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50243

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2014
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government for how many spills a year the Environment Agency has licensed the upgraded Mogden sewage works; and how many were achieved in the first year of operation.
	tabling member printed	Lord Berkeley
	uin	HL6961
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Mogden Sewage Treatment Works has an Environmental Permit issued by the Environment Agency to discharge treated and storm effluent to the Thames Estuary at Isleworth. The discharge of storm effluent is permissible only when the capacity of onsite facilities for treatment and containment are exceeded. This includes a 77,000m³ storm tank.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The permit does not specify a number of spills per year. It requires the works to provide secondary treatment for a specific flow rate of incoming sewage.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The current version of the permit came into effect on 31 March 2013. During the subsequent 12 months, Thames Water reported 54 occasions when the works discharged storm sewage to the Thames. Thirty-four of these were during the wet weather in January and February.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord De Mauley question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 2202 label Biography information for Lord De Mauley
	tabling member	3526 label Biography information for Lord Berkeley

65191

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2014
	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	Inland Waterways
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many inland waterways are open to the general public; and how access by ramblers to such waterways is facilitated.
	tabling member printed	Lord Fearn
	uin	HL727
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Canals and rivers are an important asset for tourism and recreation, which the Government aims to protect and promote. According to The Association of Inland Navigation Authorities (AINA), in 2011 there were 873.8 million visits to waterways around Britain, 23.4 million of which were to visit a specific attraction. There were 293.2 million visits for leisure walking and 234.5 million visits for dog walking, making walking by far the most popular activity participated in.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The majority of Britain's waterways are managed by the Canal and River Trust (CRT) which is funded by Defra. One of the key objectives on which this funding depends is ensuring public access, including for recreation and tourism. The land managed by the CRT includes 3148km of towpaths, all of which are open to the public, and a number of monuments and historic sites including 5 UNESCO world heritage sites.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord De Mauley grouped question UIN HL726 question first answered 07/07/2014 16:49:41 answering member 2202 label Biography information for Lord De Mauley
	tabling member	488 label Biography information for Lord Fearn

47006

	registered interest
	date	03/04/2014
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the 67 successful prosecutions brought by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority since the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 are related to "on-farm" activities; and how many were brought against the food supply industry.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Byford
	uin	HL6614
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>As at 8 April 2014, 69 prosecutions have been undertaken against 44 individuals</p><p> </p><p>and companies that operated without a licence, one company that obstructed the</p><p> </p><p>Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) officers, and 24 individuals and</p><p> </p><p>companies that used the services of unlicensed gangmasters.</p><p> </p><p>A standard GLA licence allows a gangmaster to undertake activity in both</p><p> </p><p>agriculture and food supply. As a result, the GLA do not retain data on</p><p>whether individual prosecutions related to agriculture or food supply.</p> answering member printed Lord Taylor of Holbeach question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 3787 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Holbeach
	tabling member	3343 label Biography information for Baroness Byford

64606

	registered interest
	date	30/06/2014
	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	Bovine Tuberculosis
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many separate contractors were employed in (1) Somerset, and (2) Gloucestershire in the recent badger culls; and how many people were actively engaged in culling in each county.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
	uin	HL689
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>During the pilot badger culls of 2013, the number of contractors employed in Somerset was 107, and 95 in Gloucestershire.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As set out in the licences issued by Natural England to each area, the licensees were required to submit details of the persons they wished to be authorised to take or kill badgers. As such, a list of 107 such persons was provided for West Somerset and 95 provided for West Goucestershire. How many of these contractors were deployed or actively engaged in culling operations was and remains an operational matter for the licensees and, as such, this information is not available.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord De Mauley question first answered 15/07/2014 17:20:44 answering member 2202 label Biography information for Lord De Mauley
	tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

65201

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2014
	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: Imports
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many young trees were imported into the United Kingdom for the 2013–14 planting season; how this compares with the previous year; and what assessment they have made of the impact of such imports on the health of trees in the United Kingdom.
	tabling member printed	Lord Framlingham
	uin	HL737
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The data provided relates to forest reproductive material, the generic name for the seeds, cones, cuttings and planting stock used in forest establishment. It does not cover imports for non-forest reproductive purposes. This data is only available in financial years and relates to imports from the EU and elsewhere. In summary, 2,416,665 plants (bareroot and container) were imported into the UK in 2012/13. In 2013/14, 3,064,388 plants (bareroot and container) were imported. This is an increase of 647,723.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We assess the impacts of tree and plant pests and diseases using the Plant Health Risk register that was published recently. This is publicly available on the Fera website at: <a href="https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/phiw/riskRegister/" target="_blank">https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/phiw/riskRegister/</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Where necessary, we introduce additional plant health requirements in response to threats associated with movements from other Member States. For example, we have recently instigated measures to require notification for plane, ash, sweet chestnut, oak, elm and pine introduced into England from all other EU Member States. This information can be used to direct surveillance and eradication activities against pests and diseases affecting these species.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord De Mauley question first answered 08/07/2014 14:51:54 answering member 2202 label Biography information for Lord De Mauley
	tabling member	134 label Biography information for Lord Framlingham

47005

	registered interest
	date	03/04/2014
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how much energy was produced from beet grown in each of the last three years in the United Kingdom.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Byford
	uin	HL6613
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Official statistics on the area of sugar beet used to produce biogas, or energy produced from UK sugar beet are not currently available. The data below shows the production of bioethanol from sugar beet and the land used.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Bioethanol (million litres)</strong>1</p></td><td><p><strong>Land used (thousand hectares)</strong>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>15 April 2010 – 14 April 2011</strong></p></td><td><p>68.5</p></td><td><p>13.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>15 April 2011 – 14 April 2012</strong></p></td><td><p>21.8</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>15 April 2012 -14 April 2013</strong></p><p>(provisional) 3</p><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p>59.9</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>1 All sugar beet volumes above were grown on previously cropped land</p><p>2 Source: Defra June Survey of Agriculture. UK area at year n-1.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/structure-of-the-agricultural-industry" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/structure-of-the-agricultural-industry</a></p><p>3 (e) Figures for 2012-13 (Year 5) are as of 15 September 2013 and are not final.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OfGEM) records have identified two operational anaerobic digestion plants which only use sugar beet to produce biogas for electricity generation.</p><p>Defra published an experimental statistics release on the use of crops for bioenergy in December 2013.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/289168/nonfood-statsnotice2012-12mar14.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/289168/nonfood-statsnotice2012-12mar14.pdf</a></p> answering member printed Lord De Mauley grouped question UIN HL6612 question first answered 16/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 2202 label Biography information for Lord De Mauley
	tabling member	3343 label Biography information for Baroness Byford

77317

	registered interest
	date	10/07/2014
	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	Birds of Prey
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will respond to the recent licensing of the drug diclofenac in two Member States of the European Union; and what assessment they have made of its toxicity to vultures.
	tabling member printed	Lord Trees
	uin	HL1051
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Authorisation of a veterinary medicine involves an assessment of the benefits of a product against its risks. Potential risks include risks to the animal, to the user, the consumer and to the environment. The environmental risk is assessed to establish the extent of exposure. If the environmental exposure is not extensive, then no further assessment is required. Without exposure, there is no risk irrespective of the toxicity. If there is information in the public domain to indicate that despite low exposure there may be a potential risk, then the competent authority – the body that authorises veterinary medicines - can request a further assessment of the issues identified.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Products containing Diclofenac are a risk to vultures if there is any exposure of the birds to carcasses of animals containing residues of the veterinary medicine. The toxicity of Diclofenac to vultures is well documented. In Europe there are laws which provide for the disposal of fallen stock. The risk of exposure is therefore minimal as dead farmed animals are not left in the fields. Risk mitigation measures (instructions to the users) could be used to eliminate exposure by instructing users not to feed carcasses of animals treated with Diclofenac to vultures. This is something for the competent authorities of those Member States that have authorised the veterinary use of Diclofenac. The Government has no evidence that there is a serious risk to vultures posed by the authorisation of Diclofenac and therefore does not plan to trigger a referral procedure.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord De Mauley grouped question UIN HL1052 question first answered 17/07/2014 12:02:30 answering member 2202 label Biography information for Lord De Mauley
	tabling member	4260 label Biography information for Lord Trees

63143

	registered interest
	date	23/06/2014
	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	Food: Labelling
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to combat misleading labelling of food.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
	uin	HL552
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Food labelling rules are harmonised in the EU and require that food information shall not be misleading. This Government has pressed for better information for consumers during negotiations relating to food labelling in Europe.</p><p> </p><p>Food businesses are ultimately responsible for ensuring their products' safety and accurate labelling. However, Government departments and agencies back this up with more than 80,000 risk-based checks per year.In addition, Defra develops validated testing methods under its Food Authenticity Programme to check whether a product has been mislabelled or contaminated. These are then used by Public Analysts and local authorities to support food law enforcement.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord De Mauley question first answered 02/07/2014 13:42:22 answering member 2202 label Biography information for Lord De Mauley
	tabling member	4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

47004

	registered interest
	date	03/04/2014
	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
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what area was set aside for the growth of beet for biogas production in the United Kingdom, in each of the last three years.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Byford
	uin	HL6612
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Official statistics on the area of sugar beet used to produce biogas, or energy produced from UK sugar beet are not currently available. The data below shows the production of bioethanol from sugar beet and the land used.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Bioethanol (million litres)</strong>1</p></td><td><p><strong>Land used (thousand hectares)</strong>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>15 April 2010 – 14 April 2011</strong></p></td><td><p>68.5</p></td><td><p>13.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>15 April 2011 – 14 April 2012</strong></p></td><td><p>21.8</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>15 April 2012 -14 April 2013</strong></p><p>(provisional) 3</p><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p>59.9</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>1 All sugar beet volumes above were grown on previously cropped land</p><p>2 Source: Defra June Survey of Agriculture. UK area at year n-1.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/structure-of-the-agricultural-industry" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/structure-of-the-agricultural-industry</a></p><p>3 (e) Figures for 2012-13 (Year 5) are as of 15 September 2013 and are not final.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OfGEM) records have identified two operational anaerobic digestion plants which only use sugar beet to produce biogas for electricity generation.</p><p>Defra published an experimental statistics release on the use of crops for bioenergy in December 2013.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/289168/nonfood-statsnotice2012-12mar14.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/289168/nonfood-statsnotice2012-12mar14.pdf</a></p> answering member printed Lord De Mauley grouped question UIN HL6613 question first answered 16/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 2202 label Biography information for Lord De Mauley
	tabling member	3343 label Biography information for Baroness Byford

62811

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2014
	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	North York Moors National Park
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the reasons for the decision of the North York Moors National Park Authority to cease to maintain the footpaths and bridleways within the National Park, and (2) the likely short- and long-term consequences of that decision for (a) the contribution made by volunteers, (b) the quality of the rights of way network in the National Park, and (c) the local economy in and around the Park.
	tabling member printed	Lord Greaves
	uin	HL491
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Government recognises the importance of high quality access infrastructure within the tourism offer of national parks and the valuable role played by many volunteers in helping to maintain rights of ways. Rights of way are the primary means by which people access the countryside and engage in outdoor recreation, which is good for health and well-being and good for the economy.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Maintenance of rights of way is the statutory responsibility of local authorities. The North York Moors National Park Authority is an independent body and its agreements with local authorities are for it to decide. The Government has made no assessment of any change in approach on this issue or the possible consequences.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord De Mauley question first answered 26/06/2014 15:11:45 answering member 2202 label Biography information for Lord De Mauley
	tabling member	2569 label Biography information for Lord Greaves