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1061347

	registered interest
	date	14/02/2019
	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	Zoos: Safety
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the safety systems and processes in UK zoos to protect staff, customers and animals.
	tabling member printed	Lord Birt
	uin	HL13727
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that zoos are safe places to work and visit, and that there are high standards of welfare for all animals.</p><p> </p><p>The Zoo Licensing Act 1981 sets out comprehensive licensing and inspection requirements for zoos. Responsibility for administering these requirements rests with local authorities. Defra supports this by providing the Secretary of State’s Standards of Modern Zoo Practice, which sets out minimum standards that zoos are expected to meet, covering welfare and safety.</p><p> </p><p>The standards are kept under review by Defra’s Zoos Expert Committee, a group of independent experts that advises Defra on zoo issues. Zoos must also comply with the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 which ensures the safety of staff.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 27/02/2019 12:54:42 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	2533 label Biography information for Lord Birt

1135699

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	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	Xylella
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what specific measures they are taking to prevent the introduction to the UK of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa via the import of infected host plants.
	tabling member printed	Baroness D'Souza
	uin	HL16792
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2019 answer text <p><em>Xylella fastidiosa</em> is currently not present in the UK but we are taking a lead in the EU to tighten import and movement controls to protect the country against its introduction.</p><p>We supplement EU measures with national legislation requiring notification of certain imports, allowing the Animal and Plant Health Agency to build intelligence about such trades and carry out targeted inspections. The notification requirements were strengthened in 2018 through the inclusion of olive trees, following an interception in Belgium of <em>Xylella</em> on olive trees imported from Spain.</p><p>We have also successfully pressed the case for stronger requirements at an EU level against certain high risk hosts for this disease, with supplementary measures also now in place against <em>Polygala myrtifolia</em>. Under the leadership of Defra’s Chief Plant Health Officer, Nicola Spence, we are continuously reviewing new developments to determine whether additional measures are required.</p><p>We have a surveillance programme in place targeting imports and businesses trading in hosts from within the EU, as well as inspections in the wider environment.</p><p>We are also taking action with UK industry to raise awareness, resulting in nurseries and garden centres committing not to bring <em>Xylella</em> host plants into the UK from EU regions where the disease is present, and employing careful sourcing, traceability and good hygiene measures.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 05/07/2019 11:43:25 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	3709 label Biography information for Baroness D'Souza

984284

	registered interest
	date	09/10/2018
	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	Wood-burning Stoves: Air Pollution
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to commission research into the contribution made by different types of domestic wood burning stoves to the presence of Ultrafine Particles and other air pollutants in urban areas.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
	uin	HL10492
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2018 answer text <p>Measuring emissions of particulate matter from wood stoves is a recognised challenge.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s draft Clean Air Strategy identifies a range of actions targeted to reduce emissions from these sources. Defra is working with industry sectors and test houses to review different methods for testing stove emissions to determine what test methods are most reliable</p><p> </p><p>EU Ecodesign regulations that come into force in 2022 will mean all new stoves will need to meet agreed emissions standards, regardless of where they are used.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 18/10/2018 14:26:58 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	4297 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

1050779

	registered interest
	date	29/01/2019
	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	Wildlife: Smuggling
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.
	tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
	uin	HL13204
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2019 answer text <p>Combatting the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a priority for the UK Government and the UK plays a leading role globally. We are investing over £36 million from 2014 to 2021 on action to counter IWT, including work to reduce demand, strengthen enforcement, ensure effective legal frameworks and develop sustainable livelihoods.</p><p> </p><p>The UK initiated and supported a series of international conferences, starting with the first conference in London in 2014, to drive the fight to eliminate IWT and in October last year brought together global leaders at the latest and most ambitious of these. The conference brought a new focus and determination to tackle IWT as a serious organised crime, to build coalitions and to close markets for illegally traded wildlife products. Sixty-five countries, including the UK, have reaffirmed their commitment to counter the illegal trade and have declared what further action they will be taking. Full details of all the commitments made at the conference have been published in the 2018 London IWT conference declaration.</p><p> </p><p>New UK pledges made at the conference which complement our existing initiatives in this area include the following commitments:</p><p> </p><ul><li><p>an additional £6 million for the UK’s IWT Challenge Fund;</p></li><li><p>£900,000 of new funding to develop a British military counter-poaching taskforce;</p></li><li><p>£2.1 million for public-private partnerships in Indonesia, to secure and extend critical habitats for species including the Sumatran tiger and Asian elephant;</p></li><li><p>£50,000 to support a new WILDLABS Tech Hub, which has since partnered with the Open Data Institute to reduce the level of illegal trade of wildlife by sharing data to develop innovative technologies;</p></li><li><p>up to £40,000 to create education packs for children in multiple languages which will teach them about key conservation and IWT issues, in partnership with Tale2Tail, a citizen ivory action group, and the WWF;</p></li><li><p>to establish a new global consortium made up of specialists in demand reduction and behaviour change, to make sure that our future work on IWT is as binding and effective as possible.</p></li></ul><p> </p><p>At home we have passed tough new legislation to close our domestic ivory market. The Ivory Act 2018 effects a total ban on commercial dealing in elephant ivory that could directly or indirectly fuel poaching, with five narrow exemptions. When the ban comes into force it will be the toughest in Europe and one of the toughest in the world, with some of the strongest enforcement provisions.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 05/02/2019 12:43:49 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

1052387

	registered interest
	date	31/01/2019
	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	Wildlife: Conservation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the governments of (1) China, (2) Vietnam, (3) India, and (4) other countries in Asia about banning the trade in endangered species and their products including (a) elephants, (b) big cats, (c) rhinoceroses, and (d) pangolins.
	tabling member printed	Lord Jones of Cheltenham
	uin	HL13332
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/02/2019 answer text <p>The UK is committed to the conservation and protection of wildlife. We work closely with other countries to promote wildlife conservation through our membership of international agreements such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). CITES is an international agreement between 183 Parties, including China, Vietnam and India, to promote sustainable trade in wildlife and to ensure that no plant or animal species becomes extinct through overtrading.</p><p> </p><p>CITES prohibits nearly all international trade in wild caught specimens of species considered to be threatened with extinction. These Appendix I species include pangolins, most elephant and rhino populations, and some big cat species. Species not currently threatened with extinction, but for which uncontrolled trade would not be sustainable, are included on CITES Appendix II and can only be traded internationally with the correct permits. Permits will only be granted if trade is considered not to be detrimental to the survival of the species.</p><p> </p><p>Domestic trade is regulated by national laws and falls outside the scope of CITES. CITES cannot oblige Parties to prohibit domestic trade but it can encourage them to do so. In 2016 Parties were encouraged to close their domestic ivory markets.</p><p> </p><p>In 2016 Dr Thérèse Coffey MP met the Chinese minister and attended the CITES Conference of the Parties, where she had further meetings including with the Vietnamese minister. The Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP represented the UK government at the 3<sup>rd</sup> global Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) conference in Hanoi in 2016 and had bilateral meetings with Vietnam and China. Last October the UK hosted the 4<sup>th</sup> global IWT conference in London. Sixty-five of the seventy countries which attended, including China, India, Vietnam and the UK, reaffirmed their commitment to counter illegal trade and declared what further action they will be taking. The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP and Dr Thérèse Coffey MP met with a number of countries at the conference including Burma, China, Japan, Indonesia and Nepal.</p><p> </p><p>In 2018, the British Embassy in Beijing ran a highly visible campaign, “End Wildlife Crime”, with public events delivered across China, some in conjunction with the local government authorities, and attended by 19,250 members of the public.</p><p> </p><p>Embassies and High Commissions in many Asian countries play a key role in raising IWT issues with host governments. Officials and ministers discuss IWT with these countries in the margins of international meetings and during visits to the region. Most recently the Rt Hon Mark Field MP discussed IWT with senior members of the Vietnamese Government on a visit to the country.</p><p> </p><p>China has taken positive action on closing its domestic ivory market, co-hosting a session on combatting the ivory trade at the 2018 IWT conference. However, last year China decided to adjust its 1993 legislation to allow the use of farmed tiger and rhino products in traditional medicine; following discussions with the UK and others the Chinese Government is reviewing that decision. We regularly discuss IWT with the Chinese authorities and will continue to raise our concerns with them.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 14/02/2019 17:06:14 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	248 label Biography information for Lord Jones of Cheltenham

1142474

	registered interest
	date	25/07/2019
	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	Wild Boar
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to monitor the numbers and distribution of feral boar in the UK; and what steps are being taken to control their numbers.
	tabling member printed	Lord Trees
	uin	HL17548
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/08/2019 answer text <p>Wildlife management in the UK is a devolved issue.</p><p>In England, the majority of feral wild boar are thought to reside within the Forest of Dean. This public forest estate is managed by the Forestry Commission which undertakes an annual population survey of the feral wild boar in the Forest of Dean public estate, the results of which are on their website.</p><p>Forestry England rangers cull feral wild boar in the Forest of Dean public estate to stop the growth of the population.</p><p>On other land, feral wild boar population management is the responsibility of the landowner. The Government can support landowners by providing advice.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 08/08/2019 11:43:45 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	4260 label Biography information for Lord Trees

