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1626351

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	Urban Areas: 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 discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on supporting the regreening of urban areas.
tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
uin	184072
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2023 answer text <p>Our Environmental Improvement Plan sets out our commitment for every household to be within a 15-minute walk of a green space or water – and this commitment reflects the ongoing work across government to deliver better access to nature across all sections of society. Cabinet colleagues’ departments helped develop the Green Infrastructure Framework, launched by Natural England in 2023. This will help local planning authorities and developers to create or improve green and blue infrastructure in both urban and rural areas. The Government will support local authorities to improve access to green infrastructure.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 15/05/2023 12:08:01 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1626352

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	Environment Protection: Business and Consumers
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 is taking to support (a) businesses and (b) consumers who support environmental-based initiatives.
tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
uin	184073
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2023 answer text <p>Five years ago, the 25 Year Environment Plan set out our vision for a quarter-of-a-century of action as part of the commitment to leaving the environment in a better state than we found it.  Now, we are building on that plan.</p><p> </p><p>In January, the Government published the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 (EIP23), detailing a delivery plan for each of our goals, matched with stretching interim targets to measure progress. This Plan sets out clear delivery plans for working across government, and with business, local government sectors and the public to achieve our commitments, including long term targets, for environmental improvement.</p><p> </p><p>Our plan will support green jobs and green growth across the country. We can drive UK inward and outward investment, create new jobs, generate export opportunities in fast growing global markets and place UK scientific and technology expertise, green finance opportunities and businesses at the forefront of a global sustainability transition.</p><p> </p><p>The Government also provides extensive support to all types of businesses, including those with activities focused on environmental-based initiatives.</p><p> </p><p>Support is available through the free Business Support Helpline, 38 Growth Hubs across England and newly launched Help to Grow website.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s goal is to create a society that is greener by design, enabling green action at all levels. We will make green choices easier and more affordable, so that they become the default option.</p><p> </p><p>We will do this in a way that maintains choice and supports fairness, including by ensuring businesses and consumers are supported to take green action. We will empower people and businesses to make informed choices, by providing clear information about the environmental impact of different products, services, and actions.</p><p> </p><p>We must all take action - central Government, local authorities, businesses, communities, families and individual citizens.</p><p> </p><p>Businesses of all sizes can also access Government-backed finance from the British Business Bank, such as via the Start Up Loans programme and Recovery Loan Scheme.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 15/05/2023 09:39:36 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1626363

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	Rural Areas: Business
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 help improve the productivity of rural businesses.
tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
uin	184076
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to helping rural businesses prosper.</p><p> </p><p>Among other measures, Defra has launched the £110 million Rural England Prosperity Fund to help new and existing rural businesses to develop new products and facilities that will be of wider benefit to the local economy as well supporting new and improved community infrastructure. The fund is being delivered by local authorities in eligible areas and we confirmed their allocations in April 2023 so that they can begin implementation.</p><p> </p><p>We also believe there is a huge opportunity for the agriculture and horticulture sectors to improve their competitiveness – developing the next generation of food and farming technology, adopting the latest techniques and investing in skills and equipment.</p><p> </p><p>In November 2021 we opened the Farming Investment Fund which is providing grants to farmers, foresters and growers (including contractors to these sectors) so that they can invest in the equipment, technology and infrastructure that will help their businesses to prosper, while improving their productivity and enhancing the environment. Following Round 1 of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund we have already provided funding of more than £33 million to 3,200 farmers.</p><p> </p><p>The Farming Innovation Programme is helping to drive innovations by providing £270 million of funding to support farmers, growers, foresters, and other businesses in England to develop innovative ways to increase productivity and environmental sustainability, as well as helping them to decarbonise by researching and developing new technologies, processes and practices.</p><p> </p><p>Through the Resilience Fund farmers and land managers in England can access free business support and advice. To date over 13,000 farmers have accessed this service.</p><p> </p><p>More widely the Government is taking steps to improve digital connectivity, a vital step to boost rural productivity. The Government is investing £5 billion through the Project Gigabit programme to deliver gigabit-capable connectivity to hard-to-reach premises, in line with our commitment to reach 85% of UK premises with gigabit connectivity no later than the end of 2025 and as close as possible to 100% as soon as possible after that. The £1 billion Shared Rural Network programme is on track to deliver its target to reach 95% of UK landmass by the end of 2025, and further coverage improvements in the more hard-to-reach areas will continue to be delivered until the start of 2027.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 15/05/2023 09:32:47 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1624734

registered interest
date	28/04/2023
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	Horticulture: Peat
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 help support the professional horticulture sector to develop responsibly-sourced alternatives to peat that can be produced at volume and which maintain the quality of the produce.
tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
uin	183246
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2023 answer text <p>We have supported, and continue to support, a number of research projects looking at alternatives to peat in growing media. Following our recent announcement on the detail of our proposed time-limited exemptions for professional use, we will be taking further soundings from the horticulture sector regarding technical barriers to transitioning away from the use of peat and the type of research and development projects which could benefit from Government support.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 09/05/2023 08:55:18 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1624735

registered interest
date	28/04/2023
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	Horticulture: Peat
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what evidential basis she has reduced the timeframe for tree and plant growers to test peat-free growing media before a ban becomes law.
tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
uin	183247
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2023 answer text <p>We formally consulted in December 2021 on ending the retail sale of peat in horticulture in England, proposing an end date of 2028 for professional use. This consultation built on a voluntary target to end professional peat use by 2030 that was set in 2011. From the consultation process it is evident that many businesses have switched to peat free or have made commitments to be peat free well in advance of 2030. Having considered written responses and wider stakeholder engagement we have confirmed a proposed end date of 2030 alongside limited restrictions after the end of 2026.</p><p>The restrictions will be designed to continue to allow continued peat use in those parts of the sector where the switch to peat free is particularly difficult and we will work to ensure that they strike the right balance between protecting our natural environment whilst ensuring that we continue to be able to grow the food we eat and the plants we enjoy.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 09/05/2023 09:03:47 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1624051

registered interest
date	26/04/2023
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	Horticulture: Peat
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 potential impact of the ban on the use of peat and peat-containing products in the horticultural sector on carbon emissions.
tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
uin	182849
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2023 answer text <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> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 02/05/2023 13:53:29 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1613166

registered interest
date	21/04/2023
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	Metals: 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, how much and what proportion of Environment Agency’s time is dedicated to (a) tackling permitted scrap metal operators acting illegally and (b) tackling unpermitted operators in the scrap metal sector accessing Grant-in-Aid funding.
tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
uin	182151
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2023 answer text <p>The Environment Agency spent a total of 32,446 hours on compliance activities at 7,070 permitted sites across all waste treatment sectors (Hazardous Waste Treatment, Non-Hazardous &amp; Inert Waste Treatment and Metal Recycling) in 2022.</p><p> </p><p>For the metal recycling sector specifically, the Environment Agency undertook 1,762 compliance related activities across 2,152 permitted sites. These compliance activities include site inspections, site audits, check monitoring, procedure reviews and report/data reviews. As part of these compliance checks we recorded 1,396 separate permit breaches. The Environment Agency spent a total 8,811 hours on compliance work in the Metal Recycling Sector. 7,878 of those hours were spent undertaking site inspections.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency does not have data available on the proportion of time spent tackling unpermitted operators in a specific sector. However, we can state that in the financial year 2021/2022 the Environment Agency spent approximately 130,000 hours or 108 FTE tackling illegal waste sites, including illegal scrap metal sites. During that same financial year, a total of 561 illegal waste sites were stopped by the Environment Agency. As an indicator, 94 of these sites were in the scrap metal sector, which represents 17% of all sites stopped. Activities to tackle illegal waste sites are currently funded through government grant-in-aid.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 26/04/2023 12:23:48 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1611422

registered interest
date	17/04/2023
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	Horticulture: Peat
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 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.
tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
uin	181050
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2023 answer text <p>A reply is being prepared and will be sent to the correspondent directly.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 20/04/2023 16:17:58 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1587689

registered interest
date	21/02/2023
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	Iron and Steel: Waste
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 plans to take steps to prevent steel scrap waste from being exported to economies with lower environmental standards.
tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
uin	149458
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2023 answer text <p>Steel scrap waste is a commodity which is traded on a legitimate global market. Where the UK cannot currently recycle materials economically, exports can help ensure those materials are recycled. The UK Government therefore has no plans to restrict the exports of steel scrap for recycling.</p><p> </p><p>While there is a legitimate global market for secondary materials, it must be and is subject to strict regulatory requirements. Under the UK legislation on waste shipments, businesses involved in the export of wastes are required to take all necessary steps to ensure that the waste they ship is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout its shipment and during its recycling.</p><p> </p><p>All waste exports need to be made in accordance with the relevant legislation and we have a system of inspections in place to verify compliance. The UK regulators mount targeted inspections at UK ports working with the shipping sector to help detect and prevent illegal waste shipments. Individuals and businesses found to be exporting waste in contravention of the requirements in the legislation waste can face a two-year jail term and an unlimited fine.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 24/02/2023 11:45:46 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1539461

registered interest
date	04/11/2022
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	Flood Control: Capital Investment
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 policy paper entitled The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, published on 18 November 2020, how much his Department has spent on the six-year capital investment programme for flood and coastal defences through point nine on protecting our natural environment since the publication of that plan.
tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
uin	79289
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/11/2022 answer text <p>Investment in flooding and coastal erosion in England is provided by the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra).</p><p> </p><p>HM Government has invested £761 million in 2021/22, the first year of the capital Flood and Coastal Risk Investment Programme.</p><p> </p><p>Information on government spending on flood and coastal erosion risk management is available on GOV.UK within the document <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F1070943%2FFunding_for_FCERM_March_2021_Final_v1_accessible.pdf&amp;data=05%7C01%7CMarcus.Fry%40defra.gov.uk%7Cfa258a8748e44438128d08dac1936a1b%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638035136140114326%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=9bPZWgRNxmvDPXbJQp0lvDcXGyDYUURN%2FYClQUpNRGk%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Central Government Funding for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management in England</a>, March 2022.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 14/11/2022 17:00:08 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson