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1139241

registered interest
date	16/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Construction and Furniture: Health Hazards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to air quality of introducing fire toxicity assessments to fire safety tests of upholstered goods and construction materials.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	277635
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is the lead Government department on fire safety regulations and has responsibility for product safety.</p><p> </p><p>Defra’s Air Quality division has not made any assessment of the potential benefits to air quality of introducing fire toxicity assessments to fire safety tests of upholstered goods and construction materials.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 22/07/2019 14:37:22 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1139242

registered interest
date	16/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the farming and agriculture industry in (a) the UK, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) Haltemprice and Howden constituency.
tabling member constituency	Haltemprice and Howden
tabling member printed	Mr David Davis
uin	277642
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>Farming has a bright future outside the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. The Great Yorkshire Show demonstrated the strengths that British farming has to offer with a record-breaking number of entries for sheep and cattle, and great produce from Wensleydale cheese to North Yorkshire game.</p><p> </p><p>I know very well the importance of supporting these farmers in Yorkshire and Humber, home to my own constituency and farm, as well as my Rt Hon friend’s constituency, Haltemprice and Howden. As we prepare to leave the EU, the UK Government is taking a number of steps to support our farmers and industry in England and across the UK.</p><p> </p><p>For the UK as a whole, the Government has pledged to continue to commit the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of this Parliament, expected in 2022; this includes all funding provided for farm support under both Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 of the current Common Agricultural Policy.</p><p /><p>The Government has also guaranteed that any projects where funding has been agreed before the end of 2020 will be funded for their full lifetime. This means, in the event the UK leaves the EU with no deal, the UK Government would fund any remaining payments to farmers, land managers and rural businesses due after October 2019. This would ensure continued funding for these projects until they finish. The guarantee also means that Defra and the devolved administrations can continue to sign new projects after the UK leaves the EU during 2019 and 2020.</p><p> </p><p>As agriculture is devolved, each administration will have the flexibility to develop agricultural policy suited to their own unique circumstances, once the UK has left the EU. It is for the Scottish, Welsh and future Northern Ireland Governments to decide upon future agricultural policies for their respective nations.</p><p> </p><p>For farmers in England, the Agriculture Bill marks a decisive shift in our support. We will create an ambitious new system based on paying “public money for public goods”. Public goods will include improving air and water quality, and habitats for wildlife. By paying for things the public value, we can also improve animal welfare and reduce the use of antibiotics in our food chain. Financial support for innovations like precision farming can help farmers become more productive, reduce the use of expensive chemicals and protect the environment.</p><p> </p><p>Critically, our Agriculture Bill also includes a seven year transition period of 2021–2027 for Direct Payments to help farmers in England to plan for the future. In the meantime direct payments for 2019 and 2020 will be made on the same basis as they are now, with simplifications where possible.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 22/07/2019 12:01:27 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
tabling member	373 label Biography information for Sir David Davis

1139269

registered interest
date	16/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Salmon
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on salmon stocks in English rivers of seals.
tabling member constituency	Mid Sussex
tabling member printed	Sir Nicholas Soames
uin	277604
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>No formal assessment of the effect of seal activity on Atlantic salmon stocks has been made in English rivers.</p><p> </p><p>Although diet studies suggest that seals typically prey on other fish species, seals are known to consume salmon in estuaries, around nets and river mouths. Predation by seals is controlled by regulations including licensed sustainable culling, as well as non-lethal methods such as sound scaring equipment.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 22/07/2019 12:01:44 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
tabling member	116 label Biography information for Lord Soames of Fletching

1138930

registered interest
date	15/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the equity of the transition to environmental land management payments for farms of different sizes.
tabling member constituency	Stroud
tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
uin	277105
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>The seven year agricultural transition period in England, as set out in the Agriculture Bill, will make sure there is a gradual transition from the current system to the new, avoiding a cliff edge for farm businesses of all sizes. It will give all farmers sufficient time to adapt and prepare for the new Environmental Land Management system which will be piloted and rolled out during the transition.</p><p>During the transition, we will apply reductions to Direct Payments in a fair way, with higher reductions initially applied to amounts in higher payment bands.</p><p>This method balances the views of those who feel recipients of the highest payments should initially face higher reductions with the strong calls for the reductions to be shared amongst all farmers from the start of the transition.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 22/07/2019 16:11:56 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1138709

registered interest
date	12/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Speed Limits: Essex
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, under which statutory provisions his Department is able to direct Basildon Council and Essex County Council to reduce the speed limit on the A127.
tabling member constituency	Rochford and Southend East
tabling member printed	James Duddridge
uin	276530
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>Sections 85(5) and 86(8) of the Environment Act 1995.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 22/07/2019 14:26:06 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	1559 label Biography information for Sir James Duddridge

1138048

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Export Health Certificates
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential increase in the number of Export Health Certificate that will be required in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
tabling member constituency	Harborough
tabling member printed	Neil O'Brien
uin	275832
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>If the UK leaves the EU without a deal we expect the number of Export Health Certificates (EHCs) issued for exports to increase.</p><p>To address this increase, we have offered free training to official veterinarians, with around 1000 official veterinarians now able to sign EHCs.</p><p>We have created a new Certification Support Officer. This role will assist Certifying Officers to collate the evidence needed for certification. 250 have registered and 90 have qualified in Great Britain so far.</p><p>We have offered local authorities funding to help them meet demand for EHCs, and a new web portal for processing EHCs will also help by speeding up the application process.</p><p>The proposed risk based approach to inspecting EHCs will increase the capacity for local authority Certifying Officers to certify export health certificates for fish and fish products.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 22/07/2019 13:08:28 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien

1138167

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Waste: Exports
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to penalise (a) local authorities and (b) companies found to be illegally exporting refuse and recycling abroad.
tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
uin	275789
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>The UK Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations set out offences in relation to the shipment of waste and provide that a person found guilty of an offence can be fined and/or imprisoned for up to two years. The regulations are enforced by the UK’s competent authorities which will take appropriate action against any illegal activity.</p><p> </p><p>The UK has a robust approach to enforcing these controls. The UK environmental regulators take a pro-active, intelligence led approach to checking compliance, targeting exports which pose a high risk and intervening to stop illegal exports taking place. In 2017/18, the Environment Agency issued 158 stop notices, prohibiting the export of unsuitable waste. It stopped 367 containers of waste destined for illegal export at ports and intervened further upstream to prevent 8,974 tonnes of waste from reaching our ports.</p><p> </p><p>After exports are stopped, the costs associated with returning a waste shipment that is found to be unfit for export to the site of origin for further treatment can be a significant cost to the exporter. This prevents illegal exports and makes sure that the waste is recovered or disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.</p><p> </p><p>I have asked the Environment Agency to contact you with more information on their enforcement activities and the letter will be placed in the Library.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 22/07/2019 14:31:56 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk

1137064

registered interest
date	04/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Tree Planting
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees will be planted in order to reach the Government’s target of 11 million trees in each year from July 2019 to the end of this Parliament.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	273331
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>Between 1st April 2017 and 31st March 2019 we have planted 3.64 million trees towards our target of 11 million by the end of this Parliament, and we are on track to meet the target.</p><p> </p><p>The Woodland Carbon Fund, Woodland Creation Planning Grant and Countryside Stewardship initiatives are already in place to support land managers to plant trees. They are demand-led grant schemes for independent landowners. It is therefore not possible to have exact annual planting figures for future years.</p><p> </p><p>In order to increase tree planting rates, we have simplified the application process for our grant schemes, and made them open for applications year-round. We have also announced £5.7 million to kick start a new Northern Forest, as well as £50 million for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme, which will open for applications this year.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 22/07/2019 11:43:34 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead