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1701267

registered interest
date	16/04/2024
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	Marine Environment: 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, what steps his Department is taking to support private investment in ocean recovery.
tabling member constituency	Bristol East
tabling member printed	Kerry McCarthy
uin	21935
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2024 answer text <p>Ocean conservation and the protection of marine biodiversity is a global challenge and one that is critically underfunded. Through the UK’s £500m UK aid Blue Planet Fund and in line with the 10 Point Plan for Financing Biodiversity and the International Development White Paper, we are supporting innovative projects that aim to attract and scale up private investment in ocean recovery. These initiatives include restoration and protection of blue carbon habitats and increasing coastal community resilience, funded through programmes led by the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (£13.9m), the World Bank’s sustainable blue economies programme- PROBLUE (£37.5m), and the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (£33m), amongst others. In June 2023, Lord Benyon hosted a joint UK-GFCR Investors Roundtable event, which showcased the GFCR as a viable investment opportunity and supported investor mobilisation for the GFCR Investment fund. At 28th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP28), the GFCR Coalition announced the mobilisation of more than $200 million USD as an initial direct investment toward the newly established 2030 Coral Reef Breakthrough targets, these include mobilising $12bn for corals and protecting 125,000 km2 of corals (50% of ~250,000km2 global total) by 2030.</p><p> </p><p>As set out in Mobilising Green Investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy, we are also taking action to meet our target to raise £1bn in private finance into nature’s recovery in England every year by 2030, both on land and at sea.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 19/04/2024 13:43:58 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1491 label Biography information for Kerry McCarthy

1700838

registered interest
date	15/04/2024
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	Recreation Spaces
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 methodology his Department uses to determine the number and proportion of people who have access to a good quality (a) green and (b) blue space within 15 minutes' walk of their home.
tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
uin	21640
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2024 answer text <p>The methodology and data we currently use on the number and proportion of people with access to greenspace is taken from Natural England’s Green Infrastructure (GI) Framework analysis.</p><p> </p><p>Natural England’s analyses of the total population in England living in close proximity of greenspace are based on the GI Framework’s Accessible Greenspace Standards which use buffers (straight-line distances) between home and greenspace and include three greenspace criteria:</p><ul><li>People living within 200m of a doorstep greenspace of at least 0.5ha</li><li>People living within 300m of a local natural greenspace of at least 2ha</li><li>People living within 1km of a neighbourhood natural greenspace of at least 10ha</li></ul><p> </p><p>When considered together, these three most local Accessible Greenspace Standards buffers allow us to form a composite picture of access to different sizes of greenspace within a straight-line distance of 1km from home.</p><p> </p><p>Natural England’s G3 Indicator report shows that as of October 2021, the proportions of the total population in England living within Accessible Greenspace Standards ‘criteria’ (straight line distances from the boundary of the greenspaces) are:</p><p>• 1 in 3 people live within 200 metres of a doorstep greenspace of at least 0.5 hectares.</p><p>• 1 in 4 people live within 300 metres of a local natural greenspace of at least 2 hectares.</p><p>• 1 in 2 people live within 1 km of a neighbourhood natural greenspace of at least 10 hectares.</p><p> </p><p>Our Environmental Improvement Plan commitment to ensure everyone lives within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space focuses on proximity to these spaces from home. Our data gathering therefore focuses on this, rather than by parliamentary constituency.</p><p> </p><p>We are currently working to establish a robust baseline of walkability to green and blue space, including working with NE and with the Rivers Trust to create data on blue space access points. In August we will publish an official statistic in development on walkability within England to the nearest green space. This will use network analysis to calculate travel time/ distance rather than straight-line distances, and enhanced use of data on the rights-of-way network. For full details see <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fstatistics%2Fannouncements%2Faccess-to-green-space-in-england&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C7f242f319c144c40b1fc08dc5ed77a0e%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638489526760120750%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Q79cuo%2BdtGQS1tvXUFzsTyxX5KgVtmGD5y2J%2B2IO1vE%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/access-to-green-space-in-england</a>.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 21639 question first answered 19/04/2024 13:29:55 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1700836

