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1149326

registered interest
date	15/10/2019
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	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit
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 discussions her Department has had with representatives of St Helens Council on preparations for leaving the EU without a deal.
tabling member constituency	St Helens North
tabling member printed	Conor McGinn
uin	693
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>We have communicated on a range of topics with local authorities, including in a conference call on 13 August along with other government departments. Each local Authority has established a Brexit lead officer to liaise with government.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has identified areas where our exit preparations impact local authorities. For instance Environmental Health Officers are responsible for issuing Export Health Certificates on fish and we have discussed capacity and the requirements with them.</p><p> </p><p>We regularly contribute to a cross-government working group which coordinates engagement with local authorities.</p><p> </p><p>Information on leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement relevant to a particular local authority can then be accessed by the local authority via shared channels, such as:<br></p><ul><li>MHCLG’s Local government Brexit preparedness page on GOV.UK;</li><li>MHCLG’s weekly e-bulletin to local authorities setting out all relevant updates for the week;</li><li>Presenting information at MHCLG’s monthly delivery board to local authority representatives;</li><li>The Food Standards Agency’s Smarter Comms platform accessed directly by regulatory officers in local authorities;</li><li>Cascading information via MHCLG’s network of nine regional local authority Chief Executives;</li><li>Using MHCLG’s newly established network of Brexit lead officers in each local authority;</li><li>Direct email messages to regulatory leads in relevant local authorities;</li><li>Engaging with and passing information through regulatory bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute or the Association of Port Health Authorities.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Information on a range of Defra’s exit projects if we leave the EU without a withdrawal agreement has been made available to local authorities through these channels. This includes information on:<br></p><ul><li>Exporting fish and shellfish (Export Health Certificates);</li><li>Importing fish and fisheries products (Catch Certificates);</li><li>Import control systems for animals, products of animal origin and high risk food and feed;</li><li>Food labelling changes;</li><li>The protection of habitats and species;</li><li>Waste;</li><li>Guidance for businesses exporting goods to the EU.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Local authorities have been invited to attend various meetings, including workshops, training events and roadshows on topics including:<br></p><ul><li>Changes to environmental regulations;</li><li>Changes to food and farming;</li><li>Changes to exports of animals and animal products;</li><li>Changes to imports of animals and animal products;</li><li>MHCLG’s regional roadshows on how local authorities will be affected by exiting the EU without a withdrawal agreement in Wakefield, Birmingham, London and Cambridge;</li><li>Training on catch certificates in Wales, Inverness, Bristol and Newcastle;</li><li>Changes to trading standards regulatory functions in Exeter;</li><li>A series of teleconferences on changes to export health certificates;</li><li>A webinar on changes affecting border or coastal local authorities;</li><li>A workshop on regulatory services hosted by MHCLG with input from other departments including Defra.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 21/10/2019 11:03:58 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
tabling member	4458 label Biography information for Conor McGinn

1148724

registered interest
date	14/10/2019
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	Forests
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 she is taking to support reforestation.
tabling member constituency	Brecon and Radnorshire
tabling member printed	Jane Dodds
uin	269
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2019 answer text <p>Domestically, the Government is on course to plant 11 million trees this Parliament (2017-2022), with at least 3.6 million trees (2,318 hectares) of woodland planted since April 2017, and over 15 million trees planted since 2010. In the Autumn Budget 2018, the Government announced an additional £60 million for tree planting initiatives, comprising £10 million to fund urban tree planting through the Urban Tree Challenge Fund, and £50 million for a Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme. This will add to other new planting in the pipeline, including the High Speed 2 Woodland Fund, the Woodland Carbon Fund, a kick start investment in the Northern Forest and support for a new Northumberland Forestry Partnership, to delivera new forest region starting with 1 million trees planted by 2024.</p><p> </p><p>The Prime Minister recently announced a doubling of UK International Climate Finance (ICF) to at least £11.6 billion over the next five years. This spend will include a focus on nature based solutions to climate change. Through ICF, the UK currently funds several programmes in developing countries that use native tree-planting as a strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and generating economic benefits for rural communities. For example, Defra’s investments aim to restore 550,000 hectares of forest, generating 90 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions savings. This includes a £10 million project to restore up to 20,000 hectares of mangrove forest in Madagascar and Indonesia.</p> answering member constituency Richmond Park answering member printed Zac Goldsmith question first answered 17/10/2019 14:17:45 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	4718 label Biography information for Jane Dodds

1148727

registered interest
date	14/10/2019
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	Trees: Inner City Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has plans to develop a national plan for inner city trees.
tabling member constituency	Dudley North
tabling member printed	Ian Austin
uin	75
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2019 answer text <p>In November 2018, the Secretary of State announced that we will launch a national Tree Strategy for England. The Tree Strategy will set out the Government’s vision for the sector for the years to come and will aim to cover both rural and urban areas. The Strategy will set out how we intend to use a natural capital approach to forestry to maximise the benefits trees can provide such as carbon sequestration, increasing biodiversity and improving water and air quality.</p><p> </p><p>We aim to publish the Tree Strategy in 2020 following a broad and open-ended consultation to maximise sectoral engagement and gauge ambition outside of Government.</p> answering member constituency Richmond Park answering member printed Zac Goldsmith question first answered 17/10/2019 14:21:39 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	1511 label Biography information for Lord Austin of Dudley

1148797

registered interest
date	14/10/2019
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: Forests
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 she has made of the effect of integrating trees into productive land management systems through agroforestry on (a) land management and (b) tackling climate change.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	288
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2019 answer text <p>The Department is aware of the complementary benefits of integrating trees into productive land management systems using agroforestry practices. We recognise that agroforestry can play an important role in addressing some of the key issues of land management by using land more efficiently and helping tackle climate change.</p><p> </p><p>Agroforestry can provide multiple benefits for soil, farm run-off, water quality, air quality, carbon sequestration, and support and enhance biodiversity.</p> answering member constituency Richmond Park answering member printed Zac Goldsmith question first answered 17/10/2019 14:16:12 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1148801

registered interest
date	14/10/2019
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: Forests
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 plans her Department has to increase the number of trees integrated into productive land management systems through agroforestry.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	290
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2019 answer text <p>The Department plans to increase the number of trees in England through a range of woodland creation options including agroforestry. We know that it is important to have a wide portfolio of tree afforestation methods when planting trees in productive land management systems as every farm situation is different. This allows greater flexibility and ultimately optimal use of agricultural land in England. Furthermore, it will help us meet the shared (public/private sector) aspiration of reaching 12% woodland cover in England by 2060.</p> answering member constituency Richmond Park answering member printed Zac Goldsmith question first answered 17/10/2019 14:18:52 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1148820

registered interest
date	14/10/2019
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	Farms: Tenancy Agreements
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Agricultural tenancy consultation and call for evidence on mortgage restrictions and repossession protections for agricultural land in England, if the Government will widen the scope of the proposed changes to include all commercial property.
tabling member constituency	Thirsk and Malton
tabling member printed	Kevin Hollinrake
uin	297
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government call for evidence regarding mortgage restrictions and repossession of agricultural land is now closed and a response will be published shortly. Before taking forward any proposals for legislative changes, Defra would discuss issues of scope with other Government departments.</p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 17/10/2019 16:43:37 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
tabling member	4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake

1148835

registered interest
date	14/10/2019
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	Plastics
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 plans she has to reduce the availability of single use plastics; and will she make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
tabling member printed	Dr Dan Poulter
uin	190
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2019 answer text <p>Published last year, the Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy, sets out our plans to reduce, reuse and recycle more plastic than we do now. Our target is to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste throughout the life of the 25 Year Environment Plan, but for the most problematic plastics we are going faster - that is why we commit to work towards all plastic packaging placed on the UK market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.</p><p>We have made good progress. Our plastic bag charge has led to a 90% reduction in the use of plastic carrier bags in the main retailers, and we recently consulted on plans to extend the charge to all retailers and on increasing the minimum charge to at least 10p. We want to further incentivise people to choose sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics. We are therefore seeking a power in the Environment Bill to be able to place a charge on any single-use plastic item.</p><p>In addition, the Government will introduce a ban, with exemptions, on the supply of single use plastic drinking straws, plastic drink stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds to the end user in England in April 2020. As set out in the Resources and Waste Strategy, we will take a strategic approach to the use of bans as part of a broader approach to reduce the use of single-use plastics.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 17/10/2019 15:23:31 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	3932 label Biography information for Dr Dan Poulter

1148837

registered interest
date	14/10/2019
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	Plastics: Packaging
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ban the (a) production and (b) use of polystyrene plastic packaging in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	81
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2019 answer text <p>Packaging materials, including polystyrene, are already covered by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations which place a legal obligation on businesses that make or use packaging to ensure that a proportion of the packaging they sell is recovered and recycled. This creates an incentive for companies to use less packaging and to ensure that their packaging can be recycled at end of life as it will reduce their costs in complying with the Regulations.</p><p>In general, we prefer to help people and companies make the right choice, rather than banning items outright. We have, however, recently consulted on changes to the packaging producer responsibility scheme, looking at all aspects of the regime including mechanisms to encourage increased recyclability.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 125 question first answered 17/10/2019 15:25:14 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1148904

registered interest
date	14/10/2019
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	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Chief Scientific Advisers
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 meetings she had with her Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from 1 June to 31 August 2019.
tabling member constituency	North Norfolk
tabling member printed	Norman Lamb
uin	85
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2019 answer text <p>Defra’s former Chief Scientific Adviser Ian Boyd left Defra at the end of August and on 1 October 2019 Gideon Henderson was appointed. The Secretary of State was appointed on the 24 July 2019 and has not yet held any bilateral meetings with the Chief Scientific Adviser since this date and 31 August 2019. The Chief Scientific Adviser regularly attends other Secretary of State meetings on wider issues.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 17/10/2019 15:22:11 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
tabling member	1439 label Biography information for Norman Lamb

1149043

registered interest
date	14/10/2019
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	Plastics: Packaging
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 reduce the use of polystyrene in packaging.
tabling member constituency	Preseli Pembrokeshire
tabling member printed	Stephen Crabb
uin	125
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2019 answer text <p>Packaging materials, including polystyrene, are already covered by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations which place a legal obligation on businesses that make or use packaging to ensure that a proportion of the packaging they sell is recovered and recycled. This creates an incentive for companies to use less packaging and to ensure that their packaging can be recycled at end of life as it will reduce their costs in complying with the Regulations.</p><p>In general, we prefer to help people and companies make the right choice, rather than banning items outright. We have, however, recently consulted on changes to the packaging producer responsibility scheme, looking at all aspects of the regime including mechanisms to encourage increased recyclability.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 81 question first answered 17/10/2019 15:25:14 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1554 label Biography information for Stephen Crabb