Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1134141

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	Animal Welfare: Sentencing
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 recent steps he has taken to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to increase the maximum penalty for the most serious offences of animal cruelty to five years.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	268563
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2019 answer text <p>I am pleased to say that the legislation needed to implement the increase in the maximum penalty for animal cruelty offences - the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill – had its First Reading in this House on 26 June.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 27/06/2019 14:08:21 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1134163

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	Forests: North of England
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 ensure the preservation of the Northern Forest.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	268380
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>Trees are vital environmental, social and economic assets. We need to take action to protect all trees from pests and diseases to preserve the benefits trees provide, include those trees that are planted within the Northern Forest.</p><p> </p><p>Our woodlands and forests are protected by the Forestry Act and Felling Licence regulations. In most cases a licence is required from the Forestry Commission before a landowner can undertake tree felling, with the Forestry Commission taking into account the UK Forestry Standard when considering felling applications. Where clear felling takes place there is, in most cases, a requirement to restock the woodland to maintain our woodland resource.</p><p> </p><p>Protecting trees from pests and diseases is essential in realising our ambition to leave the environment in a better state for the next generation. The Tree Health Resilience strategy, published in May 2018, sets out how Government will work with others to reduce the risk of pest and disease threats, and how we will strengthen the resilience of our trees to withstand these threats. The strategy includes a National Action Plan that sets out what we are already doing and what we and others will need to do to protect our trees.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has invested £5.7m to kick-start the development of the Northern Forest, which will have planted 1.8 million trees by the end of the Parliament to offer a firm foundation to continue to deliver against its longer term vision.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has a manifesto commitment to ensure stronger protection for our ancient woodlands and the irreplaceable nature of ancient woodlands is recognised in our 25 Year Environment Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework. Planning authorities are required to consult the Natural England and Forestry Commission ‘standing advice’ on ancient woodland and veteran trees when determining planning applications that may affect such habitats.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is also providing funding of £5m for the HS2 Woodland Fund. This supports the restoration of existing plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS) as well as the creation of new native woodland.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley grouped question UIN 268381 question first answered 02/07/2019 16:02:09 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1134164

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	Forests: Conservation
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 his Department is taking to preserve forests throughout the UK.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	268381
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>Trees are vital environmental, social and economic assets. We need to take action to protect all trees from pests and diseases to preserve the benefits trees provide, include those trees that are planted within the Northern Forest.</p><p> </p><p>Our woodlands and forests are protected by the Forestry Act and Felling Licence regulations. In most cases a licence is required from the Forestry Commission before a landowner can undertake tree felling, with the Forestry Commission taking into account the UK Forestry Standard when considering felling applications. Where clear felling takes place there is, in most cases, a requirement to restock the woodland to maintain our woodland resource.</p><p> </p><p>Protecting trees from pests and diseases is essential in realising our ambition to leave the environment in a better state for the next generation. The Tree Health Resilience strategy, published in May 2018, sets out how Government will work with others to reduce the risk of pest and disease threats, and how we will strengthen the resilience of our trees to withstand these threats. The strategy includes a National Action Plan that sets out what we are already doing and what we and others will need to do to protect our trees.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has invested £5.7m to kick-start the development of the Northern Forest, which will have planted 1.8 million trees by the end of the Parliament to offer a firm foundation to continue to deliver against its longer term vision.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has a manifesto commitment to ensure stronger protection for our ancient woodlands and the irreplaceable nature of ancient woodlands is recognised in our 25 Year Environment Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework. Planning authorities are required to consult the Natural England and Forestry Commission ‘standing advice’ on ancient woodland and veteran trees when determining planning applications that may affect such habitats.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is also providing funding of £5m for the HS2 Woodland Fund. This supports the restoration of existing plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS) as well as the creation of new native woodland.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley grouped question UIN 268380 question first answered 02/07/2019 16:02:09 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1134170

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	Tree Planting
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 long will it take for planted trees to have a benefit on the environment.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	268385
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>There are immediate environmental benefits from planting trees for new woodland creation; these increase over time and as the woodland develops and matures.</p><p> </p><p>For example, the change of land use means that some public benefits such as water quality improvement are achieved immediately. Within the first 5 years benefits to soil infiltration (for flood risk management) and biodiversity can be seen, with different species benefiting as the woodland becomes established. Carbon sequestration, the contribution of evapotranspiration to flood risk management and landscape enhancement generally give greatest benefit to the environment at canopy closure and beyond, 10-25 years after planting.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 01/07/2019 13:54:03 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1134171

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	Tree Planting: Yorkshire and the Humber
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 trees have been planted between Leeds and Hull in the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	268386
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2019 answer text <p>Neither Defra nor the Forestry Commission record tree planting data except for trees planted in England with central Government support.</p><p> </p><p>The table below contains a breakdown of the planting of new trees supported by the Rural Development Programme for England, and other forms of Government support, in Local Authority areas between Leeds and Hull, for the five years 2014-15 to 2018-19.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Administrative area </strong> <strong>from west to east</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Approximate</strong> <strong>number of trees:</strong> <strong>newly planted</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Equivalent</strong> <strong>number of hectares:</strong> <strong>newly planted</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Leeds</p></td><td><p>3,200</p></td><td><p>1.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wakefield</p></td><td><p>1,300</p></td><td><p>0.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Selby</p></td><td><p>11,600</p></td><td><p>7.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>York Unitary Area</p></td><td><p>2,800</p></td><td><p>3.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East Riding of Yorkshire Unitary Area</p></td><td><p>28,900</p></td><td><p>19.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>City of Kingston upon Hull</p></td><td><p>3,500</p></td><td><p>1.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total for these six administrative areas</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>51,300</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>33.6</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 27/06/2019 14:34:59 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1134172

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	Air Pollution
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 people in England are living in an area with an illegal level of air pollution.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	268387
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The UK meets legal limits for concentrations of all air pollutants, with the exception of nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>). Calculating peoples’ annual NO<sub>2</sub> exposure is not straightforward, because an individual’s exposure varies as they move about their daily life. The Government therefore does not hold estimates of the number of people exposed to NO<sub>2</sub> levels above legal limits.</p><p> </p><p>The vast majority of exceedances of the NO<sub>2</sub> limits occur at roadside locations within ten metres of the kerb. We are working with a number of local authorities to reduce roadside NO<sub>2</sub> concentrations, and our latest modelling indicates that 9% of the road links assessed exceeded NO<sub>2</sub> limits.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 01/07/2019 09:30:33 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1134175

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	Recycling
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 his Department is taking to (a) reduce waste to landfill and (b) increase waste to recycling.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	268388
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to increasing both the quantity and quality of waste materials that are recycled and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.</p><p>The Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme was established to provide support to local authorities to help accelerate the building of infrastructure needed to treat residual waste and increase recycling, minimising waste going to landfill to help meet our landfill diversion targets, which we reached in 2013.</p><p>One of the proposals in our recent consultation ‘Consistency in household and business recycling collections in England’ was for all collectors of waste to collect a core set of materials from households and businesses. We believe that this will improve the opportunity for householders to increase what they can recycle.</p><p>We are analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish the Government’s response to it shortly.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 01/07/2019 15:28:53 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1134178

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	Forests: Fires
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 his Department takes to (a) prevent, (b) tackle and (c) deal with the aftermath of forest fires.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	268390
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The Home Office has overall responsibility for wildfires and publishes data which shows most fires in grassland, woodland and crops are set deliberately.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Data provided by the Home Office is analysed and published by the Forestry Commission in addition to guidance that explains how owners can 1) reduce the risk of wildfire damaging their woodlands and 2) help woodlands recover from forest fires. The Forestry Commission holds workshops on Wildfire Prevention; over 150 land managers from the private and public sector have attended these. The Forestry Commission has an incident specific contingency plan for dealing with severe wildfire. In January 2019 this plan was tested in a major exercise which included staff from Defra, the Environment Agency, Public Health England, Natural England, Avon and Somerset Police, Forestry England and Forest Research.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Defra are currently undertaking a review of wildfire in relation to moorland and peatland management recognising that woodland habitats are a factor in such wildfires.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 02/07/2019 15:51:13 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

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