To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will
make an assessment of the potential impact of the ban on the use of peat and peat-containing
products in the horticultural sector on carbon emissions.
<p>An impact assessment was included in our consultation on the sale of peat and peat-containing
products issued on 18 December 2021 and updated on 14 February 2022. This states that
our policy saves an estimated 0.455 MtCO2e. The Impact Assessment will be further
updated prior to introduction of legislation to Parliament. A link to the Impact Assessment
can be found <a href="https://consult.defra.gov.uk/soils-and-peatlands/endingtheretailsaleofpeatinhorticulture/supporting_documents/Consultation%20Impact%20Assessment%20%20Ending%20the%20Retail%20Sale%20of%20Peat%20in%20Horticulture%20in%20England%20and%20Wales.pdf"
target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department
plans to respond to the letter from the Klondyke Group, dated 7 April 2023, on banning
the use of peat for professional growers.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference
to the policy paper entitled The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution,
published on 18 November 2020, how many nature projects have been delivered through
point 9, protecting our natural environment, since the publication of that plan.
<p>Point 9 of The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution announced a number
of actions government is putting in place to protect our natural environment. Since
the publication of the Plan in November 2020, these measures have kick-started a number
of nature projects:</p><p> </p><p>159 nature projects have been enabled by our £80
million Green Recovery Challenge Fund, a short-term competitive fund that has created
and supported jobs in the nature sector across England. These projects have helped
to restore nature, used nature-based solutions to tackle climate change and connected
people with the natural environment.</p><p> </p><p>22 projects have been selected
for the first round of Landscape Recovery, all of which have pioneering ideas that
will improve the rural landscape and reverse the decline in nature. The successful
projects will be awarded a share of around £12 million in development grants over
the next two years, to help them finalise their delivery plans before starting implementation
on the ground.</p><p> </p><p>25 schemes that include natural flood management (NFM)
measures have secured approval to enter construction as part of the current Flood
and Coastal Risk Investment Programme, with a further 27 forecast due to achieve the
same stage by the end of this financial year (31 March 2023). These contribute towards
an ambition of 260 schemes that include NFM measures by the end of the programme (March
2027).</p><p> </p><p>Two new Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) (the Yorkshire
Wolds and Cheshire Sandstone Ridge) and two extensions to AONBs (the Surrey Hills
and Chilterns) are under consideration by Natural England (NE) under our landmark
designation programme. This programme is expected to be completed by 2025 and will
play a key role in meeting HM Government’s commitment to protect and improve 30% of
UK land for nature by 2030.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference
to the ban on the use of peat in horticulture announced by the Government in September
2022, which plants he plans to exempt from that ban.
<p>The proposed ban will be framed in such a way as to provide time limited exemptions
for the professional horticulture sector, in order to allow time to overcome technical
barriers to ending the use of peat. Officials are currently consulting with horticulture
industry representatives to inform our detailed proposals.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will
make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the Horticultural
Trade Association's press release entitled HTA response to Defra announcement on horticultural
peat, dated 27 August 2022.
<p>I welcome the good progress made in terms of reducing the quantity of peat used
in growing media. However, there is significant support for ending the use of peat
in horticulture which will contribute to our net zero carbon targets and prevent biodiversity
loss. Officials are currently engaging with stakeholders, including the Horticultural
Trade Association, in order to identify and overcome the remaining technical barriers
to ending the use of peat in horticulture.</p>