registered interest
date	15/04/2024
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	Recreation Spaces
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 data his Department holds on the number and proportion of people who have access to a good quality (a) green and (b) blue space within 15 minutes' walk of their home, by parliamentary constituency.
tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
uin	21639
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2024 answer text <p>The methodology and data we currently use on the number and proportion of people with access to greenspace is taken from Natural England’s Green Infrastructure (GI) Framework analysis.</p><p> </p><p>Natural England’s analyses of the total population in England living in close proximity of greenspace are based on the GI Framework’s Accessible Greenspace Standards which use buffers (straight-line distances) between home and greenspace and include three greenspace criteria:</p><ul><li>People living within 200m of a doorstep greenspace of at least 0.5ha</li><li>People living within 300m of a local natural greenspace of at least 2ha</li><li>People living within 1km of a neighbourhood natural greenspace of at least 10ha</li></ul><p> </p><p>When considered together, these three most local Accessible Greenspace Standards buffers allow us to form a composite picture of access to different sizes of greenspace within a straight-line distance of 1km from home.</p><p> </p><p>Natural England’s G3 Indicator report shows that as of October 2021, the proportions of the total population in England living within Accessible Greenspace Standards ‘criteria’ (straight line distances from the boundary of the greenspaces) are:</p><p>• 1 in 3 people live within 200 metres of a doorstep greenspace of at least 0.5 hectares.</p><p>• 1 in 4 people live within 300 metres of a local natural greenspace of at least 2 hectares.</p><p>• 1 in 2 people live within 1 km of a neighbourhood natural greenspace of at least 10 hectares.</p><p> </p><p>Our Environmental Improvement Plan commitment to ensure everyone lives within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space focuses on proximity to these spaces from home. Our data gathering therefore focuses on this, rather than by parliamentary constituency.</p><p> </p><p>We are currently working to establish a robust baseline of walkability to green and blue space, including working with NE and with the Rivers Trust to create data on blue space access points. In August we will publish an official statistic in development on walkability within England to the nearest green space. This will use network analysis to calculate travel time/ distance rather than straight-line distances, and enhanced use of data on the rights-of-way network. For full details see <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fstatistics%2Fannouncements%2Faccess-to-green-space-in-england&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C7f242f319c144c40b1fc08dc5ed77a0e%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638489526760120750%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Q79cuo%2BdtGQS1tvXUFzsTyxX5KgVtmGD5y2J%2B2IO1vE%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/access-to-green-space-in-england</a>.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 21640 question first answered 19/04/2024 13:29:55 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1701163

registered interest
date	15/04/2024
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	Swans: Animal Breeding
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 he has made an assessment of the potential impact of climate change on the breeding habits of swans.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Ruth Jones
uin	21841
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2024 answer text <p>There has been no assessment of the impact of climate change on the breeding habits of the mute swan, which is the only UK breeding swan species.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 19/04/2024 13:27:48 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4716 label Biography information for Ruth Jones

1700435

registered interest
date	12/04/2024
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	Plastics: Treaties
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 progress he has made in negotiations of a new international, legally binding plastics treaty.
tabling member constituency	Belfast South
tabling member printed	Claire Hanna
uin	21322
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2024 answer text <p>The United Nations Environment Assembly Resolution 5/14 set an ambitious timetable for the agreement of a new international, legally binding plastics treaty by end of 2024. The fourth round of negotiations (INC-4) will take place in Ottawa from 23 – 29 April which will continue discussions on the draft treaty text.</p><p> </p><p>The UK is a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, a group of over 60 countries calling for an ambitious and effective treaty. The UK has been a vocal proponent of a strong and comprehensive agreement that covers the whole lifecycle of plastics, including restraining and reducing the production and consumption of plastic to sustainable levels, promoting a circular economy for plastic, managing plastic waste in an environmentally sound and safe manner, and preventing and reducing releases of plastics into the environment.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to securing an agreement on the text by the end of the year and is working closely with other Parties and stakeholders to facilitate progress at INC-4. In particular, the UK co-led with Brazil an informal, technical work programme to support continued dialogues on how to identify chemicals and polymers of concern, and problematic plastic products within the treaty.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 19/04/2024 13:22:04 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4827 label Biography information for Claire Hanna

1701268

registered interest
date	16/04/2024
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	Marine Environment
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) preserve and (b) expand blue carbon habitats.
tabling member constituency	Bristol East
tabling member printed	Kerry McCarthy
uin	21936
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government recognises the important role that blue carbon habitats such as saltmarsh and seagrass can play in climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience. These richly biodiverse habitats also provide a crucial buffer from coastal flooding, benefit fish stocks and improve local water quality.</p><p> </p><p>The UK is a global leader in ocean protection and we have taken a number of steps to support blue carbon habitats. In England, we have established a comprehensive network of 181 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), which cover the majority of our saltmarsh and seagrass habitats. MPAs are intended to protect designated features listed within the MPA target. While blue carbon habitats may not always be an explicitly designated feature, MPA protection may still yield benefits. Our focus is now on ensuring that these MPAs are effectively protected to allow the designated features to achieve favourable condition. The first three Highly Protected Marine Area (HPMAs) designations in English waters came into force in summer 2023. Two of the three designated sites, Allonby Bay and North East of Farnes Deep, contain blue carbon habitats. Defra is exploring identifying additional candidate HPMA sites.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency’s Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) initiative is working to restore seagrass meadows, saltmarsh and native oyster reefs. Working in partnership with environmental non-government organisations, industry, community groups, and academia, the initiative aims to identify innovative funding opportunities, streamline regulatory processes, build capacity and share knowledge with partners to facilitate a larger programme of restoration.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has set up the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership in partnership with the Devolved Administrations to address evidence gaps that currently prevent the inclusion of blue carbon habitats in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI). Inclusion of these habitats in the GHGI will allow blue carbon to be marketed and traded as a carbon offset, leveraging private investment into these vital natural carbon stores.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 19/04/2024 12:45:39 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1491 label Biography information for Kerry McCarthy

1699956

registered interest
date	12/04/2024
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	Marine Management Organisation: Licensing
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 times the Marine Management Organisation has held a public inquiry to consider an application for a marine licence; and what the reason was in each case.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	20953
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2024 answer text <p>Once, since the establishment of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) in 2010. On 26 May 2011, the MMO called a public inquiry to be held for two marine licences related to the construction and dredging associated with a temporary jetty to support the development of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. The inquiry focussed on several matters including procedural matters related to marine licences and development consent orders, removal of the jetty, and environmental matters.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 19/04/2024 09:48:58 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

1700098

registered interest
date	12/04/2024
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	Darwin Plus
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 progress his Department has made on implementing the Darwin Plus fund.
tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
uin	21017
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/04/2024 answer text <p>The UK Government has recently expanded the Darwin Plus programme to better meet the needs of the UK Overseas Territories. In 2023, Defra introduced to Darwin Plus a new local scheme aimed at building capacity and growing local economies in-territory, and a new strategic scheme for fostering greater innovation, ambition and collaboration in and between Territories.</p><p> </p><p>On 22 April 2024, Defra will open the programme to new applications. The longstanding Darwin Plus Fellowships scheme will be rebranded as Darwin Plus People and Skills to appeal to applicants beyond academia. Under its new name, this scheme will welcome applications from Territory nationals and long-term residents for activities which will upskill them and support them to meet long-term strategic outcomes for their natural environments.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government remains committed to keeping the structure of the programme under review, with a focus on suitability and practical conservation.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 18/04/2024 14:51:23 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1700108

registered interest
date	12/04/2024
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	Tree Planting: Suffolk
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 on behalf of his Department in (a) Suffolk and (b) Suffolk Coastal constituency since 2020.
tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
uin	21027
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/04/2024 answer text <p>The Forestry Commission publishes statistics on new planting of woodland, and trees outside woodland, in England. These can be found in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forestry-commission-corporate-plan-performance-indicators" target="_blank">Forestry Commission Key Performance Indicators</a>. These statistics are reported for each financial year in thousands of hectares.</p><p> </p><p>This Government has not set specific targets for individual constituencies and the reporting statistic the hon. Member has requested is not currently available.</p><p> </p><p>Our England Trees Action Plan has kickstarted tree planting, we have planted nearly 13 million trees over the past 3 years. Last year we planted 3,600 hectares of new woodland and trees outside of woodland, this represents the highest planting rate for nearly a decade and an almost 40% increase on the previous year.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 18/04/2024 14:48:09 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1700223

registered interest
date	12/04/2024
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	Rights of Way: 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 assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding available to highway authorities to carry out statutory duties on public rights of way.
tabling member constituency	Croydon North
tabling member printed	Steve Reed
uin	21052
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/04/2024 answer text <p>The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2024-25 makes available up to £64.7 billion, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £4.5 billion or 7.5% in cash terms on 2023-24. This is an above inflation increase.</p><p> </p><p>Local highway authorities themselves are best placed to understand local priorities and allocate funding accordingly to fulfil their statutory rights of way duties.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 18/04/2024 14:45:41 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed