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1141406

registered interest
date	23/07/2019
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	Food 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 representations the Government has received from representatives of (a) food companies and (b) food bank organisers on the worst-case effect on food supplies of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	281009
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/08/2019 answer text <p>Defra Ministers and officials have been meeting regularly with the food industry to understand the potential impacts of a no deal scenario in October and support contingency planning by the industry. Alongside this, there has been cross-Government engagement including Defra with 3rd sector organisations to understand the concerns and views of representatives from the food aid sector.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to a strong safety net for those who need it and will continue to spend over £90 billion a year on welfare benefits. Additionally, Defra is working to increase levels of surplus food being redistributed through a £15 million fund to reduce unnecessary food waste that is still edible and can be redirected to feed those in need.</p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice grouped question UIN 281011 question first answered 08/08/2019 10:17:18 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1141408

registered interest
date	23/07/2019
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	Food 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 steps the Government has taken to involve (a) food surplus re-distributors and (b) frontline charities that feed vulnerable groups including (i) homeless shelters, (ii) domestic violence refuges, (iii) mental health groups in supply chain conversations and planning in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	281011
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/08/2019 answer text <p>Defra Ministers and officials have been meeting regularly with the food industry to understand the potential impacts of a no deal scenario in October and support contingency planning by the industry. Alongside this, there has been cross-Government engagement including Defra with 3rd sector organisations to understand the concerns and views of representatives from the food aid sector.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to a strong safety net for those who need it and will continue to spend over £90 billion a year on welfare benefits. Additionally, Defra is working to increase levels of surplus food being redistributed through a £15 million fund to reduce unnecessary food waste that is still edible and can be redirected to feed those in need.</p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice grouped question UIN 281009 question first answered 08/08/2019 10:17:19 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1141131

registered interest
date	22/07/2019
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	Bees: Pesticides
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 EU Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed decision on 17 July 2019 to suspend the 2013 European Food Safety Authority guidance on bee safety tests for new pesticides, how the UK voted in that Standing Committee meeting; and what plans he has to prevent the approval of pesticides that can (a) destroy wild bee populations and (b) cause long-term harm to honeybees.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	280362
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/08/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises the need to protect bee populations from the effects of pesticides. This requires an effective scientific means of assessing the risks and enabling sound decisions. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) drew up new guidance on the risk assessment in 2013, however this has not been adopted by the European Commission because a number of Member States had a variety of concerns about whether it was workable. The UK was among those proposing that the EFSA draft should be the starting point but that further work would be needed to develop it.</p><p> </p><p>The Commission has now decided to ask EFS to review the draft and, in the meantime to begin to introduce aspects of the draft that are considered to be more immediately implementable. The Standing Committee vote on 17 July was to make minor changes to the rules on assessing the risks of pesticides so as to reflect the partial implementation of the 2013 draft guidance.</p><p> </p><p>We remain committed to the continuing development of a comprehensive and workable approach to important this issue as we build the national pesticides regime after the UK leaves the EU. We will work with stakeholders to develop an up to date approach that ensures that potential risks to bees can be properly assessed.</p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 02/08/2019 10:29:13 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1139805

registered interest
date	17/07/2019
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	Mining: Seas and Oceans
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 (a) effect on and (b) risks to the environment of deep sea mining; and if he will make it his policy to pursue a moratorium.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	278457
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/07/2019 answer text <p>Defra is investigating the risks and environmental effects of deep sea mining through a cross Government working group including Cefas, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The working group is supported by input from the National Oceanography Centre, Natural History Museum and British Geological Survey who are involved in a number of ongoing academic projects considering the impacts of deep sea mining. In addition, FCO and Defra commissioned a workshop in February 2019 which brought together UK universities, industry and consultancies involved in the assessment of deep sea mining activities, to share information, progress and research findings. The outputs of these discussions are being used to inform the UK’s input into the development of regulations, standards and guidelines at the International Seabed Authority.</p><p> </p><p>The UK is pushing for transparent, science-based and environmentally sound regulation of seabed mining by the International Seabed Authority to ensure effective protections of deep sea habitats and biodiversity while allowing UK businesses to realise the commercial opportunities.</p><p> </p><p>We are using our influence to secure the adoption of a mining code in 2020 that provides for robust and accountable oversight of mining activity. This includes (i) enshrining the precautionary principle and an ecosystem approach in the mining code; (ii) ensuring that in addition to the core regulations, effective and binding standards and guidelines to ensure environmentally sound mining have been adopted before exploitation licences are granted, and that these reflect the different environmental and other features of the different mineral deposits; (iii) ensuring that Regional Environmental Management Plans (REMPs) with robust environmental objectives are established before exploitation licences can be granted and that there is a clear regulatory link between the REMPs and exploitation licences; and (iv) allowing for the suspension of mining activities when operators fail to adhere to environmental safeguards or where new evidence of risk of serious harm arises.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 30/07/2019 09:51:10 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1139808

registered interest
date	17/07/2019
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	Deep Sea Mining
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 oral evidence given by his Department’s Chief Scientist Professor Gideon Henderson to the Environmental Audit Committee on 16 October 2018, what the implications are for his policies of the statement that deep sea mining will do substantial damage to that local environment on the seabed, and that is pretty much unavoidable; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	278459
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/07/2019 answer text <p>The UK is pushing for transparent, science-based and environmentally sound regulation of seabed mining by the International Seabed Authority to ensure effective protections of deep sea habitats and biodiversity while allowing UK businesses to realise the commercial opportunities.</p><p> </p><p>We are using our influence to secure the adoption of a mining code in 2020 that provides for robust and accountable oversight of mining activity. This includes (i) enshrining the precautionary principle and an ecosystem approach in the mining code; (ii) ensuring that in addition to the core regulations, effective and binding standards and guidelines to ensure environmentally sound mining have been adopted before exploitation licences are granted, and that these reflect the different environmental and other features of the different mineral deposits; (iii) ensuring that Regional Environmental Management Plans (REMPs) with robust environmental objectives are established before exploitation licences can be granted and that there is a clear regulatory link between the REMPs and exploitation licences; and (iv) allowing for the suspension of mining activities when operators fail to adhere to environmental safeguards or where new evidence of risk of serious harm arises.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 30/07/2019 09:02:38 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1136364

registered interest
date	02/07/2019
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	Imports: Environment Protection
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 the Government plans to take to minimise negative ecological effects on carbon-rich, biodiversity-rich ecosystems throughout the world of UK imports of (a) soft commodities including (i) palm oil, (ii) soy, (iii) cocoa, (iv) rubber, (v) beef, and (vi) timber and (b) hard commodities including (A) minerals, (B) oil and gas, and (C) other products of mining; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	272221
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our ambition to support and protect the world’s forests, support sustainable agriculture and work towards zero-deforestation supply chains. As part of this plan we are establishing a Global Resource Initiative (GRI) that will identify actions the UK can take across commodity supply chains to improve the sustainability of products and reduce deforestation.</p><p> </p><p>The GRI builds upon the Government’s work convening commodity-specific roundtables on palm oil and soya, two of the largest drivers of deforestation. The Government established the UK Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in 2012 to improve reporting, traceability and understanding of supply chains to ensure continuous improvement and increased use of certified palm oil. The Roundtable’s latest annual report indicates that the UK achieved 75% certified sustainable palm oil in 2017, increasing from 16% in 2010.</p><p> </p><p>Our Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how we will preserve our stock of material resources by minimising waste, promoting resource efficiency and moving towards a circular economy approach, including by providing consumers with better information on the sustainability of their purchases. It also aims to minimise the damage caused to the natural environment by managing waste safely.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 10/07/2019 13:53:20 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1134197

registered interest
date	24/06/2019
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	Climate Change
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 UK is taking steps with the Government of China to promote natural climate solutions at the UN’s Climate and Biodiversity Summits in 2020, and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	268449
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>Yes. The Government is a world leader in calling for nature based solutions to be recognised as critical in addressing climate action. I met the Environment Minister for China at the G20 to discuss this and The Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of Parties to be held in China next year.</p><p> </p><p>The UN Climate Action Summit this September provides a more immediate opportunity to deliver ambitious initiatives that tackle both climate change and biodiversity loss. The UK is co-leading the Resilience and Adaptation theme for the Summit and is actively engaging with other partners who are leading and developing the other themes. This includes China, who is co-leading the Nature Based Solutions theme for the Summit.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 01/07/2019 13:32:16 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1134198

registered interest
date	24/06/2019
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	Climate Change
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 plans he has to pursue and implement nature-based solutions domestically to (a) mitigate and (b) adapt to climate change and (c) protect and restore nature; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	268450
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>Nature-based solutions are key to tackling and strengthening resilience to climate change impacts. Our wetlands, forests and grasslands capture carbon – and provide other environmental benefits, such as flood management, pollination, and biodiversity. The Government is deploying such solutions to improve our natural environment and our Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets out key policies on how improving nature can help tackle climate change.</p><p> </p><p>Tree planting is one of the main contributors to nature-based carbon sequestration. Our manifesto committed to planting 11 million trees by 2022, and a further 1 million trees in our towns and cities. We also have a long term aspiration to increase woodland cover in England from 10% to 12% by 2060. To achieve these goals, in the Autumn Budget the Chancellor announced £10m for an Urban Trees Challenge Fund – which is now open for applications - and £50m to help plant new woodlands through the Woodland Carbon Guarantee.</p><p> </p><p>Peatlands are our largest terrestrial carbon store. Organic or peat soils make up 11% of England’s total land area, over 70% of which are drained or in poor condition. We have committed to publishing an England Peatland Strategy. The strategy sets out our vision to reverse decline in peatlands and restore them. Work is underway on four large-scale peatland restoration projects across England, to which we have allocated £10m, and will restore 5,851 ha of degraded peatlands. We are also improving saltmarshes.</p><p> </p><p>Natural England has an ongoing uplands programme with landowners and we will also be setting up a Lowland Agricultural Peatland Taskforce to help sustainably manage and restore peatland habitats. Once restored, our healthy functioning peatlands will provide a range of public benefits in addition to carbon storage, including flood mitigation and biodiversity rich habitats.</p><p> </p><p>Under the new Environmental Land Management Scheme we will pay public money for the provision of environmental public goods. These public goods will include the mitigation of and adaption to climate change.</p><p> </p><p>We also support nature-based solutions through our international aid programmes on forestry and mangroves/blue forests.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 02/07/2019 10:47:30 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1132175

registered interest
date	13/06/2019
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	Tree Felling: Sheffield
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Forestry Commission plans to publish the results of its investigation into street tree felling in Sheffield.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	264379
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>The Forestry Commission’s internal report on its investigation into whether or not trees in Sheffield have been felled without a licence when a licence would have been required under section 9 of the Forestry Act 1967 (as amended) is nearing completion and will be published by the Forestry Commission, as the regulatory authority, as soon as due process allows.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 19/06/2019 15:04:11 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1128965

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
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	Animal Welfare
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 Answer of 21 May 2019 to Question 254174, on Animal welfare, if he will establish a database on the number of animal welfare inspectors appointed under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	259166
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Anyone is able to take out a prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and it is on this basis that the RSPCA investigate calls and prosecute hundreds of people each year for offences under the Act. Local authorities also have enabling powers under the Act and make decisions on their approach to the Act based on local needs and resource priorities and the arrangements that work best for them working in partnership with others where helpful. We currently are not planning to establish a database of all those who are engaged in inspections and investigations under the Act.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 11/06/2019 14:09:38 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas