panel Mills, 2013-2017 | ||||
thousand green tonnes | |||||
Year | UK roundwood1 | Sawmill products | Imports2 | Recycled wood fibre3,4 | Total |
2013 | 1,263 | 1,709 | 0 | 853 | 3,825 |
2014 | 1,283 | 1,809 | 0 | 812 | 3,904 |
2015 | 1,334 | 1,687 | 17 | 852 | 3,890 |
2016 | 1,248 | 1,749 | 39 | 838 | 3,874 |
2017 | 1,059 | 1,726 | 22 | 923 | 3,730 |
Source: Forestry Statistics 2018 (Forestry Commission, September 2018), |
based on data from: Wood Panel Industries Federation |
Notes:
Table 3 Inputs for the integrated pulp & paper mills1, 2013-2017 | ||||
thousand green tonnes | ||||
Year | UK roundwood2 | Sawmill products | Total | |
2013 | 465 | 83 | 548 | |
2014 | 465 | 97 | 562 | |
2015 | 435 | 101 | 536 | |
2016 | 423 | 82 | 505 | |
2017 | 442 | 61 | 503 | |
Source: Forestry Statistics 2018 (Forestry Commission, September 2018), | ||||
based on data from: UK Forest Products Association | ||||
Notes:
Table 4 | Inputs for woodfuel1, 2013-2017 | |||
Thousand green tonnes | ||||
Year | UK roundwood1,2 | Sawmill products3 | Recycled wood4,5,6 | Total |
2013 | 1,650 | 302 | 830 | 2,782 |
2014 | 1,900 | 439 | 1,340 | 3,679 |
2015 | 2,000 | 534 | 1,450 | 3,984 |
2016 | 1,950 | 624 | 1,550 | 4,124 |
2017 | 2,200 | 705 | 1,660 | 4,565 |
Source: Forestry Statistics 2018 (Forestry Commission, September 2018),
based on data from: industry surveys, industry associations, Wood Recyclers Association.
Notes:
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with representatives of the UK timber and wood panel industries on the role UK wood products could play in housebuilding.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The vast majority of new homes in England are built using traditional brick-and-mortar methods. In its Housing Market Report in October, the National House Building Council stated that timber frame's market share at registration in each of the last five years was as follows:
2011: 13%
2012: 10%
2013: 9%
2014: 8%
2015: 9%
To increase housing supply, we need a diversified housing market where all firms embrace innovation to become more productive and deliver a better product to the consumer. It is not for government to endorse one building technique or material, including timber frame, over another, as long as building standards are met.
Instead, we are encouraging market diversification and promoting the use of modern methods of construction through our housing and planning programmes, including Affordable Homes 2016-21, Build to Rent and Housing Zones, and through our National Planning Practice Guidance.
In October, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government launched the Home Building Fund, which aims to provide further support to builders using modern methods of construction, in addition to custom builders, small and medium-sized builders, and new entrants to the market.
The Secretary of State and I often meet developers and housebuilders, including those who build homes using traditional methods and those who use modern methods of construction, as well as visiting offsite factories and developments where modern methods of construction are used.
Asked by: Sandra Osborne (Labour - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to his Department's report, Life cycle impacts of biomass electricity in 2020, what assessment he has made of the (a) reliability of evidence that the main UK biomass supplies come from North America and (b) effect of such imports on domestic industries; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Amber Rudd
As part of their sustainability requirements, biomass generating stations must report their biomass sustainability data to Ofgem, and this includes the country of origin. This data is published annually on Ofgem’s website1. From later this year, biomass generators will also be required to have their sustainability data independently audited, annually.
In 2013, the Department carried out an analysis of domestic and imported wood use by major biomass generating stations, using both the above sustainability reporting and additional five- year forecasts that large scale generators provided to the Department as part of a voluntary exercise2. The forecast weight of domestically sourced wood used for biomass power generation is expected to remain stable between 2.3 and 2.5 million oven dried tonnes (modt). This analysis supports the Department’s assessment that major generators intend to focus on international rather than domestic sources of wood.
Furthermore, as ‘high quality’ wood, such as that suitable for saw logs and timber production, commands a significantly higher market price than residues, this makes high quality wood unattractive and unaffordable for use as woodfuel. Therefore market forces, both here and abroad, should mean mixed used of wood continues.
[1] https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2012-13