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1185890

registered interest
date	17/03/2020
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	Supermarkets: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with supermarket representatives on dedicated shopping times for pensioners during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Southampton, Itchen
tabling member printed	Royston Smith
uin	30899
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2020 answer text <p>We are working closely across Government, with representatives of the food supply chain and with local authorities and charities to ensure that everyone will have continued access to food.</p><p> </p><p>To help industry respond to this unprecedented demand we have introduced new measures to keep the food supply flowing. We have issued guidance to local authorities to allow extended delivery hours to supermarkets so that shelves can be filled up more quickly, and we have implemented extensions to drivers’ hours. We are also temporarily relaxing certain elements of competition law to ensure retailers are able to collaborate effectively in the national interest, for example by sharing distribution depots and delivery vans.</p><p> </p><p>Supermarkets are recruiting more staff and limiting shopping hours so they have more time to restock. Some supermarkets are also prioritising delivery slots for those that need them most, including the elderly. They are working hard to deliver a crucial service to us all and have also issued a rallying call for everyone to play their part in the national effort to this response by looking out for their friends, family and neighbours. We will continue to work with industry to discuss any additional support government can provide.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is working to ensure that up to 1.5 million people in England identified by the NHS as being at higher risk of severe illness if they contract Coronavirus will have access to the food they need. A new Local Support System will make sure those individuals self-isolating at home and who are without a support network of friends and family will receive basic food and essential supplies. The Government is working with a partnership of the food industry, local government, local resilience forums and emergency partners, and voluntary groups, to ensure that essential items can start to be delivered as soon as possible to those who need it.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 30900 question first answered 26/03/2020 17:39:55 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4478 label Biography information for Royston Smith

1185892

registered interest
date	17/03/2020
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	Supermarkets: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the decision of supermarkets to offer dedicated shopping times for pensioners during the coivid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Southampton, Itchen
tabling member printed	Royston Smith
uin	30900
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2020 answer text <p>We are working closely across Government, with representatives of the food supply chain and with local authorities and charities to ensure that everyone will have continued access to food.</p><p> </p><p>To help industry respond to this unprecedented demand we have introduced new measures to keep the food supply flowing. We have issued guidance to local authorities to allow extended delivery hours to supermarkets so that shelves can be filled up more quickly, and we have implemented extensions to drivers’ hours. We are also temporarily relaxing certain elements of competition law to ensure retailers are able to collaborate effectively in the national interest, for example by sharing distribution depots and delivery vans.</p><p> </p><p>Supermarkets are recruiting more staff and limiting shopping hours so they have more time to restock. Some supermarkets are also prioritising delivery slots for those that need them most, including the elderly. They are working hard to deliver a crucial service to us all and have also issued a rallying call for everyone to play their part in the national effort to this response by looking out for their friends, family and neighbours. We will continue to work with industry to discuss any additional support government can provide.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is working to ensure that up to 1.5 million people in England identified by the NHS as being at higher risk of severe illness if they contract Coronavirus will have access to the food they need. A new Local Support System will make sure those individuals self-isolating at home and who are without a support network of friends and family will receive basic food and essential supplies. The Government is working with a partnership of the food industry, local government, local resilience forums and emergency partners, and voluntary groups, to ensure that essential items can start to be delivered as soon as possible to those who need it.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 30899 question first answered 26/03/2020 17:39:55 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4478 label Biography information for Royston Smith

1185202

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
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	Animal Welfare: Impact Assessments
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 potential merits of mandating Departments to undertake animal welfare impact assessments on policy that potentially affects sentient species.
tabling member constituency	Cynon Valley
tabling member printed	Beth Winter
uin	30189
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>The Government has committed to bringing in new laws on animal sentience. Any necessary changes required to domestic legislation will be made in a rigorous and comprehensive way after the transition period and will be brought forward when Parliamentary time allows. Defra is currently assessing how best to support Government departments in considering the welfare needs of sentient animals when they are developing and implementing Government policy.</p><p> </p><p>Defra engages with a wide range of stakeholders on a number of animal welfare issues, including animal sentience.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 29850 29851 30183 question first answered 19/03/2020 17:00:13 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4809 label Biography information for Beth Winter

1185203

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
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	Livestock: Animal Housing
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 potential merits of halting future farm payments to farms which operate caged systems.
tabling member constituency	Cynon Valley
tabling member printed	Beth Winter
uin	30190
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>The Government will build upon our world-leading animal welfare standards now that we have left the EU. We will do this in part by developing publicly funded schemes for English farmers to provide animal welfare enhancements beyond the regulatory baseline – ones that are valued by the public and not sufficiently provided by the market.</p><p> </p><p>We are currently considering different forms of scheme design. This could include a capital grants scheme for investments that are known to raise welfare and would help farmers move beyond our already world-class baseline standards. It could also include a payment-by-results scheme that makes ongoing payments for demonstrable and evidence-based welfare increases. These could relate to improving animal welfare in relation to confinement (e.g. the use of cages and crates), to the provision of enrichments, to mutilations (e.g. beak trimming and tail docking), and to animals’ ability to exhibit natural behaviours (including behaviours in their right settings).</p><p> </p><p>Animal welfare enhancements will be evidence based, clearly defined, measurable, have positive impacts on animal health and welfare. We will work with industry, retailers and welfare groups and the Animal Welfare Committee as we continue to develop these proposals.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 19/03/2020 17:03:15 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4809 label Biography information for Beth Winter

1185242

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
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	Deep Sea Mining
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 implications for his policies of the findings of Flora and Fauna International’s report entitled The Risks and Impacts of Deep Seabed Mining to Marine Ecosystems, published 12 March 2020.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	29893
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>The UK is implementing a precautionary principle to deep sea mining and has agreed not to sponsor or support the issuing of any exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems and strong and enforceable environmental standards are in place. We will consider the report and its findings as we continue to negotiate the deep sea mining regulations and the environmental standards and guidance currently being developed by the International Seabed Authority.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 24/03/2020 17:38:00 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1185247

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
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	Clean Air Zones: Software
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 that the software required to enforce clean air zones is available by 2021.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
uin	29995
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">The UK-wide Pollinator Monitoring Research Partnership was established with funding from Defra and the Scottish and Welsh Governments.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">The total cost over the three-year project period from 2016 to 2019 was £282,720.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">In-kind contributions from UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UK CEH) and other academic and voluntary organisations were also committed to the project, to a value of £201,804 (for example for staff time, data sharing, software). The monitoring work itself was co-ordinated by UK CEH.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">A follow-up project is now underway, building on the outcomes from this first one. Further details are available on the GOV.UK website at:</del></p><p><del class="ministerial"><a href="http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/" target="_blank">http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/</a></del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Government is working with a number of local authorities to put in place the digital infrastructure to support Clean Air Zones. The vehicle compliance checker launched earlier this year, with the payment portal launching in the summer. This will enable users to check if they may be charged to drive in a zone.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">Local authorities will be responsible for the enforcement of Clean Air Zones and the collection of any penalty payments arising.</ins></p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 24/03/2020 16:19:52 question first ministerially corrected 02/04/2020 14:46:59 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow previous answer version 14429 answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1185248

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
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	Clean Air Zones: Enforcement
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who will be responsible for collecting payments in relation to the enforcement of clean air zones.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
uin	29996
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>The UK-wide Pollinator Monitoring Research Partnership was established with funding from Defra and the Scottish and Welsh Governments.</p><p>The total cost over the three-year project period from 2016 to 2019 was £282,720.</p><p>In-kind contributions from UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UK CEH) and other academic and voluntary organisations were also committed to the project, to a value of £201,804 (for example for staff time, data sharing, software). The monitoring work itself was co-ordinated by UK CEH.</p><p>A follow-up project is now underway, building on the outcomes from this first one. Further details are available on the GOV.UK website at:</p><p><a href="http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/" target="_blank">http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/</a></p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 29995 question first answered 24/03/2020 16:19:52 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1185249

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
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	Clean Air Zones: 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, if he will allocate additional funding to support the introduction of clean air zones.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
uin	29997
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to bringing roadside nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>) concentrations within legal limits in the shortest possible time. That is why the Chancellor recently announced an additional £304 million to enable local authorities to take action to reduce nitrogen dioxide levels, including implementing clean air zones. This brings the total amount of funding committed to tackling NO<sub>2</sub> to £880 million.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 24/03/2020 16:29:11 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1185271

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
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	Deep Sea Mining
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 effect on levels of biodiversity of the exploration and exploitation of seabed minerals by methods used in deep sea mining.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	29900
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>Defra is investigating the risks and environmental effects of deep sea mining through a cross-Government working group including the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The working group is supported by input from the National Oceanography Centre, Natural History Museum and British Geological Survey who are involved in a number of ongoing academic projects considering the impacts of deep sea mining. In addition, FCO and Defra commissioned a workshop in 2019 which brought together UK universities, industry and consultancies involved in the assessment of deep sea mining activities, to share information, progress and research findings. The outputs of these discussions are being used to inform the UK’s input into the development of regulations, standards and guidelines at the International Seabed Authority (ISA).</p><p> </p><p>The UK implements a precautionary principle to deep sea mining and has agreed not to sponsor or support the issuing of any exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems and strong and enforceable environmental standards have been developed by the ISA and are in place.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 24/03/2020 16:12:52 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1185273

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
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	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 support circular economy approaches to reduce the demand of raw primary materials.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	29902
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>The Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy published in December 2018, sets out how we will reduce the demand for primary raw materials by moving from a make, take and throw society towards a more circular economy. It adopts a holistic approach covering the full product lifecycle from production, to consumption, to end of life.</p><p>To keep products in circulation for longer we are taking steps through the Environment Bill, seeking powers to: require products to be designed to be durable, repairable, and recyclable; require provision of information as to products in that respect; and use extended producer responsibility schemes in a way that incentivises more resource efficient design.</p><p>The Environment Bill also includes powers to enable us to deliver on other commitments in the Strategy which will improve the quantity and quality of the materials we recycle. These include commitments on extended producer responsibility; implementation of a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers; and introduction of consistent recycling collections across the country. Government is also taking steps to directly reduce demand for primary materials through a new tax on plastic packaging - from April 2022, manufacturers and importers will be charged £200 per tonne on packaging made of less than 30% recycled content.</p><p>To make further progress with taking action up the waste hierarchy, we are developing proposals, on which we will consult, for a new Waste Prevention Programme for England, aimed at supporting reuse, repair, and remanufacture.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 24/03/2020 16:18:17 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord