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1700743

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	Hornets
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 effect of the spread of Asian hornets on the welfare of (1) honey bees, and (2) other insect populations, in England; and what action they are taking to prevent the further spread of this invasive species.
tabling member printed	Lord Patten
uin	HL3782
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government recognises the essential role played by honey bees and wild pollinators in our environment, acknowledging their contribution to crop pollination. Additionally, pollinators play a vital role in supporting the natural ecosystem.</p><p> </p><p>Asian hornets prey on honey bees and other pollinators so pose a significant threat to these insects. To date rapid action has been taken in the UK to find and destroy Asian hornet nests.</p><p> </p><p>In 2023 a total of 72 nests were located and destroyed, the majority of these were located in the South-East (62). The National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Animal and Plant Health Agency, rapidly located and destroyed the nests so we would expect any impacts on honey bee colonies and other pollinators to be small and localised.</p><p> </p><p>From the analysis of nests found in 2023, a number of areas were identified where there is a low risk that Asian hornet queens may have overwintered. To address this, the NBU is carrying out spring trapping and working collaboratively with stakeholders to monitor traps at locations across Kent, East Sussex, Devon and North Yorkshire.</p><p> </p><p>The Government remains committed to taking swift and effective contingency action against Asian hornet in 2024 thereby continuing to minimise the impacts on honey bees and other pollinators.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 19/04/2024 13:40:12 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	1137 label Biography information for Lord Patten

1700745

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	Biodiversity
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in reforming incentives, including subsidies for ecologically harmful activities, as required under Target 18 of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
tabling member printed	Lord Randall of Uxbridge
uin	HL3785
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2024 answer text <p>In May 2024, the UK plans to publish its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), which will set out national targets and policies for implementing targets in the Global Biodiversity Framework, including Target 18. This will include a target to identify any incentives and subsidies that are harmful to biodiversity. The UK already has a positive story to tell on reforming incentives through our work to deliver the Agricultural Transition. Our Environmental Land Management schemes will incentivise farmers to improve biodiversity, soil health and air and water quality, reduce agricultural emissions, restore peatland, and establish and restore woodlands and forests.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 19/04/2024 13:39:37 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	209 label Biography information for Lord Randall of Uxbridge

1699277

registered interest
date	27/03/2024
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: Scotland
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 merits of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, and the viability of introducing similar provisions for England.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Ladyton
uin	HL3660
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2024 answer text <p>With regard to access to the countryside, England has a comprehensive network of public rights of way and the public has the ‘right to roam’ over many areas of wild, open countryside. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 currently provides the public with a right of access to areas of mountain, moor, heath, down, registered common land and coastal margin in England. There are no plans to change this.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and wellbeing and is committed to ensure that everyone lives within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space. As part of this we are completing work on the 2,700 mile King Charles III England Coast Path, and delivering the £16m Access for All programme across our protected landscapes, national trails, forests and the wider countryside to make access to green and blue spaces more inclusive.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 10/04/2024 11:07:11 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	620 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Ladyton

1699286

registered interest
date	27/03/2024
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: Islands
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government why Natural England has not used its power to apply to the Secretary of State for creation orders to be made to create rights of way to inaccessible islands of public access land, under section 58 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
uin	HL3682
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2024 answer text <p>By default, the power to create new public rights of way to reach open access land sits with local highway and access authorities, for use in any particular case where they consider there is a need for such a way and that making an order is expedient. The local authority is normally best placed to make these judgements in the light of all the local circumstances on the ground. We are aware though that the original mapping exercise under the 2000 Act focused on capturing areas as open country or registered common land, rather than on whether there was any legal way for members of the public to reach mapped areas in order to enjoy open-air recreation on them. We also recognised in a previous answer on 17 January that not all downland was mapped satisfactorily under the original exercise, and it appears that inaccessible ‘islands’ occur especially on that land type at present. Natural England will consider both issues when reviewing the open access maps. We have committed to ensuring that these are reviewed by the statutory deadline of 1 January 2031.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 08/04/2024 15:10:42 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4297 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

1699317

registered interest
date	27/03/2024
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	Fertilisers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the regulation, or other oversight, of the sale of plant biostimulants, including consideration of their efficacy, safety and ecological impacts.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3653
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>The existing UK regulatory regime for the manufacture and placing of fertilisers on the market in the UK is fragmented and in need of modernisation. There are currently no specific requirements for plant biostimulants in domestic fertilisers legislation. However, Defra intends to improve on this by consolidating and streamlining the statute book and putting in place a conformity assessment framework for fertilisers. The framework will smooth the route to market for new and innovative products which are less polluting to the environment or are less resource intensive in their creation.</p><p>To support reform of fertilisers legislation Defra has funded a review of the evidence for the safe and effective use of plant biostimulants and a review of methods for evaluating methods for verifying the efficacy of plant biostimulants.</p><p>The potential impact of a chemical on plant health, including soil microbiomes is already considered, as appropriate, as part of HSE’s robust risk assessment process for pesticides and for biocides. In our regulatory programmes we do not assess the impacts of chemicals specifically on human and animal microbiomes and are not currently considering the introduction of such measures.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 12/04/2024 10:10:43 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1699318

registered interest
date	27/03/2024
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	Chemicals: Regulation
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 case for incorporating into pharmaceutical, pesticide and other chemical regulation consideration of impacts on human, animal, plant and soil microbiomes.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3654
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2024 answer text <p>The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) operates a robust programme of regulating and monitoring medicines to ensure patients have access to safe and effective medicines. While the microbiome is still an evolving field, the MHRA is working to further our understanding on the impact of pharmaceuticals on the microbiome. Experts in MHRA are leading on international efforts to improve understanding of this area, for example through the development of World Health Organisation reference reagents for the microbiome.</p><p> </p><p>The potential impact of a chemical on plant health, including soil microbiomes is already considered, as appropriate, as part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)’s robust risk assessment process for pesticides and for biocides.</p><p> </p><p>The legislation around veterinary medicines makes it clear that when considering the authorisation of antimicrobial substances for use in animals, there should be consideration of the impacts on the human, target animal, and environmental microbiomes, including plants and soils.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 09/04/2024 11:12:25 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle