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1179870

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
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	Rights of Way: Registration
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any decisions about extending the 2026 deadline for registering historic rights of way; and if not, when they expect to make such a decision.
tabling member printed	Lord Greaves
uin	HL1735
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/03/2020 answer text <p>The Government recognises the need for sufficient time to register public rights of way before the cut-off date. Stakeholder views on whether there is a need to extend the deadline are mixed and will be taken into account, although no decision has yet been taken. We intend to consult the Stakeholder Working Group on rights of way reform before we make a decision.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 02/03/2020 13:52:51 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	2569 label Biography information for Lord Greaves

1179884

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
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	Plastic Bags: Fees and Charges
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to make an announcement in relation to the introduction of a plastic bag charge for small and medium-sized retailers.
tabling member printed	Lord Hayward
uin	HL1745
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2020 answer text <p>The 5p charge has been highly successful at reducing the use of single-use plastic carrier bags, doing so by over 90% in the main retailers since its introduction in 2015.</p><p> </p><p>To build on this success and encourage further behaviour change, last year the Government consulted on increasing the charge to a minimum 10p and extending it to all retailers. Our initial assessment indicates that a 10p charge would bring a further 90% reduction at supermarkets and 80% reduction at high street retailers in year one. This would be followed by a 90% reduction at small retailers by year three. Changes such as these are complex and will take time, and we will publish the summary of responses and a Government response setting out next steps in due course.</p><p> </p><p>Upon review, the Regulatory Policy Committee, an advisory non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy &amp; Industrial Strategy, have agreed to the revised impact assessment and given it a positive ‘green’ rating. More information will be published along with the Government response in due course.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park grouped question UIN HL1746 question first answered 06/03/2020 12:01:54 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	863 label Biography information for Lord Hayward

1179885

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
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	Plastic Bags: Fees and Charges
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have changed their analysis of the impact of the introduction of a plastic bag charge for small and medium-sized retailers since July 2019.
tabling member printed	Lord Hayward
uin	HL1746
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2020 answer text <p>The 5p charge has been highly successful at reducing the use of single-use plastic carrier bags, doing so by over 90% in the main retailers since its introduction in 2015.</p><p> </p><p>To build on this success and encourage further behaviour change, last year the Government consulted on increasing the charge to a minimum 10p and extending it to all retailers. Our initial assessment indicates that a 10p charge would bring a further 90% reduction at supermarkets and 80% reduction at high street retailers in year one. This would be followed by a 90% reduction at small retailers by year three. Changes such as these are complex and will take time, and we will publish the summary of responses and a Government response setting out next steps in due course.</p><p> </p><p>Upon review, the Regulatory Policy Committee, an advisory non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy &amp; Industrial Strategy, have agreed to the revised impact assessment and given it a positive ‘green’ rating. More information will be published along with the Government response in due course.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park grouped question UIN HL1745 question first answered 06/03/2020 12:01:54 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	863 label Biography information for Lord Hayward

1179911

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
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	Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) protect, and (2) enhance, the tranquility of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
uin	HL1763
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/02/2020 answer text <p>The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan has set out our comprehensive and long-term approach to protecting and enhancing the environment in England. The importance of designated landscapes, including Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), is made clear in the plan.</p><p> </p><p>Tranquillity is a key component of AONB purpose. To reflect this it is included in the special qualities of why many of these sites have been designated to be protected as AONBs.</p><p> </p><p>AONBs are some of our most treasured landscapes. Funding for these landscapes has been protected in real terms since 2015. We recognise their value and are committed to help them thrive. The AONBs received over £6.5 million during 19/20 of core grant funding from Defra to deliver their statutory purpose.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to ensuring that noise is managed effectively in order to promote good health and quality of life. We have protections in place to avoid significant adverse noise impacts for example through our planning system, our environmental permitting systems, in vehicle and product standards, and noise abatement legislation.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 26/02/2020 17:37:00 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	4297 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

1179922

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
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	Fly-tipping
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what increase there has been in fly-tipping in the last five years; what estimate they have made of the cost of dealing with any such increase; what assessment they have made of any link between fly-tipping and criminal gangs; and what new measures they are proposing to address fly-tipping.
tabling member printed	The Marquess of Lothian
uin	HL1770
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2020 answer text <p>Defra publishes annual fly-tipping statistics for England, with the most recent publication on 7 November 2019 detailing the number of fly-tipping incidents reported by local authorities in the year to 31 March 2019. These can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england</a>. The statistics show that incidents of fly-tipping have gradually increased over the last five years, albeit with a decrease reported between 2016/17 and 2017/18. The 2018/19 figures reported an increase of 8% from 2017/18. However, this most recent increase in recorded incidents does not necessarily mean the number of fly-tipping incidents has increased. Local authorities have reported that as they make it easier for citizens to report fly-tipping, for example through mobile apps, they see an increase in the number of incidents recorded.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2017/18 we have changed the way that we present the costs of dealing with fly-tipping. The standard unit costs used for the majority of clearance and enforcement categories in previous statistical releases are now more than 10 years out of date. Defra therefore took the decision to cease using these costs from the 2017/18 fly-tipping statistical release onwards and total cost estimates for fly-tipping clearance and enforcement are not currently produced. However, we do report the clearance costs for ‘tipper lorry load’ and ‘significant/multi load’ incident categories, and enforcement costs for ‘prosecutions’, as these are reported directly by local authorities.</p><p> </p><p>In 2018/19, 3% of all fly-tipping incidents were of ‘tipper lorry load’ size or larger, compared with 4% in 2017/18. This is consistent with the 3% of these incidents reported in 2014/15. The cost of clearance to local authorities in England have shown an increase however, costing £12.9 million in 2018/19, compared with £12.2 million in 2017/18 and £7.3 million in 2014/15.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities carried out a total of 2,397 prosecutions for fly-tipping offences in England in 2018/19, an increase of 7% on 2017/18 and 32% on 2014/15. Costs of prosecution actions have subsequently increased, from £288,037 in 2014/15 to £1,002,000 in 2018/19. The success rates for prosecution actions against fly-tipping are consistently above 95% and have been since records began in 2007/08.</p><p> </p><p>In 2018, Defra commissioned a review into serious and organised criminality in the waste sector. This considered the operation of organised criminal gangs in the waste industry, including in relation to illegal dumping and fly-tipping. The recommendations of this review were included within our Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS), published in December 2018, which set out an ambitious package of commitments to modernise the way waste is regulated, in order to prevent, detect, and deter waste crime, including fly-tipping. In recent years, we have bolstered local authorities’ powers to tackle fly-tipping and we committed to further reforms in the RWS.</p><p> </p><p>We are taking forward the commitment in the RWS to develop proposals for the reform of the waste carrier, broker, and dealer regime. We are working with industry and the regulator and we intend to consult later this year. At the same time, we intend to consult on the introduction of mandatory electronic waste tracking. This will reduce the ability of waste criminals to hide evidence of the systematic mishandling of waste and make it easier for enforcement authorities to identify material dropping out of the system, and therefore make it easier to protect against fly-tipping.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Bill provides a significant step forward in delivering a number of the commitments set out in the RWS. The provisions in the Environment Bill will work to ensure waste criminals, such as illegitimate waste operators reliant on fly-tipping for income, are held accountable for their actions.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has previously worked with the Sentencing Council to amend sentencing guidance for fly-tipping offences and will continue this work to help to secure tougher penalties in line with the Government’s manifesto commitment.</p><p> </p><p>As well as legislative changes, Defra is developing a fly-tipping toolkit, following a commitment in the RWS. The toolkit will be a web-based tool to help local authorities and others work in partnership to tackle fly-tipping. It will cover, for example, the use of new technology to report fly-tipping, the presentation of cases to court, the sharing of intelligence within and between partnerships and promoting the duty of care to individuals and businesses.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 06/03/2020 12:01:04 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

1179923

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
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	Nature Conservation
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports of an increase in the number of thefts of endangered plant species, whether they have any plans to stregthen the provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
tabling member printed	The Marquess of Lothian
uin	HL1771
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2020 answer text <p>The Government takes all crime seriously and there are strong penalties in place for those found guilty of offences committed against wild plants and animals.</p><p> </p><p>Wild plants are protected under section 13 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, with additional protection afforded to wild plants listed on Schedule 8.</p><p> </p><p>Where there is evidence to suggest that illegal activity is occurring, we encourage all relevant authorities to ensure that sufficiently robust action is taken. Enforcement of all offences, however, including those against wild plants, is an operational matter for the police.</p><p> </p><p>Those found guilty of offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 already face strong sanctions, including an unlimited fine and imprisonment. We have no plans to alter these sanctions. Decisions on sentencing in individual cases are taken independently of Government.</p><p> </p><p>There are currently no plans to review the relevant provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 05/03/2020 13:54:04 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

1179928

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
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	Flooding Lessons Learned Review
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement the recommendations contained in the report by Sir Michael Pitt The Pitt Review: Lessons learned from the 2007 floods, published on 25 June 2008, in particular to end developers’ automatic right to connect new developments to public sewers.
tabling member printed	Baroness McIntosh of Pickering
uin	HL1774
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2020 answer text <p>The Government implemented recommendations from Sir Michael Pitt’s review through the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s report on the Post-legislative scrutiny of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 was in its Sixth Report of Session 2016–17, published on 26 April 2017.</p><p> </p><p>The Government response to the Committee’s report notes that planning practice guidance includes a hierarchy for sustainable drainage options that favours non-sewer solutions. Draining to a combined sewer should be the least favoured option in new development, to be considered when sustainable drainage options are not reasonably practicable. Removing the right to connect to an existing sewer therefore would offer no clear benefits over current arrangements and is likely to add costs and delay to the planning process for new housing.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 06/03/2020 11:58:18 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	384 label Biography information for Baroness McIntosh of Pickering

1179949

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
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	Waste: Exports
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (HL226), what assessment they have made of the proportion of shipping containers being returned following inspection; and what action they intend to take as a result.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Salisbury
uin	HL1788
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2020 answer text <p>Of the 42 improperly documented containers of plastic waste referred to in the written answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (HL226) 38 containers have been returned to the UK. The Environment Agency (EA) are awaiting the return of 4 containers from Malaysia and these are due to return to England by the end of March 2020. The EA, as the competent authority of England, is overseeing the voluntary return of all 42 containers of waste however the return of the containers is being managed and financed by the parties involved in the original export to Malaysia as it is their responsibility. The EA continues to closely monitor the return to England and subsequent lawful recovery or disposal of the waste in the UK. The circumstances relevant to the export of these containers is currently being investigated and it is not possible to comment any further at this time.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 09/03/2020 18:01:09 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	4350 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Salisbury

1179950

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
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	Waste: Exports
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (HL226), what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of sanctions as a means of discouraging the export of illegal waste shipments.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Salisbury
uin	HL1789
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2020 answer text <p>The four UK regulators have a range of enforcement tools and sanctions available in respect to waste exports offences. The Environment Agency (EA) has published an Enforcement and Sanctions Policy and it details how the EA make enforcement and sanctioning decisions including the decision to prosecute. The EA also have internal enforcement governance procedures to ensure consistency, transparency and accountability for all enforcement recommendations or decisions they make. These procedures enable the EA to monitor offending and the sanctions and other interventions they use.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has committed in the Resources &amp; Waste Strategy to review the regulatory framework covering waste exports. We will consult this year on actions to better manage and control waste exports, including through tighter monitoring and enforcement of the existing regulations and we will seek views on the effectiveness of sanctions as part of that consultation.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Bill also includes a power to introduce electronic tracking of waste to help tackle waste crime here in the UK and prevent illegal waste from being shipped abroad.</p><p> </p><p>Recognising the difficulties experienced by some countries in managing imports of plastic waste, the Queen’s Speech on 19 December last year included a commitment to ban the export of plastic wastes to countries that are not members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. We will consult this year on the date by which this should be achieved.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 09/03/2020 18:00:53 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	4350 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Salisbury

1179952

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
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	Waste: Exports
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (HL226), how many successful prosecutions there were for breaches of waste shipment legislation in each of the past five years.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Salisbury
uin	HL1790
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2020 answer text <p>The Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for enforcing waste shipments legislation in England. The EA aims to make sure its enforcement response is proportionate and appropriate to each situation and the EA has a range of enforcement powers and sanctions available to it to secure compliance. The EA’s first response is usually to give advice and guidance to bring an offender into compliance where possible. Where a criminal offence has been committed, in addition to any other enforcement action, the EA will consider instituting a prosecution, administering a caution or issuing a warning. Any UK operators found to be illegally exporting waste can face severe sanctions – from financial penalties up to imprisonment for a period of up to two years. The table below details the range of EA enforcement action over the past five years, including successful prosecutions.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="10"><p>Illegal Waste Export Enforcement 2015 – 2020 (to date)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Financial Year</p></td><td><p>Total Prosecutions</p></td><td><p>Court Fines</p></td><td><p>Imprisonment</p></td><td><p>Suspended Custodial Sentences</p></td><td><p>Cautions issued by EA</p></td><td><p>EA Warning Letters</p></td><td><p>Fixed Penalty Notices<sup>1</sup></p></td><td><p>Civil Sanctions<sup>1</sup></p></td><td><p>Stop/ Prevention Notices</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>£30,450</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>168</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>£1,800</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>150</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>£0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>160</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-19</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>£0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>238</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-20 to date</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>£350,000</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Totals</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>£382,250</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>27</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>716</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><sup><sup>[1]</sup></sup> Issued by the Environment Agency</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 09/03/2020 18:00:34 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	4350 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Salisbury