1052388

	registered interest
	date	31/01/2019
	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	Whales: Japan
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Japan about its decision to resume whaling; and whether they intend to impose sanctions on that government if that practice goes ahead.
	tabling member printed	Lord Jones of Cheltenham
	uin	HL13333
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2019 answer text <p>During Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzō Abe’s, visit to the UK on 9 January, the Prime Minister expressed her disappointment at Japan’s decision to leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and reiterated our opposition to commercial whaling practices.</p><p> </p><p>We are working closely with other likeminded countries to assess the implications of this decision and will be using all appropriate opportunities to urge the government of Japan to rethink its decision.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 11/02/2019 14:34:17 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	248 label Biography information for Lord Jones of Cheltenham

1091633

	registered interest
	date	19/03/2019
	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	Water: Shortages
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address a potential long-term water shortage in the UK.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL14677
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government is working closely with other water regulators and the water industry to improve the resilience of water supplies. The Government recognises action is required and it is committed to a ‘twin track approach’, of reducing demand for water and increasing supply in parallel.</p><p> </p><p>Water companies have a statutory duty to provide clean and reliable water to customers under the Water Industry Act 1991 and to fulfil this duty there is a statutory requirement to plan to balance water supply and demand at least twenty-five years in to the future. The Government, the Environment Agency and Ofwat issued guidance to water companies in 2016 on how they should be planning to be resilient to foreseeable risks, including taking appropriate action to respond to climate change projections and population growth.</p><p> </p><p>The Government and regulators have challenged the companies when reviewing their draft plans and have made clear that companies should set challenging customer consumption figures, reduce leakage at least 15% by 2025 and by half by 2050 and bring forward supply schemes where necessary. Water companies have been revising their plans and they will finalise them this year.</p><p> </p><p>The Government knows that reducing water demand alone will not be enough; the country requires a mix of new large and small water supply solutions. In the case of large infrastructure, the Government’s National Policy Statement for water resources infrastructure, currently undergoing parliamentary scrutiny, will streamline the process of gaining planning permission for nationally significant infrastructure projects that are needed to improve the long term resilience of water supplies.</p><p> </p><p>Looking further ahead the Government will launch a call for evidence on setting an ambitious target for <em>per capita</em> consumption by mid-May 2019. This will be a national, non-binding target that will be used to judge the effectiveness of the Government’s actions and those of the water industry in reducing water use. The Government will also examine the wider policy options required to support the target.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is also taking steps to improve water companies’ statutory planning process, to ensure that there is better collaboration between water companies and other water using sectors. This includes the Environment Agency developing a National Framework for water resources and consulting on legislative improvements.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 02/04/2019 12:30:10 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1110684

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Water: Pollution
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what research they have conducted into the pollution of watercourses by antibiotics for both humans and livestock in the last five years; and what were the findings of any such research.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer
	uin	HL15148
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2019 answer text <p>The Environment Agency (EA) monitors several antibiotics in watercourses as part of a surveillance network of substances on an EU Watch List. This dataset as a whole is collated across Europe to assess the level of exposure and prioritise substances for future inclusion under the Water Framework Directive. If selected, Europe wide environmental quality standards will be developed and implemented through this process.</p><p> </p><p>The EA has over the last five years continued working with the water industry via United Kingdom Water Industry Research to understand better and quantify levels of antibiotics in pre- and post-treatment effluents from sewage treatment works. This will continue in the next phase of work due to start in 2020.</p><p><br> Together these have demonstrated that:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Antibiotics are present in effluents and watercourses and will need to be assessed against any future environmental quality standards.</li><li>Wastewater treatment processes in common usage remove a relatively small proportion of the antibiotics studied (compared to other substances in effluents) before release into the environment.</li></ul><p> </p><p>A study report, reference number 18/EQ/01/13, is available from United Kingdom Water Industry Research <a href="https://www.ukwir.org/eng/search-uk-water-industry-research-reports" target="_blank">https://www.ukwir.org/eng/search-uk-water-industry-research-reports</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 24/04/2019 12:45:35 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	1934 label Biography information for Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer

1110685

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Water: Pollution
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what research they have conducted into the pollution of watercourses by hormones contained in human waste.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer
	uin	HL15149
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2019 answer text <p>The Environment Agency (EA) has worked over the last five years with the water industry via United Kingdom Water Industry Research (UKWIR) to understand better and quantify levels of hormones in pre- and post-treatment effluents containing human waste from wastewater treatment works. This will continue in the next phase of work due to start in 2020.</p><p> </p><p>A study report, reference number 18/EQ/01/13, is available from UKWIR <a href="https://www.ukwir.org/eng/search-uk-water-industry-research-reports" target="_blank">https://www.ukwir.org/eng/search-uk-water-industry-research-reports</a></p><p><br> The EA also monitors hormones in watercourses as part of a surveillance network of substances on an EU Watch List.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 24/04/2019 12:50:08 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	1934 label Biography information for Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer