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1625073

registered interest
date	02/05/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Ecology
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the state of the microbiosphere in England and Wales; and what steps they are taking (1) to enhance knowledge of it, and (2) to preserve it.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL7575
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2023 answer text <p>On 31st January 2023 the Government published its second statutory Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23), as committed to in the Environment Act. The EIP23 builds on the Government’s commitment to leave the environment in a better state than we found it. It is delivery focussed and sets out the actions that will drive us towards reaching our long-term environmental targets and goals, including improving and protecting soil health.</p><p> </p><p>This is aided by Defra receiving £140 million research and development funding over three years towards delivering the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) Programme. NCEA is building long term monitoring capability and yielding valuable new data, including improved understanding of national soil condition and soil microbial activity.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 10/05/2023 16:31:42 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1625087

registered interest
date	02/05/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Horticulture
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish the horticulture strategy for England as set out in the Government Food Strategy, published on 13 June 2022.
tabling member printed	Baroness Fookes
uin	HL7589
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2023 answer text <p>The domestic horticulture sector is crucial to the resilience of our food system as well as an important part of our wider economy and we are committed to supporting it. We are delivering for the sector, investing more than £168 million to drive innovation and support food production, and have passed the new Genetic Technology Act to reduce the regulatory burden and unlock the potential of new technologies. Defra regularly engages with the horticulture industry to understand what support they need to continue to produce great British food.</p><p> </p><p>I discussed this and other issues at the Farm to Fork Summit in No.10. We will build on this and set out an action plan for the horticulture sector in the Autumn, when we will also respond to the Labour Review.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 17/05/2023 10:44:29 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	830 label Biography information for Baroness Fookes

1625088

registered interest
date	02/05/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Waste Management: Fires
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 24 April (HL7121), what assessment they have made of the cost of fires in waste processing plants resulting from lithium-ion batteries.
tabling member printed	Lord Foster of Bath
uin	HL7590
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2023 answer text <p>Defra has not made an assessment of the costs of fires arising in waste processing plants. Research conducted by Eunomia and the Environmental Services Association which was published in 2021 estimated the annual cost of lithium-ion battery fires to be £158 million. A copy is attached to this answer.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 10/05/2023 14:34:49 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon attachment 1 file name Waste-Fires-Caused-by-Li-ion-Batteries_FINAL-amended-w0l4kc.pdf title Li-ion battery fires in waste industry
tabling member	214 label Biography information for Lord Foster of Bath

1625089

registered interest
date	02/05/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Waste Management: Fires
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the withdrawal of waste or recycling services as a result of lithium-ion batteries fires in waste processing plants.
tabling member printed	Lord Foster of Bath
uin	HL7591
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2023 answer text <p>Defra has not made an assessment of the withdrawal of waste or recycling services as a result of lithium-ion batteries in waste processing plants. Waste diversion to other authorised facilities routinely happens when a plant is down for maintenance, refurbishment or closed.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 10/05/2023 14:22:18 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	214 label Biography information for Lord Foster of Bath

1625090

registered interest
date	02/05/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Waste Management: Fires
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) reduce risk, and (2) mitigate the impact of lithium-ion battery fires in waste processing plants.
tabling member printed	Lord Foster of Bath
uin	HL7592
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2023 answer text <p>Sites storing and processing waste are required to have a fire prevention plan (FPP) to mitigate and manage the fire risk on site. A critical part of the FPP is to have robust waste acceptance procedures in place to ensure that lithium-ion batteries and other ignition sources are separated, stored and treated appropriately to prevent fires occurring. Defra is reviewing the existing UK Batteries Regulations with a view to consulting by end 2023. As part of this review, work is ongoing to understand the potential safety risks of lithium-ion batteries.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 10/05/2023 14:22:00 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	214 label Biography information for Lord Foster of Bath

1625105

registered interest
date	02/05/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Waste Management: Climate Change
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what further plans they have for new waste management strategies to address the effects of climate change.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL7607
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2023 answer text <p>The “<em>Powering Up Britain - The Net Zero Growth Pla</em>n” published in March 2023 sets out the Government's approach to reaching net zero, including for the waste sector. Within this, the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan sets out our commitment to the near elimination of biodegradable municipal waste to landfill from 2028, through the Collection and Packaging Reforms, as well as additional policies. To that aim, we will launch a Call for Evidence shortly focused on the near elimination of biodegradable waste being sent to landfill. The Government has also committed to publish an addendum to the Resources and Waste Strategy in the summer, which will focus on net zero.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 10/05/2023 14:19:25 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1625141

registered interest
date	02/05/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Companies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the transparency of the (a) finances and (b) corporate structures of water companies.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	183396
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2023 answer text <p>There is a high level of transparency in both areas. All water companies publish their annual reports on their websites. The publicly available reports include financial and governance information.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to annual reports, all water companies publish an annual performance report (APR). The APRs are accessible to all stakeholders and set out how companies are delivering for their customers, environment and wider society.</p><p> </p><p>Ofwat, the economic regulator, also assesses the financial resilience of water companies and publishes an annual Monitoring Financial Resilience Report, which sets out observations and actions to further improve the financial resilience of the sector. Ofwat’s report can be found here - <a href="https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/MFR_2021-22.pdf" target="_blank">MFR_2021-22.pdf (ofwat.gov.uk)</a></p><p> </p><p>The water companies provide an essential public service to their communities, and so our Strategic Policy Statement sets out that we expect Ofwat to encourage and incentivise water companies to foster better corporate responsibility.</p><p> </p><p>Building on Ofwat’s existing principles for board leadership, transparency and governance, it announced on 20 March 2023 new changes to company licences that will improve the performance and financial health of water companies and provide greater transparency with customers and stakeholders.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 15/05/2023 15:28:55 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1625146

registered interest
date	02/05/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Waste Disposal
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to introduce a new (a) household and (b) business waste collections policy; and whether funding will be made available to local authorities to support the delivery of that policy.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	183397
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2023 answer text <p>In 2021 we published a second consultation on recycling consistency for households and businesses in England. This consultation sought views on increasing consistency in recycling, including on the materials in scope of collection, proposals for commencement dates for regulations, exemptions and statutory guidance. We are aiming to publish our response shortly.</p><p><br> Any new financial burdens introduced through new statutory duties on local authorities will be assessed and the reasonable net additional cost covered by the Government. Local authorities are already permitted to charge for business waste collections.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 15/05/2023 15:46:38 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1624610

registered interest
date	28/04/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Livestock: Antibiotics
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to help reduce the presence of antimicrobial-resistant superbugs originating from industrial farms in water courses.
tabling member constituency	Hampstead and Kilburn
tabling member printed	Tulip Siddiq
uin	183224
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2023 answer text <p>Antimicrobial usage (AMU) is a key driver influencing the occurrence and emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The degree of intensification of farm production systems can have a bearing on AMU, but that is not necessarily the case. Intensive production systems can involve high health status livestock with high biosecurity to prevent entry of disease and consequently can have low AMU. The extent of risk that Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) presents in the water environment is still being determined. A cross-departmental project called Pathogen Surveillance in Agriculture, Food and the Environment (PATH-SAFE) was established in 2021 to strengthen our understanding of AMR in the environment, including the relative importance of different sources and potential transmission routes. Final results of this project are expected to be published later this year.</p><p> </p><p>To date in the UK, collaborative working between government, the veterinary profession and the agriculture sectors has already resulted in our national sales of veterinary antibiotics reducing by 55% since 2014, and in 2021 we recorded the lowest antibiotic use yet. Over this same period the UK have seen overall trend of decreasing antimicrobial resistance in bacteria from animals. The significant achievements of the UK farming industry to reduce their antibiotic use supports the government’s ‘One-Health’ approach to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as set out in the UK National Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance (AMR).</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 09/05/2023 09:16:36 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4518 label Biography information for Tulip Siddiq

1624720

registered interest
date	28/04/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Supply: South East
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with (a) the Welsh Government, (b) Powys County Council, (c) Thames Water, (d) Seven Trent Water and (e) United Utilities on proposals to redirect water supplies from Llyn Fyrnwy to the South East of England.
tabling member constituency	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
tabling member printed	Jonathan Edwards
uin	183241
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2023 answer text <p>As agreed in the Intergovernmental Protocol on Water Resources, Water Supply and Water Quality, Defra and the Welsh Government work together on water resources management.</p><p> </p><p>Water companies in England and Wales have a statutory duty to provide a secure supply of water for customers, efficiently and economically. Statutory water resources management plans show how companies will continue to meet this duty and manage water supply and demand sustainably for at least the next 25 years. In their plans, water companies must consider all options, including demand management and water resources infrastructure. Collaborative regional water resources groups and water companies have been consulting on their draft water resources management plans. This includes United Utilities, Severn Trent Water and Thames Water. Within the draft plans produced by Thames Water, Severn Trent Water and United Utilities, are descriptions of a transfer of water from the reservoir Vyrnwy (Llyn Efyrnwy) through the River Severn and then into the upper part of the River Thames. This is known as the Severn to Thames transfer. Following public consultation, the water companies are now reviewing how they will change their plans. The companies will produce a Statement of Response that will detail whether this transfer will continue. The scheme is also being reviewed through RAPID (Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development).</p><p> </p><p>Ofwat, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales issued joint water resources planning guidance to water companies, which takes account of policy in England and Wales. They are also statutory consultees on the plans, as relevant. The plans will be referred to the Secretary of State and Welsh Ministers for approval later in the year.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 09/05/2023 09:01:27 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	3943 label Biography information for Jonathan Edwards