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1138134

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Recreation Spaces
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 merits of increasing green spaces in the UK to reduce the effect of flash flooding.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	275672
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>As set out in our 25 Year Environment Plan, this Government recognises the importance of green spaces for health and happiness as well as for environmental benefits such as sequestering carbon, absorbing noise, cleansing pollutants, absorbing surface water and reducing high temperatures. In the right place, using green spaces in towns and cities to help divert or store flood water can be beneficial, including using sustainable drainage systems such as permeable surfaces and ponds or natural flood management techniques in towns and cities as well as upstream.</p><p> </p><p>As we build more homes, preserving and creating green spaces in towns is more important than ever. We want to encourage local authorities to consider all flood management opportunities and developers to take into account all the benefits when deciding how much land to allocate as green space.</p><p> </p><p>To support this we have worked with colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to revise the National Planning Policy Framework to further encourage sustainable drainage systems, and published our Surface Water Management Action Plan which includes actions that will join up planning for surface water management and build local authority capacity. In addition, Natural England is developing a framework of national standards for green infrastructure in close consultation with stakeholders.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 15/07/2019 12:16:36 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138135

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Office for Environmental Protection: Northern Ireland
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 ensure that the Office of Environmental Protection will take account of Northern Ireland’s specific environmental requirements should its jurisdiction apply there.
tabling member constituency	Belfast East
tabling member printed	Gavin Robinson
uin	275765
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>Environmental policy is largely a devolved matter. Northern Ireland officials requested to make options available to ensure that environmental governance in Northern Ireland can be safeguarded after the UK’s departure from the EU. We are working in conjunction with officials in DAERA to ensure the forthcoming Environment Bill enables the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to provide effective oversight of the environment in Northern Ireland should the Executive in Northern Ireland agree to it.</p><p> </p><p>Executive officials’ agreement to extension of the Bill is on the basis of a default position that decisions on implementation will be left for returning Ministers and subject to the requisite Assembly scrutiny procedures.</p><p> </p><p>If a Northern Ireland executive decides to use the OEP in the future, it will then be for the OEP to work with the Executive to address any issues specific to the needs of Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey grouped question UIN 275766 275768 question first answered 15/07/2019 16:52:48 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4360 label Biography information for Gavin Robinson

1138136

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Office for Environmental Protection: Northern Ireland
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 the Office of Environmental Protection will have a physical presence in Northern Ireland should it have jurisdiction there.
tabling member constituency	Belfast East
tabling member printed	Gavin Robinson
uin	275766
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>Environmental policy is largely a devolved matter. Northern Ireland officials requested to make options available to ensure that environmental governance in Northern Ireland can be safeguarded after the UK’s departure from the EU. We are working in conjunction with officials in DAERA to ensure the forthcoming Environment Bill enables the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to provide effective oversight of the environment in Northern Ireland should the Executive in Northern Ireland agree to it.</p><p> </p><p>Executive officials’ agreement to extension of the Bill is on the basis of a default position that decisions on implementation will be left for returning Ministers and subject to the requisite Assembly scrutiny procedures.</p><p> </p><p>If a Northern Ireland executive decides to use the OEP in the future, it will then be for the OEP to work with the Executive to address any issues specific to the needs of Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey grouped question UIN 275765 275768 question first answered 15/07/2019 16:52:48 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4360 label Biography information for Gavin Robinson

1138138

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Office for Environmental Protection: Northern Ireland
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 will take to ensure that (a) Northern Ireland is represented on the Office of Environmental Protection’s (OEP’s) Board and (b) that the specific needs of Northern Ireland are taken into account when the OEP’s budget and strategy is agreed.
tabling member constituency	Belfast East
tabling member printed	Gavin Robinson
uin	275767
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>Environmental policy is largely a devolved matter. Northern Ireland officials requested to make options available to ensure that environmental governance in Northern Ireland can be safeguarded after the UK’s departure from the EU. We are working in conjunction with officials in DAERA to ensure the forthcoming Environment Bill enables the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to provide effective oversight of the environment in Northern Ireland should the Executive in Northern Ireland agree to it.</p><p> </p><p>Executive officials’ agreement to extension of the Bill is on the basis of a default position that decisions on implementation will be left for returning Ministers and subject to the requisite Assembly scrutiny procedures.</p><p> </p><p>If a Northern Ireland executive decides to use the OEP in the future, it will then be for the OEP to work with the Executive to address any issues specific to the needs of Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 15/07/2019 16:46:15 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4360 label Biography information for Gavin Robinson

1138139

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Office for Environmental Protection: Northern Ireland
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 will take to ensure Office of Environmental Protection staff have adequate knowledge and experience of Northern Ireland’s legislation and practices.
tabling member constituency	Belfast East
tabling member printed	Gavin Robinson
uin	275768
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>Environmental policy is largely a devolved matter. Northern Ireland officials requested to make options available to ensure that environmental governance in Northern Ireland can be safeguarded after the UK’s departure from the EU. We are working in conjunction with officials in DAERA to ensure the forthcoming Environment Bill enables the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to provide effective oversight of the environment in Northern Ireland should the Executive in Northern Ireland agree to it.</p><p> </p><p>Executive officials’ agreement to extension of the Bill is on the basis of a default position that decisions on implementation will be left for returning Ministers and subject to the requisite Assembly scrutiny procedures.</p><p> </p><p>If a Northern Ireland executive decides to use the OEP in the future, it will then be for the OEP to work with the Executive to address any issues specific to the needs of Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey grouped question UIN 275765 275766 question first answered 15/07/2019 16:52:48 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4360 label Biography information for Gavin Robinson

1138140

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill
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 his Department plans to add additional principles to those included in the Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill 2018.
tabling member constituency	Belfast East
tabling member printed	Gavin Robinson
uin	275769
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>No. We believe these principles are sufficient to ensure we achieve our vision of protecting the environment and leaving it in a better state than we found it.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 15/07/2019 15:03:52 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4360 label Biography information for Gavin Robinson

1137170

registered interest
date	05/07/2019
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	Forests: Carbon Emissions
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 implications for his policies of the findings of The global tree restoration potential report, published in Science on 5 July 2019 that there are 1.7 billion hectares of treeless land on which 1.2 trillion native tree saplings would naturally grow, providing immense potential for tree-planting as a cheap and effective strategy to tackle climate change; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	273790
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The UK Government recognises the huge potential for nature based solutions in tackling climate change while also supporting biodiversity. Trees are a major contributor to nature-based carbon sequestration. There are other natural sequesters including mangroves, sea grasses, salt marshes, soil and peatlands.</p><p>Through the UK’s International Climate Finance (ICF, £5.8bn between 2016-2021) the UK funds several programmes in developing countries that use tree-planting as a strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and generating economic benefits for rural communities. For example, Defra’s investments are expected to restore 500,000 hectares of forest generating 70 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions savings. In Brazil, Defra has invested £55m to help rural farmers restore nearly 200,000 hectares of forest in the Amazon, Atlantic Forests, Cerrado and Caatinga biomes through the implementation of low-carbon agricultural practices. Defra has also invested £10 million to restore up to 20,000 hectares of mangrove forest in Madagascar and Indonesia and recently announced a further £12.75m to restore mangroves across Latin America and the Caribbean.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 15/07/2019 11:19:04 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1137176

registered interest
date	05/07/2019
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	Plastics: Rivers
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, Upstream: Microplastics in UK Rivers, published by Greenpeace UK on 18 June 2019, what assessment he has made of the level plastic pollution in UK rivers; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	273795
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>Defra is working with the Environment Agency (EA), academics and the UK water industry to understand the scale of the microplastic pollution problem and to establish detection methods to identify, characterise and quantify the types of microplastics entering our rivers. Although there has been substantive research reporting the presence and impacts of microplastics in the marine environment, little is known about their sources, release and impact on freshwaters and their ultimate transport to the marine environment. Defra has commissioned evidence reviews to further understand these issues and will use the outcomes from these and other research to develop policy options/measures/interventions for removing plastic pollution from rivers.</p><p> </p><p>There are currently no consistent sampling, collection or assessment methodologies for measuring micro-plastics in various environmental media (sediments, water column or biota), which means that routine monitoring is not practicable. Defra is also working with the EA, academics and water companies to develop methodologies to enable future monitoring of micro-plastics in wastewater, sludge and the water environment.</p><p> </p><p>The EA takes steps to stop pollution causing harm where they can clearly attribute the source of the substance, as without this information it is not possible for them to take action. One of the sources of plastic pollution comes from small beads used in industrial processes and EA are working proactively to reduce the release of these small plastics pellets from the industries they regulate.</p><p> </p><p>Plastic waste can also provide a source of micro-sized plastics once in the environment. To address this, the Government has set a target to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within the lifetime of the 25 Year Environment Plan (by 2042) and set aside £20 million for research and development managed through the Plastics Innovation Fund in March 2018. A further £10 million was committed in the 2018 Autumn Budget for continued/additional plastics research and development along with £10 million to pioneer innovative approaches to boosting recycling and reducing litter.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey grouped question UIN 273796 question first answered 15/07/2019 09:09:22 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1137177

registered interest
date	05/07/2019
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	Plastics: Rivers
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 (a) prevent plastic entering rivers and (b) remove plastic pollution from rivers.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	273796
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>Defra is working with the Environment Agency (EA), academics and the UK water industry to understand the scale of the microplastic pollution problem and to establish detection methods to identify, characterise and quantify the types of microplastics entering our rivers. Although there has been substantive research reporting the presence and impacts of microplastics in the marine environment, little is known about their sources, release and impact on freshwaters and their ultimate transport to the marine environment. Defra has commissioned evidence reviews to further understand these issues and will use the outcomes from these and other research to develop policy options/measures/interventions for removing plastic pollution from rivers.</p><p> </p><p>There are currently no consistent sampling, collection or assessment methodologies for measuring micro-plastics in various environmental media (sediments, water column or biota), which means that routine monitoring is not practicable. Defra is also working with the EA, academics and water companies to develop methodologies to enable future monitoring of micro-plastics in wastewater, sludge and the water environment.</p><p> </p><p>The EA takes steps to stop pollution causing harm where they can clearly attribute the source of the substance, as without this information it is not possible for them to take action. One of the sources of plastic pollution comes from small beads used in industrial processes and EA are working proactively to reduce the release of these small plastics pellets from the industries they regulate.</p><p> </p><p>Plastic waste can also provide a source of micro-sized plastics once in the environment. To address this, the Government has set a target to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within the lifetime of the 25 Year Environment Plan (by 2042) and set aside £20 million for research and development managed through the Plastics Innovation Fund in March 2018. A further £10 million was committed in the 2018 Autumn Budget for continued/additional plastics research and development along with £10 million to pioneer innovative approaches to boosting recycling and reducing litter.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey grouped question UIN 273795 question first answered 15/07/2019 09:09:22 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1137213

registered interest
date	05/07/2019
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	Litter: Tobacco
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 discarded cigarettes on ocean plastic pollution.
tabling member constituency	Brigg and Goole
tabling member printed	Andrew Percy
uin	273776
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government has made no specific assessment of the effects of discarded cigarettes on ocean plastic pollution. However, there is some evidence that in marine environments cigarette butts contribute to microplastics. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science is working to look at the impact of cigarette butts in the marine environment. This project is due to be completed next year.</p><p> </p><p>The Litter Strategy for England was published in April 2017.</p><p> </p><p>We are considering how we can ensure that manufacturers are held responsible for covering the costs of clearing up litter from cigarette butts.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey grouped question UIN 273777 question first answered 15/07/2019 11:41:49 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	3939 label Biography information for Andrew Percy