Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1697526

registered interest
date	20/03/2024
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	Marine Protected Areas: Fishing Vessels
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 assessment his Department has made of the impact of bottom trawling on Marine Protected Areas.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	19585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Slough, on 6 July 2023, PQ UIN <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fquestions-statements.parliament.uk%2Fwritten-questions%2Fdetail%2F2023-07-03%2F192154&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Cdac54863fba24d48038208dc4a6be6c4%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638467074492201131%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=nbEwrdsKwNLFSHEQ4zuns6s8ls%2FfZj7qZFrJ%2BMKF46k%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">192154</a>.</p><p> </p><p>A byelaw restricting the use of bottom trawling in 13 Marine Protected Areas mentioned in that answer came into force on 22 March 2024.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 26/03/2024 13:17:54 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1697527

registered interest
date	20/03/2024
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	Fishing Vessels: Regulation
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 take steps to prohibit bottom trawling.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	19586
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>Bottom trawls are used by all parts of the fishing fleet, from small day boats to large offshore vessels. In 2021, fishing with bottom towed gears in the UK Exclusive Economic Zone by the UK fleet represented approximately 30% of the total tonnage, by value this was 45%. The economic importance to coastal communities varies, but there are significant trawler fleets in the South West of England. There is currently no commercially viable replacement for bottom trawling to catch the high-value species targeted (e.g. cod, haddock, scallops). There is work underway to progressively address the environmental effects of bottom trawling, working alongside the fishing industry, academia, and other stakeholders including through Fisheries Management Plans, the first of which were published in December 2024. The issue needs to be approached carefully to ensure the environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainability are balanced.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 26/03/2024 13:29:08 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1697528

registered interest
date	20/03/2024
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	Marine Protected Areas: Territorial Waters
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 merits of classifying all territorial waters as Marine Protected Areas.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	19587
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2024 answer text <p>The UK has signed up to the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 (30by30 target). Domestically, we have designated a comprehensive network of MPAs covering 40% of English waters, based on recommendations from our scientific advisors (Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee). Our priority is to ensure all sites are managed appropriately to meet our statutory MPA target.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 28/03/2024 12:58:39 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1697532

registered interest
date	20/03/2024
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	Marine Protected Areas
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 discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the effectiveness of regulations on the quality of Marine Protected Areas.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	19588
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 23/04/2024 14:22:07 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1697131

registered interest
date	19/03/2024
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	Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023
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 progress his Department has made on producing a draft list of proscribed activities for application under the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	19304
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2024 answer text <p>The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.</p><p> </p><p>Future decisions on which specific animal activities will fall in scope of the advertising ban will be evidence-based and subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Sufficient, compelling evidence will be required to demonstrate why any specific advertising ban is needed.</p><p> </p><p>This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority and we are currently exploring a number of options to ensure progress as soon as is practicable<em>.</em></p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer grouped question UIN 19305 question first answered 22/03/2024 12:48:45 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1697132

registered interest
date	19/03/2024
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	Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023
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 his Department's timescale is for publishing a public consultation on potential proscribed activities in relation to the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	19305
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2024 answer text <p>The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.</p><p> </p><p>Future decisions on which specific animal activities will fall in scope of the advertising ban will be evidence-based and subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Sufficient, compelling evidence will be required to demonstrate why any specific advertising ban is needed.</p><p> </p><p>This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority and we are currently exploring a number of options to ensure progress as soon as is practicable<em>.</em></p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer grouped question UIN 19304 question first answered 22/03/2024 12:48:45 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1696323

registered interest
date	14/03/2024
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	Animals (Low-welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023
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 on implementing the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	18691
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2024 answer text <p>The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.</p><p> </p><p>Future decisions on which specific animal activities will fall in scope of the advertising ban will be evidence-based and subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Sufficient, compelling evidence will be required to demonstrate why any specific advertising ban is needed.</p><p> </p><p>This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority and we are currently exploring a number of options to ensure progress as soon as is practicable<em>.</em></p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 19/03/2024 15:24:50 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1641564

registered interest
date	02/06/2023
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	Deposit Return Schemes: Glass
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 it her policy to include glass in the planned Deposit Return Scheme.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	187143
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2023 answer text <p>Glass bottles will not be captured by DRS in England and Northern Ireland as the respective governments believe the addition of glass will add additional complexity and challenges to delivery of DRS in particular to the hospitality and retail sectors, as well as additional consumer inconvenience. Given concerns raised on managing glass in a DRS, delivery of the scheme will focus on plastic bottles and aluminium/steel cans in England and Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p><p>In England and Northern Ireland, glass drinks bottles will be in scope of the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging scheme as will all other types of glass packaging placed on the market in all nations. EPR will place recycling targets on producers in relation to all glass packaging and require relevant obligated producers to cover the costs of collecting and managing glass packaging arising in household waste and discarded in street bins managed by local authorities.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 07/06/2023 09:13:15 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1623250

registered interest
date	24/04/2023
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	Tree Felling
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 estimate of the number of (a) (i) ash and (ii) other trees that were felled to help tackle ash dieback and (b) ash trees that have died from ash dieback in the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	182262
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2023 answer text <p>Forestry is a devolved matter and so this answer is for England only. The Forestry Commission issues felling licences under its regulatory powers in the Forestry Act 1967 for trees to be legally felled. The Government does not collect data on the number of individual trees that have been felled, including those affected by ash dieback. Estimating the number of trees affected by ash dieback would be challenging as felling licence applications are assessed based on intent. It is also possible that there are trees which have been affected by ash dieback which are exempt from felling regulations. This includes those presenting an immediate risk to public safety.</p><p> </p><p>Forest Research, the research agency of the Forestry Commission, in collaboration with Fera, does publish a heat map of areas most affected by ash dieback. This is available at <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchalaramap.fera.co.uk%2F&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Ca1aeb95013594736f48a08db46210b79%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638180879981240575%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=AkiAJUCNIiz9AF6FaG35feyOa0XakpyAxsnZXqHXFUI%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://chalaramap.fera.co.uk/</a></p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 27/04/2023 13:16:23 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1610103

registered interest
date	14/04/2023
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	Faroe Islands: Whales
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 her Department is taking to push for the abolition of whale hunting in the Faroe Islands.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	180236
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2023 answer text <p>The UK is strongly opposed to the hunting of any cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), other than some limited activities by indigenous people for clearly defined purposes. We believe that the hunting of cetaceans is unacceptably cruel and that well-managed, responsible tourism is the only truly sustainable interaction with these animals.</p><p> </p><p>While we recognise there is a long tradition in the Faroe Islands of killing pilot whales and dolphins for meat and other products, we have long expressed our concern over the welfare and sustainability aspects of the Faroese cetacean hunts and the levels of domestic regulation currently in place. We have urged the Faroe Islands to look at alternatives to the hunting of cetaceans, encouraging them to consider the many economic and social benefits that responsible cetacean watching can bring to coastal communities. Most recently, during the Joint Committee on Trade with the Faroe Islands earlier this year, we raised the UK’s opposition to the continued hunting of cetaceans in the Faroe Islands on both animal welfare and conservation grounds.</p><p> </p><p>We also work through multilateral agreements to condemn these hunts. This includes leading the drafting of a letter from the ASCOBANS (Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North-East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas) Advisory Committee to the Faroese Government. In addition, at the recent IWC meeting in October 2022, the UK Commissioner made clear the UK’s ongoing concerns about small cetacean hunts in the Faroe Islands.</p><p>The Government will continue advocating at every appropriate opportunity for the end of cetacean hunts in the Faroe Islands.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 19/04/2023 11:59:43 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma