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1624734

	registered interest
	date	28/04/2023
	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	Horticulture: Peat
	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 her Department is taking steps to help support the professional horticulture sector to develop responsibly-sourced alternatives to peat that can be produced at volume and which maintain the quality of the produce.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	183246
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2023 answer text <p>We have supported, and continue to support, a number of research projects looking at alternatives to peat in growing media. Following our recent announcement on the detail of our proposed time-limited exemptions for professional use, we will be taking further soundings from the horticulture sector regarding technical barriers to transitioning away from the use of peat and the type of research and development projects which could benefit from Government support.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 09/05/2023 08:55:18 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1624051

	registered interest
	date	26/04/2023
	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	Horticulture: Peat
	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 make an assessment of the potential impact of the ban on the use of peat and peat-containing products in the horticultural sector on carbon emissions.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	182849
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2023 answer text <p>An impact assessment was included in our consultation on the sale of peat and peat-containing products issued on 18 December 2021 and updated on 14 February 2022. This states that our policy saves an estimated 0.455 MtCO2e. The Impact Assessment will be further updated prior to introduction of legislation to Parliament. A link to the Impact Assessment can be found <a href="https://consult.defra.gov.uk/soils-and-peatlands/endingtheretailsaleofpeatinhorticulture/supporting_documents/Consultation%20Impact%20Assessment%20%20Ending%20the%20Retail%20Sale%20of%20Peat%20in%20Horticulture%20in%20England%20and%20Wales.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 02/05/2023 13:53:29 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1613166

	registered interest
	date	21/04/2023
	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	Metals: Waste Disposal
	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 much and what proportion of Environment Agency’s time is dedicated to (a) tackling permitted scrap metal operators acting illegally and (b) tackling unpermitted operators in the scrap metal sector accessing Grant-in-Aid funding.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	182151
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2023 answer text <p>The Environment Agency spent a total of 32,446 hours on compliance activities at 7,070 permitted sites across all waste treatment sectors (Hazardous Waste Treatment, Non-Hazardous &amp; Inert Waste Treatment and Metal Recycling) in 2022.</p><p> </p><p>For the metal recycling sector specifically, the Environment Agency undertook 1,762 compliance related activities across 2,152 permitted sites. These compliance activities include site inspections, site audits, check monitoring, procedure reviews and report/data reviews. As part of these compliance checks we recorded 1,396 separate permit breaches. The Environment Agency spent a total 8,811 hours on compliance work in the Metal Recycling Sector. 7,878 of those hours were spent undertaking site inspections.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency does not have data available on the proportion of time spent tackling unpermitted operators in a specific sector. However, we can state that in the financial year 2021/2022 the Environment Agency spent approximately 130,000 hours or 108 FTE tackling illegal waste sites, including illegal scrap metal sites. During that same financial year, a total of 561 illegal waste sites were stopped by the Environment Agency. As an indicator, 94 of these sites were in the scrap metal sector, which represents 17% of all sites stopped. Activities to tackle illegal waste sites are currently funded through government grant-in-aid.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 26/04/2023 12:23:48 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1611422

	registered interest
	date	17/04/2023
	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	Horticulture: Peat
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to respond to the letter from the Klondyke Group, dated 7 April 2023, on banning the use of peat for professional growers.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	181050
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2023 answer text <p>A reply is being prepared and will be sent to the correspondent directly.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 20/04/2023 16:17:58 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1587689

	registered interest
	date	21/02/2023
	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	Iron and Steel: Waste
	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 plans to take steps to prevent steel scrap waste from being exported to economies with lower environmental standards.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	149458
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2023 answer text <p>Steel scrap waste is a commodity which is traded on a legitimate global market. Where the UK cannot currently recycle materials economically, exports can help ensure those materials are recycled. The UK Government therefore has no plans to restrict the exports of steel scrap for recycling.</p><p> </p><p>While there is a legitimate global market for secondary materials, it must be and is subject to strict regulatory requirements. Under the UK legislation on waste shipments, businesses involved in the export of wastes are required to take all necessary steps to ensure that the waste they ship is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout its shipment and during its recycling.</p><p> </p><p>All waste exports need to be made in accordance with the relevant legislation and we have a system of inspections in place to verify compliance. The UK regulators mount targeted inspections at UK ports working with the shipping sector to help detect and prevent illegal waste shipments. Individuals and businesses found to be exporting waste in contravention of the requirements in the legislation waste can face a two-year jail term and an unlimited fine.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 24/02/2023 11:45:46 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1539461

	registered interest
	date	04/11/2022
	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	Flood Control: Capital Investment
	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 policy paper entitled The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, published on 18 November 2020, how much his Department has spent on the six-year capital investment programme for flood and coastal defences through point nine on protecting our natural environment since the publication of that plan.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	79289
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/11/2022 answer text <p>Investment in flooding and coastal erosion in England is provided by the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra).</p><p> </p><p>HM Government has invested £761 million in 2021/22, the first year of the capital Flood and Coastal Risk Investment Programme.</p><p> </p><p>Information on government spending on flood and coastal erosion risk management is available on GOV.UK within the document <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F1070943%2FFunding_for_FCERM_March_2021_Final_v1_accessible.pdf&amp;data=05%7C01%7CMarcus.Fry%40defra.gov.uk%7Cfa258a8748e44438128d08dac1936a1b%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638035136140114326%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=9bPZWgRNxmvDPXbJQp0lvDcXGyDYUURN%2FYClQUpNRGk%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Central Government Funding for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management in England</a>, March 2022.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 14/11/2022 17:00:08 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1539462

	registered interest
	date	04/11/2022
	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	Nature Conservation
	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 policy paper entitled The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, published on 18 November 2020, how many nature projects have been delivered through point 9, protecting our natural environment, since the publication of that plan.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	79290
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2022 answer text <p>Point 9 of The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution announced a number of actions government is putting in place to protect our natural environment. Since the publication of the Plan in November 2020, these measures have kick-started a number of nature projects:</p><p> </p><p>159 nature projects have been enabled by our £80 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund, a short-term competitive fund that has created and supported jobs in the nature sector across England. These projects have helped to restore nature, used nature-based solutions to tackle climate change and connected people with the natural environment.</p><p> </p><p>22 projects have been selected for the first round of Landscape Recovery, all of which have pioneering ideas that will improve the rural landscape and reverse the decline in nature. The successful projects will be awarded a share of around £12 million in development grants over the next two years, to help them finalise their delivery plans before starting implementation on the ground.</p><p> </p><p>25 schemes that include natural flood management (NFM) measures have secured approval to enter construction as part of the current Flood and Coastal Risk Investment Programme, with a further 27 forecast due to achieve the same stage by the end of this financial year (31 March 2023). These contribute towards an ambition of 260 schemes that include NFM measures by the end of the programme (March 2027).</p><p> </p><p>Two new Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) (the Yorkshire Wolds and Cheshire Sandstone Ridge) and two extensions to AONBs (the Surrey Hills and Chilterns) are under consideration by Natural England (NE) under our landmark designation programme. This programme is expected to be completed by 2025 and will play a key role in meeting HM Government’s commitment to protect and improve 30% of UK land for nature by 2030.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 15/11/2022 16:24:32 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1507797

	registered interest
	date	22/09/2022
	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	Horticulture: Peat
	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 ban on the use of peat in horticulture announced by the Government in September 2022, which plants he plans to exempt from that ban.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	54507
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2022 answer text <p>The proposed ban will be framed in such a way as to provide time limited exemptions for the professional horticulture sector, in order to allow time to overcome technical barriers to ending the use of peat. Officials are currently consulting with horticulture industry representatives to inform our detailed proposals.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 12/10/2022 07:51:37 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1507798

	registered interest
	date	22/09/2022
	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	Horticulture: Peat
	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 he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the Horticultural Trade Association's press release entitled HTA response to Defra announcement on horticultural peat, dated 27 August 2022.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	54508
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2022 answer text <p>I welcome the good progress made in terms of reducing the quantity of peat used in growing media. However, there is significant support for ending the use of peat in horticulture which will contribute to our net zero carbon targets and prevent biodiversity loss. Officials are currently engaging with stakeholders, including the Horticultural Trade Association, in order to identify and overcome the remaining technical barriers to ending the use of peat in horticulture.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 11/10/2022 08:20:24 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1420700

	registered interest
	date	08/02/2022
	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	Veterinary Medicine
	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 merits of amending the Veterinary Medicines Regulations for the purposes of (a) encouraging innovation and (b) reducing bureaucracy in the production of animal medicines in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	uin	120747
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2022 answer text <p>The Veterinary Medicines Directorate is in the process of reviewing the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 (VMR) to ensure that they are fit for purpose. The powers to amend and supplement the VMR are set out in the Medicines and Medical Devices Act.</p><p> </p><p>The Act mandates that, in considering changes to the VMR, we must have regard to the likelihood of the United Kingdom being seen as a favourable place in which to develop, manufacture or supply veterinary medicines. Using the powers in the Act we are able to take a proportionate, risk-based approach to regulation. We intend to, where possible, reduce administrative burdens on industry, whilst effectively ensuring safety for animals, humans and the environment, as well as supporting the availability of veterinary medicines and the UK as an attractive place for UK-based innovation.</p><p> </p><p>We will carry out a formal public consultation on the proposed changes to the VMR as they have effect in Great Britain. This consultation will include an assessment of the impact of those changes on UK businesses and provide the opportunity for all stakeholders to express their views.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 21/02/2022 17:46:55 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson