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1129312

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Charities: Plastic Bags
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 he is taking steps to encourage charities to (a) stop using plastic bags to collect charity donations and (b) explore alternatives.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	259431
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy for England, published in December last year, sets out our plans to reduce plastic pollution and move towards a more circular economy. This builds on the commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste.</p><p>Following a public consultation in 2017, the Fundraising Regulator strengthened its Code of Practice, requiring charitable house to house collectors not to post collection bags to properties that indicate they do not wish to receive them, thus reducing the distribution of unwanted charity collection bags. The Waste and Resources Action Programme has also produced guidance to help local authorities and textiles collectors such as charities, waste management companies and textile merchants increase textile reuse and recycling and reduce the amount of textiles being disposed of in residual waste.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 10/06/2019 10:43:58 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1130092

registered interest
date	05/06/2019
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	Hedges and Ditches
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 of netting hedgerows on nesting birds.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
tabling member printed	Diana Johnson
uin	260592
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>Although the Government has not undertaken this specific assessment, we closely monitor trends in bird populations. These trends have long been considered to provide a good indication of the broad state of our wildlife.</p><p> </p><p>In November last year, the Government published <em>Wild Bird Populations in England, 1970 to 2017</em>. Overall, this showed that the combined all-species index has changed little compared with around 45 years ago. However, there was much variation in numbers between species, with some species increasing and some species decreasing.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 10/06/2019 10:46:00 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

1130093

registered interest
date	05/06/2019
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	Hedges and Ditches
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 protect and conserve hedgerows.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
tabling member printed	Diana Johnson
uin	260593
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green, Catherine West, on 15 April 2019 to PQ 242911.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 10/06/2019 10:32:05 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

1130094

registered interest
date	05/06/2019
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	Hedges and Ditches
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 bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to include stronger regulation on the netting of hedgerows.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
tabling member printed	Diana Johnson
uin	260594
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>There are no plans to review regulations governing the netting of bird nesting places, as it is enforcement that is required rather than new regulations.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 10/06/2019 16:18:13 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

1128571

registered interest
date	23/05/2019
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	Air Pollution: Schools
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 recent steps his Department has taken to improve air quality around schools in Hackney.
tabling member constituency	Hackney South and Shoreditch
tabling member printed	Meg Hillier
uin	257704
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The Mayor of London is responsible for air quality in the capital and has reserve powers under the 1995 Environment Act to enable this.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities have discretionary powers to restrict car access to schools and enforce anti-idling laws outside schools.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities are best placed to target action to improve local air quality. The Government’s Air Quality Grant Programme provides funding to local authorities for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions which may include action targeting schools. The Government has awarded over £60 million in funding since the air quality grant started in 1997, including £3 million in 2018/19. Hackney Council has benefited from this fund.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has put in place a £3.5 billion plan to improve air quality and reduce harmful nitrogen dioxide emissions. Our Clean Air Strategy sets out measures we are taking to improve air quality and reduce emissions of pollution, improving public health.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 10/06/2019 15:00:33 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	1524 label Biography information for Dame Meg Hillier

1129592

registered interest
date	04/06/2019
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	Land: Contamination
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 recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the 2012 revisions to the Statutory Guidance on dealing with contaminated land.
tabling member constituency	Stroud
tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
uin	259840
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The 2012 Statutory Guidance was issued following an extensive review with the contaminated land sector, local authorities, other interested Government departments and agencies. In 2014, Defra funded research to assess the level of understanding and impact of the revised guidance. This assessment is publicly available: <a href="http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=12496_SP1011-AssessmentoftheImpactoftherevisedStatutoryGuidance.pdf" target="_blank">http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=12496_SP1011-AssessmentoftheImpactoftherevisedStatutoryGuidance.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 10/06/2019 09:10:28 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1128614

registered interest
date	23/05/2019
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	Climate Change
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 his Department has made of the merits of (a) rewilding and (b) other natural methods to tackle climate change.
tabling member constituency	Tooting
tabling member printed	Dr Rosena Allin-Khan
uin	257796
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The concept of rewilding has a variety of characteristics and definitions applied to the term. Nature-based solutions are key to tackling climate change and averting its impacts. The Government is deploying such solutions to improve our natural environment.</p><p>The government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets out key policies on how improving nature can help tackle climate change.</p><p> </p><p>Under the new Environmental Land Management Scheme we will pay public money for the provision of environmental public goods. These public goods will include the mitigation of and adaption to climate change.</p><p>Tree planting is one of the main contributors to nature-based carbon sequestration and the Government supports this in a number of ways. Our manifesto committed to planting 11 million trees by 2022, and in addition a further 1 million trees in our towns and cities, and we also have a long term aspiration to increase woodland cover from 10% to 12% by 2060. To achieve these goals, in the Autumn Budget the Chancellor announced £10 million for an Urban Trees Challenge Fund and £50 million to help plant new woodlands through the Woodland Carbon Guarantee.</p><p>Peatlands are our largest terrestrial carbon store. We have committed to publishing an England Peatland Strategy. The strategy will set out our vision to reverse decline in peatlands and restore them. Work is underway on four large-scale peatland restoration projects across England, to which we have allocated £10 million, and will restore 5,851 ha of degraded peatlands. We are also improving satmarshes.</p><p>Natural England has an ongoing uplands programme with landowners and we will also be setting up a Lowland Agricultural Peatland Taskforce to help sustainably manage and restore peatland habitats. Once restored, our healthy functioning peatlands will provide a range of public benefits in addition to carbon storage, including flood mitigation and biodiversity rich habitats.</p><p> </p><p>We also support nature-based solutions through our international aid programmes on forestry and mangroves/blue forests.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 10/06/2019 15:09:59 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4573 label Biography information for Dr Rosena Allin-Khan

1128284

registered interest
date	22/05/2019
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	Beverage Containers: Deposit Return Schemes
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 he plans to respond to the public consultation on the Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers, published in February 2019.
tabling member constituency	Warrington South
tabling member printed	Faisal Rashid
uin	257546
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The consultation on proposals to introduce a deposit return scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland closed on 13 May. Policy officials are currently analysing the responses, and the analysis of responses and the Government’s response will be published in due course.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 10/06/2019 10:14:28 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4670 label Biography information for Faisal Rashid

1129682

registered interest
date	04/06/2019
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	Hydrofluorocarbons
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 his Department has made of the effect on climate change of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants; and what plans he has to improve arrangements for the (a) management, (b) recycling and (c) disposal of such refrigerants.
tabling member constituency	South Cambridgeshire
tabling member printed	Heidi Allen
uin	260084
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government estimates that hydrofluorocarbon emissions from refrigeration and air conditioning made up around 2.5% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2017, when gases are compared using their global warming potentials (GWPs). The UK greenhouse gas inventory uses the GWPs for individual hydrofluorocarbons from table 2.14 of Volume One (the Physical Science Basis) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report 4, as agreed by decision 9/CP.2 of the Conference of Parties.</p><p> </p><p>The UK was one of the earliest countries to ratify the 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol relating to hydrofluorocarbons and regulations are already in place regarding the phase down of their usage as well as controls on their management, disposal and recycling. A review is expected in 2022.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 10/06/2019 10:52:27 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4516 label Biography information for Heidi Allen

1129111

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Seas and Oceans: Environment Protection
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 protect oceans and marine life.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	259276
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The UK is working both domestically and internationally to improve global ocean conservation in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG14. Internationally, we are leading calls to protect 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030. We are on track to protect 4 million square kilometres of ocean across our Overseas Territories by 2020 and are backing an Ascension Island bid to protect 100% of its offshore waters. To support the achievement of the “30by30” target the UK is working hard to secure the agreement of a new Implementing Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction in 2020.</p><p> </p><p>The UK is at the forefront in establishing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). We currently have 355 sites protecting 25% of UK waters. Included in these figures, is the recent designation of the third tranche of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), where a further 41 sites have been designated. This tranche builds on the 50 MCZs previously designated and essentially completes the UK’s contribution to the ecologically coherent network of MPAs in terms of habitat and species representation.</p><p> </p><p>We are also working to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean and are leading global efforts to tackle the problem through our support of the G7 Oceans Plastics Charter, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy and the Commonwealth Blue Charter. In April 2018, we launched the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance (CCOA), which we co-lead with Vanuatu. The CCOA encourages its 25 member countries to take steps to eliminate avoidable single-use plastics, significantly reduce single use plastic carrier bags by 2021 and implement a ban of microbeads in rinse-off personal care products by 2021.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s forthcoming International Ocean Strategy will set out our plan to work with our international partners to secure a sustainable, prosperous and secure ocean future.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 10/06/2019 11:23:07 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight