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1627131

registered interest
date	11/05/2023
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	River Thames: Boats
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 her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Environment Agency’s enforcement of illegal moorings in the non-tidal Thames.
tabling member constituency	Esher and Walton
tabling member printed	Dominic Raab
uin	184630
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2023 answer text <p>Operational matters on inland waterways are the responsibility of the relevant navigation authority, such as in this case the Environment Agency’s enforcement of illegal moorings on the non-tidal Thames.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency waterways department as part of Defra is aware of all mooring issues or potential reported issues on its land. The intelligence is captured and collated in the Environment Agency navigation enforcement team’s Tactical Assessment (Thames). The document includes mooring and trespass issues on Environment Agency land only and helps prioritise and deliver outcomes. Trespass and mooring issues not relating to the Environment Agency fall under riparian landowners’ or other navigation authorities’ responsibilities.</p><p> </p><p>The Tactical Assessment is a classified document and deemed as sensitive and would not be shared with the public. The Thames Enforcement Plan for the Environment Agency Non-Tidal Thames, which gives an overview of enforcement actions and priorities for 2023/2024, can be viewed here: <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Friver-thames-enforcement-plan%2Fnon-tidal-river-thames-regulation-and-enforcement-plan-1-april-2023-to-31-march-2024&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C4ead35be58c7461b1bfa08db55fae49b%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638198308280149744%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=hP90yVskAJCae8Bg%2BQuczlE37u7B0iVDJxeXoISoOPg%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Non-Tidal River Thames Regulation and Enforcement Plan 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 19/05/2023 10:19:37 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4007 label Biography information for Dominic Raab

1627133

registered interest
date	11/05/2023
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	River Thames: Boats
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 Environment Agency shares data on the enforcement of illegal moorings in the non-tidal Thames with her Department; and if her Department will publish that data by local authority area.
tabling member constituency	Esher and Walton
tabling member printed	Dominic Raab
uin	184631
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2023 answer text <p>The Environment Agency works with partner agencies to improve compliance on the non-tidal Thames, sharing outcomes with local authority areas and stakeholders alike. However, intelligence and ongoing enforcement actions are not shared with the public due to legal privilege and GDPR rules and regulations. More information relating to enforcement on the non-tidal Thames can be viewed on the Non-Tidal River Thames Regulation and Enforcement Plan 2023/2024: <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Friver-thames-enforcement-plan%2Fnon-tidal-river-thames-regulation-and-enforcement-plan-1-april-2023-to-31-march-2024&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C4ead35be58c7461b1bfa08db55fae49b%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638198308280305974%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Kr7or0eqcp6lyYv2SqMZhD%2BPxA7Pux0wJfnwlYQDUEA%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Non-Tidal River Thames Regulation and Enforcement Plan 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 19/05/2023 10:16:17 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4007 label Biography information for Dominic Raab

1627135

registered interest
date	11/05/2023
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	Sewage: Waste Disposal
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 she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies on wastewater discharge event duration monitors of the research by Jamie Woodward and others on Acute riverine microplastic contamination due to avoidable releases of untreated wastewater, published in Nature Sustainability on 13 May 2021.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	184611
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2023 answer text <p>The recommendations of the paper published in Nature Sustainability in May 2021 align with our policies to reduce microplastics in the water environment and untreated wastewater releases.</p><p> </p><p>The Plan for Water sets out our commitments to reduce microplastics entering the water system, including our expectation for the industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machines and encourage their effective use.</p><p> </p><p>Our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan was published in August 2022. Our strict targets will see the toughest ever crackdown on sewage spills and will require water companies to deliver the largest infrastructure programme in water company history - £56 billion capital investment over 25 years. By 2035, water companies will have to improve all storm overflows discharging into or near every designated bathing water, and improve 75% of overflows discharging to high priority nature sites. By 2050, all remaining storm overflows covered by our targets will also have to meet the new requirements on rainfall and environmental impact, regardless of location.  In March this year, Defra and Ofwat announced £1.1 billion of new investment, starting in the next two years, to eliminate 10,000 storm overflow discharges a year across 10 schemes.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 16/05/2023 09:24:16 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

1626495

registered interest
date	10/05/2023
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 Companies: Investment Income
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 she will make an estimate of shareholder dividends as a proportion of customer water bills for each water company in each of the past five years.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	184347
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2023 answer text <p>The Secretary of State does not intend to make an estimate of shareholder dividends as a proportion of customer water bills. This would not be an accurate method to compare dividends between water companies. All water companies publish their water charges as well as their dividends payments on their websites, and therefore the information requested is already publicly available.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 24/05/2023 11:31:28 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1626610

registered interest
date	10/05/2023
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	Recycling: Infrastructure
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 her Department has made of the effectiveness of the UK's recycling infrastructure on meeting domestic demand.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	184374
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/05/2023 answer text <p>Defra intends to publish a Waste Infrastructure Roadmap in the coming months. This will set out anticipated waste arisings to 2035, taking into account the impact of Defra’s Collection and Packaging Reforms, and will map this against known waste management infrastructure. Once published, this will provide a signal as to where there is considered to be a likely over or under-provision of waste management capacity to support investors and local authorities in decision making.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 31/05/2023 16:19:30 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1626642

registered interest
date	10/05/2023
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	Sewage: Waste Disposal
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 her Department is taking steps to increase the number of wastewater discharge event duration monitors.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	184336
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2023 answer text <p>We have increased the number of storm overflows monitored with event duration monitors across the network from 7% in 2010 to 91% now, and we will reach 100% cover by end of this year. In April, we launched our consultation on Continuous Water Quality Monitoring and Event Duration Monitoring. This outlines the government’s proposals to enhance the monitoring of storm overflow and final effluent discharges and to report on this in near-real time. This consultation closes on 23 May.</p><p> </p><p>In May, Ofwat launched a consultation which set out measures which will see companies face penalties for failing to monitor storm overflows. This will help to drive delivery of the UK Government’s Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan by incentivising better coverage and better reporting, and are in addition to the powers that the Environment Agency already have. This consultation closes on 23 May.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 16/05/2023 08:48:14 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

1626731

registered interest
date	10/05/2023
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	Cosmetics: Animal Experiments
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 had been made of the efficacy of existing non-animal methods of safety testing of cosmetic products ingredients before it began issuing licenses for animal testing.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
uin	184477
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2023 answer text <p>As the GB regulator for REACH, HSE has closely supported the development of a number of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development guidelines on in vitro toxicity testing which are recognised as the international standard. These tests are applicable for testing on a diverse range of chemical substances which can include cosmetic product ingredients. Other methods such as predictive computer modelling can also be used as appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>Modern alternatives mean there are opportunities to design non-animal testing strategies for these chemicals so that worker and environmental safety is unlikely to be compromised, and potentially enhanced. In this way, working with industry, the Government is seeking to improve safety by the application of new non-animal science and technology.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 23/05/2023 15:15:59 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1626788

registered interest
date	10/05/2023
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	Deposit Return Schemes: Glass
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 she has made an assessment of the potential merits of including glass in the Deposit Return Scheme.
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
uin	184463
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2023 answer text <p>UK Government, Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland consulted in 2019 and 2021 on the detail of introducing a DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In January 2023 we published the government response to the 2021 consultation, setting out policy decisions and next steps for introducing the scheme (link <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fconsultations%2Fintroduction-of-a-deposit-return-scheme-in-england-wales-and-northern-ireland&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C422c69672d1543a3da9208db5210bd30%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638194004100292964%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=0ktMeEtg2IZfiQgLDdyI1e%2FoGB%2BqQtdWq9nAE2AOue8%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">here</a>).</p><p> </p><p>As outlined in the government response, glass bottles will not be captured by DRS in England and Northern Ireland as the respective governments believe the addition of glass will add additional complexity and challenges to delivery of DRS in particular to the hospitality and retail sectors, as well as additional consumer inconvenience. Given concerns raised on managing glass in a DRS, delivery of the scheme will focus on plastic bottles and aluminium/steel cans in England and Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst not in-scope of the DRS in England and Northern Ireland, glass drinks bottles will be covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging scheme in both nations, which will place targets on producers in relation to glass recycling. The proposed recycling target for glass packaging under EPR is 83% by 2030. Producers will also be responsible for the costs of managing glass packaging in household waste and disposed in street bins provided by local authorities.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 17/05/2023 08:36:53 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1626125

registered interest
date	09/05/2023
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	Washing Machines: Microplastics
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 progress she has made on encouraging industry to (a) develop and (b) use low-cost microfibre washing machine filters.
tabling member constituency	South Leicestershire
tabling member printed	Alberto Costa
uin	184112
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2023 answer text <p>The United Kingdom is a world leader in tackling plastic pollution, including microplastics. Monitoring of marine litter by the Marine Conservation Society, funded by Defra, tells us that over the last seven years the total litter count on British beaches has decreased significantly - the total median litter count in 2021 was almost three times lower than in 2016.</p><p> </p><p>We are continuing to contribute to the development of a new legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, that aims to end plastic pollution by 2040. We want to tackle microplastic pollution wherever possible which is why we introduced a microbead ban and a tax on plastic bags.</p><p> </p><p>We recently announced in the Plan for Water that we will change the law to ban the sale of wet wipes containing plastic, subject to public consultation. We will also support the Water UK communications campaign to ‘Bin the Wipe’ and write to the relevant producers and advertising authorities regarding the labelling of wet wipes as ‘flushable’.</p><p> </p><p>The Plan for Water also outlined our position that we will expect industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machine and encourage their effective use. With the plan being published only just last month, we are now considering the best actions for its implementation. As a first step, we will look to manufacturers to reduce costs and to provide appropriate evidence of the value of microfibre filters to persuade consumers to invest in them and use them correctly.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Water Industry Research project (performed by UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology) reported in April 2022 that wastewater treatment plants remove 99% of microplastics by number and 99.5% by mass. The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) includes over £7.39 million of commitment from the water industry to further research microplastics removal through wastewater treatment processes to sludge, which may be a source of microplastics to final effluent discharges.</p><p> </p><p>An additional investigation sits within the Chemicals Investigation Programme looking at biosolids and microplastics to groundwater. For microplastic monitoring in surface waters and sediments, a pilot study has been completed to develop sampling and analytical protocols that could be used to determine the quantities, loads and types of microplastics and tyre-wear particles in surface waters and sediments. This report will be available post July 2023.</p><p> </p><p>We have also funded research to examine wider sources of microplastics, including tyres and textiles. This research will help to inform future policy. Technical experts from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) have also been leading the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment to develop a new indicator for microlitter (including microplastics) in seafloor sediments. This will help us to track progress in reducing plastics in the environment at a regional scale.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 184113 184114 question first answered 15/05/2023 15:59:25 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4439 label Biography information for Alberto Costa

1626126

registered interest
date	09/05/2023
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	Rivers and Seas and Oceans: Microplastics
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 her Department's policy paper entitled Plan for Water: our integrated plan for delivering clean and plentiful water, published in April 2023, what progress her Department has made on reducing the levels of microplastics in rivers and oceans.
tabling member constituency	South Leicestershire
tabling member printed	Alberto Costa
uin	184113
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2023 answer text <p>The United Kingdom is a world leader in tackling plastic pollution, including microplastics. Monitoring of marine litter by the Marine Conservation Society, funded by Defra, tells us that over the last seven years the total litter count on British beaches has decreased significantly - the total median litter count in 2021 was almost three times lower than in 2016.</p><p> </p><p>We are continuing to contribute to the development of a new legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, that aims to end plastic pollution by 2040. We want to tackle microplastic pollution wherever possible which is why we introduced a microbead ban and a tax on plastic bags.</p><p> </p><p>We recently announced in the Plan for Water that we will change the law to ban the sale of wet wipes containing plastic, subject to public consultation. We will also support the Water UK communications campaign to ‘Bin the Wipe’ and write to the relevant producers and advertising authorities regarding the labelling of wet wipes as ‘flushable’.</p><p> </p><p>The Plan for Water also outlined our position that we will expect industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machine and encourage their effective use. With the plan being published only just last month, we are now considering the best actions for its implementation. As a first step, we will look to manufacturers to reduce costs and to provide appropriate evidence of the value of microfibre filters to persuade consumers to invest in them and use them correctly.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Water Industry Research project (performed by UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology) reported in April 2022 that wastewater treatment plants remove 99% of microplastics by number and 99.5% by mass. The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) includes over £7.39 million of commitment from the water industry to further research microplastics removal through wastewater treatment processes to sludge, which may be a source of microplastics to final effluent discharges.</p><p> </p><p>An additional investigation sits within the Chemicals Investigation Programme looking at biosolids and microplastics to groundwater. For microplastic monitoring in surface waters and sediments, a pilot study has been completed to develop sampling and analytical protocols that could be used to determine the quantities, loads and types of microplastics and tyre-wear particles in surface waters and sediments. This report will be available post July 2023.</p><p> </p><p>We have also funded research to examine wider sources of microplastics, including tyres and textiles. This research will help to inform future policy. Technical experts from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) have also been leading the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment to develop a new indicator for microlitter (including microplastics) in seafloor sediments. This will help us to track progress in reducing plastics in the environment at a regional scale.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 184112 184114 question first answered 15/05/2023 15:59:25 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4439 label Biography information for Alberto Costa