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1003653

	registered interest
	date	09/11/2018
	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	Farms: Ammonia
	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 his Department's strategy is for cutting the amount of ammonia from farms.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	189536
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2018 answer text <p>The Government has a statutory commitment to reduce ammonia emissions from 2005 levels by 8% by 2020 and by 16% by 2030. Farming accounts for 88% of UK emissions of ammonia.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s consultation on a Clean Air Strategy was published on 22 May. The Strategy proposed that the Government would require and support farmers to make investments in farm infrastructure and equipment that will reduce emissions.</p><p> </p><p>We sought views on 3 possible approaches to regulation to reduce ammonia emissions. Proposals included regulations to reduce emissions from storage and spreading of slurry and manure and from use of urea-based fertilisers. We are considering the responses to the consultation, and the final Strategy will be published by the end of this year.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is providing technical and financial support for farmers to invest in equipment to reduce ammonia emissions. Grants are currently available through the Countryside Productivity Scheme to help farmers purchase manure management equipment including low-emission spreaders and through the Countryside Stewardship Scheme for slurry tank and lagoon covers for farmers in priority water catchments.</p><p> </p><p>Defra worked with farming industry organisations to develop a voluntary Code of good agricultural practice for reducing ammonia emissions which was published earlier this year. Catchment Sensitive Farming Officers will shortly be trained to deliver on-farm advice on ammonia mitigation methods.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has recently consulted on a new system of financial support for farmers, delivering public money for public goods. This includes improving air quality and reducing ammonia emissions.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 19/11/2018 17:20:16 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1010594

	registered interest
	date	20/11/2018
	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	Incinerators: Health Hazards
	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 takes to assess the potential effects on human health of proposed waste incinerators.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	193367
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2018 answer text <p>In order to be allowed to operate, waste incinerators must obtain an environmental permit from the Environment Agency. Under environmental permitting, the Environment Agency is responsible for ensuring that the proposed plant will comply with all relevant legislation and that it will not cause significant harm to the environment or human health.</p><p> </p><p>Checks that the Environment Agency carries out to assess the potential health effects of proposed waste incinerators include:</p><p> </p><ul><li><p>Making sure that the proposed plant will meet the requirements of relevant European directives, including emission limits and the use of best available techniques to prevent or minimise emissions.</p></li><li><p>Carrying out an environmental impact assessment of emissions from the plant to ensure that it will not give rise to significant pollution or cause environmental standards to be exceeded, and a specific human health risk assessment for dioxin emissions.</p></li><li><p>Taking into account scientific opinion, including advice provided by Public Health England (PHE) on the health effects of incinerators. The Environment Agency also consults PHE, the Food Standards Agency and the relevant local authority’s Director of Public Health for their views on every EfW plant application they receive.</p></li></ul><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 27/11/2018 17:35:33 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1016280

	registered interest
	date	28/11/2018
	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	Waste: Crime
	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 enforcement undertakings for waste crime the Environment Agency has undertaken in each of the last three years; how many resulted in successful prosecution; and what fines were imposed in each case if the sums were greater than £10,000.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	196686
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2018 answer text <p>Enforcement Undertakings (EUs) are a civil sanction and constitute a voluntary offer made by offenders, containing actions to address the cause and effect of their offending. Where an EU is accepted it becomes a legally binding agreement. The Environment Agency is increasingly using EUs for suitable cases to restore or enhance the environment, improve practices of the offending business and ensure future compliance with environmental requirements.</p><p> </p><p>Over the past 3 calendar years for waste-related offences the Environment Agency has accepted:</p><p> </p><ul><li><p>2016 30 EUs accepted, contributing £858,195.69 towards environmental projects;</p></li><li><p>2017 32 EUs accepted, contributing £1,027,423.53 towards environmental projects; and</p></li><li><p>2018 (to date) 27 EUs accepted, contributing £597,022.43 to environmental projects.</p></li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>EUs are one type of enforcement measure the Environment Agency considers and it will only do so for cases where prosecution is not appropriate using its published Enforcement and Sanctions Policy to guide its approach. However prosecutions will still be taken, particularly in the most serious cases.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency have undertaken the following waste prosecutions in the last 3 years:</p><p> </p><ul><li><p>2016 152 waste prosecutions, of which 129 were successful</p></li><li><p>2017 129 waste prosecutions, of which 115 were successful</p></li><li><p>2018 (to date) 79 waste prosecutions, of which 73 were successful</p></li></ul><p> </p><p>I attach details of each case for each time period where the fines imposed exceeded £10,000.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 03/12/2018 14:59:10 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey attachment 1 file name Copy of Waste Prosecutions - Fines over 10k - 2016-2018 (to mid Nov).xls title Details of fines over £10,000
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1020589

	registered interest
	date	06/12/2018
	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	Curlews: Special Protection 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, with reference to the report entitled The status of UK SPAs in the 2000s: the Third Network Review, published by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee in 2016, what representations have been received by (a) his Department, (b) his Department's agencies and (c) his Department's non-departmental public bodies on completing the network of Special Protection Areas for Curlew in the breeding and non-breeding seasons.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	199770
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 answer text <p>None.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 11/12/2018 15:31:03 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1020638

	registered interest
	date	06/12/2018
	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	Trees: Diseases
	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 incidences of each notifiable tree disease have been reported to his Department; what species of tree was affected by each disease; and when the notifications were made.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	199775
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 answer text <p>The Tree Health Diagnostic and Advisory Service (THDAS) at Forest Research provides advice and where possible diagnosis and identification of tree pests and pathogens. The Forestry Commission has developed TreeAlert, an online tool to help gather information about the health of the nation's trees, woodlands and forests, which allows individuals to report any suspected tree pests and diseases. Over half of the enquiries received at THDAS come through TreeAlert. The rest of the enquiries come via email, letter, telephone or visitors.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>From 2015 to 30 September 2018, THDAS identified 1820 cases of notifiable trees pests and diseases. Of these, ash dieback and oak processionary moth were the most frequently reported notifiable pests and diseases. The reports received included a range of different tree species affected by pests and diseases.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 11/12/2018 15:24:46 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1023199

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2018
	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	Water Supply
	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 water management in areas affected by (a) water shortages and (b) drought.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	201093
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>The Environment Agency (EA) continues to support flexible abstraction for agriculture to support winter reservoir storage, irrigation and crop lifting. 60% of the 150 applications have been agreed this year. The EA continue to work with the National Farmers’ Union to help farmers prepare for 2019 through developing advice and running local drop-in surgeries to help farmers review their abstraction licensing needs.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Water companies are following their drought plans. The EA continues to work closely with them to ensure they are taking actions in a timely manner. Such actions include awareness campaigns for their customers to use water wisely, reduce leakage, make changes to their network operations and seek additional water through applying for drought permits. Two companies (United Utilities and Yorkshire Water) have applied for drought permits since July.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 17/12/2018 11:00:42 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1023200

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2018
	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	Water Supply
	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 has plans to introduce financial incentives to encourage on-farm reservoirs to tackle water shortages in affected areas.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	201094
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>The Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) Countryside Productivity Scheme offered grants towards the costs of constructing on-farm reservoirs. This scheme was open for applications between July 2017 and June 2018.</p><p> </p><p>The Agriculture Bill sets out the foundations for our future farming policy. The Bill includes powers to give financial assistance for a number of purposes. These purposes include managing the land or water in a way that protects or improves the environment, and improving the productivity of an agricultural, horticultural or forestry activity.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to work closely with farmers, land managers, and other stakeholders as we develop our proposals for future schemes.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 17/12/2018 09:34:02 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1023202

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2018
	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	Water Supply
	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 has plans to increase investment in (a) the UK’s medium-term weather and (b) real-time water availability forecasting capability for farming to support drought planning.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	201106
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>BEIS is the lead department on matters regarding weather and the Met Office.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Met Office weather predictions feed into the UK Hydrological Outlook which describes likely river flows and groundwater levels over the coming season and is used to support flood and drought risk assessments and adaptation planning. The Met Office also supports the National Drought Group, of which the National Farmers Union (NFU) is a partner, by providing briefing on the latest seasonal outlook.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency (EA) is developing a digital water resources licensing service. A pilot to make river information available in near real time was successfully undertaken this year in priority catchments. Current plans are to implement this across the country ahead of summer 2019 to enable more abstractors to manage their water abstraction during periods of prolonged dry weather. This is an enhancement to current support to abstractors, for example provision of advice and daily river flow data by phone or email.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 17/12/2018 17:52:57 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1042381

	registered interest
	date	16/01/2019
	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	Curlews: 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, pursuant to the Answers of 8 November 2018 to Question 186211 and of 28 November 2018 to Question 196767 on Birds: Conservation, and with reference to the completion in November 2017 of phase 2 of the Special Protection Area review, what guidance he has received on improving the network for breeding and non-breeding curlew.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	209298
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2019 answer text <p>The phase two report highlights that there are currently no Special Protection Areas (SPAs) classified for breeding curlew in the UK. In England, the review identifies some potential areas that could be considered for classification including at existing SPAs. We are still considering this review.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 25/01/2019 13:56:05 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1042385

	registered interest
	date	16/01/2019
	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	Lead: Ammunition
	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 research he has commissioned on the effect of the use of lead shot on the environment; and whether he has plans to abolish the use of lead shot.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	209299
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2019 answer text <p>The Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (England) Regulations 1999 already offer protection for waterfowl.</p><p> </p><p>In response to the 2015 report by the independent Lead Ammunition Group, Government concluded there was insufficient evidence to justify a change to the legislation.</p><p> </p><p>The Government will consider the evidence review recently undertaken for the European Commission by the European Chemicals Agency before deciding if any changes to the current regulations are required.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 21/01/2019 16:52:41 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew