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1718243

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Inland Border Facilities
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 many physical inspections were carried out at the Sevington Border Control Post since 30 April 2024 by hour.
tabling member constituency	Walthamstow
tabling member printed	Stella Creasy
uin	26450
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>Our checks are intelligence-led and based on biosecurity risk. It would be inappropriate for us to set out operational details like the inspection details. Traders should continue to follow the published guidance which sets out BTOM inspection rates.</p><p> </p><p>DEFRA will gradually increase changes in controlled stages to balance biosecurity risk and maintain trade flows whilst minimising disruption at the border.</p><p> </p><p>This will allow the level of goods inspected at the border to be operationally manageable over the introductory stages.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 23/05/2024 09:36:48 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4088 label Biography information for Stella Creasy

1718254

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Carbon Capture and Storage: Water Treatment
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 has made an assessment of the potential merits of the proposal from Planetary Technologies and South West Water to perform a carbon sequestration trial by adding magnesium hydroxide into treated wastewater outlet pipes.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	26407
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>Greenhouse gas removal (GGR) technologies are technologies that seek to remove carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Technologies such as Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) are currently being considered under this category. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change now considers GGR technologies to be essential in limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. The Government has an ambition to reach 5MtCO2/year of removals by 2030, potentially rising to 23MtCO2/year by 2035.</p><p> </p><p>Reaching Net Zero and achieving good environmental status in the seas is a priority for Defra. Trials which advance GGR technologies, such as the proposed trial by Planetary Technologies and South West Water, could bring us closer to being able to deploy these technologies at a large scale. Reaching Net Zero will have benefits for ocean health and ecosystems. GGR technologies such as OAE may also benefit ocean health in other ways, for example, they may temporarily help combat local ocean acidification and the related negative impacts on species and ecosystems, such as calcium carbonate dissolution of calcifying species.</p><p> </p><p>Planetary Technologies have informed the Environment Agency that they wish to delay their formal application for their proposed trial for a period of approximately 6 to 12 months. A new application will be considered as and when it is received.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 23/05/2024 15:11:10 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1718256

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Carbon Capture and Storage: Water Treatment
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 he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by the Water Research Centre entitled Pre-Trial Audit of the Planetary and South West Water Ocean and Alkalinity Enhancement Pilot, published in February 2024.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	26409
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The pilot proposed by Planetary Technologies and South West Water involves the addition of alkaline material into the sea to assess the extent to which this results in the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as a method of engineered greenhouse gas removal.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency commissioned the Water Research Centre (WRC) to independently audit Planetary Technologies’ proposal and received WRC’s report in February 2024. The report concluded the trial was low risk and made several recommendations to Planetary. The WRC report can be found on a dedicated Planetary Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Trial Information Page hosted by the Environment Agency. More information can be found <a href="https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/dcis/planetary-ocean-alkalinity-enhancement-trial/" target="_blank">here</a>. Planetary Technologies have informed the Environment Agency that they wish to delay their formal application for this proposed trial for a period of approximately 6 to 12 months, to allow them time to action the recommendations.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is still evaluating the potential for marine-based technologies, such as ocean alkalinity enhancement, to provide a route for effective greenhouse gas removal. The benefits and risks to the environment need to be explored before these technologies can be deployed on a large scale. Pilot studies are essential to understanding the risks and benefits of these new technologies, but they need to be regulated to ensure they do not have adverse impacts themselves on the marine environment.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 23/05/2024 16:18:33 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1718260

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Carbon Capture and Storage: Water Treatment
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 his planned timetable is to make a decision on whether Planetary Technologies and South West Water will be granted permission to carry out carbon sequestration trials involving adding alkaline minerals to treated waste water being pumped into the sea.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	26410
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p>In March 2023, Planetary Technologies and South West Water asked the Environment Agency to authorise their carbon sequestration trial in St Ives Bay. Varying South West Water’s EPR (Environmental Permitting Regulations) permit would not have been appropriate for a short term trial (less than one month) so the approach would be to issue a Local Enforcement Position. The current EPR permit for the discharge doesn’t cover the proposed dosing activity and only considers the local environmental aspects rather than the wider policy implications and effectiveness of carbon sequestration of adding alkaline material (magnesium hydroxide) into the waste water outfall pipe.</p><p> </p><p>We commissioned the Water Research Centre (WRC) to audit Planetary Technologies’ proposal and we received WRC’s report in February 2024. The report concluded the trial was low risk and made several recommendations to Planetary. Planetary Technologies have now informed us that they wish to delay their formal application for the Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement trial for a period of approximately 6 to 12 months, to allow them time to action the recommendations.</p><p> </p><p>We will consider a new application as and when we receive it.</p><p> </p><p>More information can be found <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fconsult.environment-agency.gov.uk%2Fdcis%2Fplanetary-ocean-alkalinity-enhancement-trial&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C7de9517fdd24426deb7708dc79736dbc%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638518783877003161%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=yn1jMaNpiFrBzvuRwRlHH2Ma7HDkINc%2Fv1FbUIDA2jE%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 24/05/2024 06:52:34 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1718275

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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: Expenditure
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 transparency data entitled Defra: spending over £25,000, February 2024, published on 13 May 2024, what the purpose of Project Hazel is; and how much his Department has spent on Project Hazel since 2020.
tabling member constituency	Croydon North
tabling member printed	Steve Reed
uin	26469
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p>Project Hazel refers to Capita’s share divestment from Fera Science Ltd, a joint venture with Defra. Defra spent £1.57 million on Project Hazel from 2020.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 24/05/2024 11:37:23 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1718276

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Inland Border Facilities: Ashford
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 many hours the Automatic Licence Verification System at the Sevington Border Control Point has been out of operation for since 30 April 2024.
tabling member constituency	Walthamstow
tabling member printed	Stella Creasy
uin	26451
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>A power outage at a privately owned data centre that Defra uses affected several Defra digital services last weekend. One of the services impacted was the Automatic Licence Verification System, which is used to validate and exchange information with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).</p><p> </p><p>This service was not available between 07:46 11 May and 20:50 14 May. This amounts to 85 hours and 4 minutes. Business Continuity Plans were implemented as soon as the disruption to the service was identified.</p><p> </p><p>There have been no significant delays to border checks and we continue to protect our high standards of biosecurity in the UK through effective monitoring across all imports.</p><p> </p><p>We have contingency arrangements in place for clearance of affected vehicles and consignments at the border, working alongside HMRC and Border Force.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 23/05/2024 09:30:23 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4088 label Biography information for Stella Creasy

1718278

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Biodiversity: Cost Effectiveness
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 plans to take to monitor the value for money of Government-funded biodiversity projects over the next five years.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	26371
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>Defra has a number of schemes which provide funding to support biodiversity projects. This includes the Landscape Recovery Scheme, The Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme, and Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>Each individual scheme has its own monitoring and evaluation framework to evaluate the impact of the projects, and this will include evaluation of the value for money delivered. For example, the Species Recovery Programme is currently commissioning an evaluation for the current Spending Review period which will include evaluating whether the Programme is providing value for money.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is also currently developing an overarching monitoring and evaluation framework to strengthen its understanding of progress towards meeting its statutory biodiversity targets, including its target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030. This work will include an overall evaluation of the value for money delivered by the suite of government interventions for biodiversity.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 20/05/2024 16:15:43 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1718301

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Disability
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 their Department is taking to support the Disability Confident scheme; how many officials in their Department work directly on supporting that scheme; what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of that work in supporting the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of disabled people in their Department; and what further steps they are taking to support their Department’s recruitment and retention of disabled people.
tabling member constituency	Romsey and Southampton North
tabling member printed	Caroline Nokes
uin	26432
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>Defra has achieved Level 3 (Leader) of the Disability Confident scheme, this achievement is renewed every 3 years and we are currently working towards the renewal for 2024.</p><p> </p><p>Although not working directly on the scheme, our Director General for Strategy leads as a senior Disability Champion, along with 2 Deputy Directors as Deputy Disability Champions, and they support and champion the requirements of the Disability Confident scheme within Defra.</p><p> </p><p>These appointments are as recommended by the Disability Confident scheme provisions and additionally there is a Defra group Disability Board, chaired by the Executive Champion. This Board’s role is to ensure that actions and plans are in place and regularly reviewed to meet the provisions of the Disability Confident scheme and wider action to support employees with disabilities, impairments and long term medical conditions across the department.</p><p> </p><p>Over the last 3 years disability representation across Defra group has increased from 14.3% to a representation rate of 17.2%. Within core Defra the current representation rate is 16.8% which is in line with the current disability target representation of the UK working age population.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 23/05/2024 16:13:51 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes

1718318

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Fisheries: Finance
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 funding he has allocated to supporting the the fisheries sector; and what steps he is taking to support sustainability in that sector.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	26418
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting the UK fishing sector through our funding schemes. Through the annual investment of £32.7 million across the UK for domestic grants schemes, control and enforcement and data collection activities, in addition to the UK-wide £100 million UK Seafood Fund (UKSF), the Government is investing in projects that will support the long-term economic and environmental sustainability of the UK fisheries and seafood sector.</p><p> </p><p>The Fisheries and Seafood Scheme funds projects that boost the sale of seafood, increase business resilience and support more environmentally sustainably practices. The UKSF has four pillars providing funding to: improve infrastructure; deliver science and innovation projects; support the current and future skills and training needs of the sector; and boost seafood exports.</p><p> </p><p>The first Fisheries Management Plans published in December 2023 are part of a package of reforms to make our fisheries more sustainable. Other reforms related to the management of discards and introduction of remote electronic monitoring policies were set out on 13 May 2024.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 21/05/2024 13:21:19 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1718319

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
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	Air Pollution: Greater London
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) work with the Mayor of London and (b) otherwise help improve air quality in London.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	26419
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>The Mayor of London is responsible for air quality in London and has devolved powers under the Environment Act 1995 allowing him to require London boroughs to take action to address local air pollution. The Mayor has received over £6.6bn of funding for transport in London since 2020, and London authorities have received further funding for specific air quality projects totalling almost £102m.</p><p> </p><p>Nationally, we are driving down emissions and concentrations of the most harmful air pollutants and reducing their impact on public health and the environment. This Government has delivered significant reductions in emissions since 2010 – with emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) falling by 24%, and nitrogen oxides down by 48%. We met our targets to reduce emissions for all five key pollutants in the latest reporting year.</p><p> </p><p>PM2.5 is the most harmful pollutant to human health, which is why we have set two new targets to drive down PM2.5 concentrations under the Environment Act 2021:</p><ul><li>A maximum annual mean concentration of 10 µg m-3 by 2040</li><li>A population exposure reduction target of 35% by 2040 compared with 2018</li></ul><p> </p><p>These targets mean that on average, people’s exposure to particulate matter will be cut by over a third by 2040, compared with 2018 levels.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 20/05/2024 14:24:31 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord