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1306867

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government's commitment to increase tree planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025 set out in the England Tree Strategy consultation document published in June 2020, how many trees have been planted to date; whether those trees are (a) whips or (b) adult trees; where he plans to plant trees in the future; whether he plans to plant trees in Croydon; who will be responsible for maintaining those trees; and which Minister is accountable for that programme.
tabling member constituency	Croydon Central
tabling member printed	Sarah Jones
uin	178574
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2021 answer text <p>The Forestry Commission produces statistics on new planting of woodland for the UK. These are Official Statistics produced to meet the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics and can be found on the Forest Research web site together with background information at: <a href="https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/forestry-statistics/" target="_blank">https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/forestry-statistics/</a>. The statistics are produced annually and show recorded new planting from administrative records and grant schemes with estimates for planting without grant aid. It is assumed nearly all the trees newly planted are whips with small stems or relatively small planting stock rather than larger trees.</p><p>The most recent statistics show there was 13,660 hectares of new planting (woodland creation) in the UK in 2019-20, of which 2,340 hectares were in England. At least a further 842 hectares have been reported as newly planted between 1 April 2020 and 31 December 2020 in England.</p><p>In addition, the Urban Tree Challenge Fund supports the planting of larger, ‘standard’, trees outside of woodlands in England. The Fund supported the planting of 7,630 standard trees in 2019-20 and 11,839 standard trees in 2020-21. Of these, 734 were planted in Croydon.</p><p>Grant schemes are demand led so it is not generally possible to state where the trees will be newly planted, although a range of sensitivities will prevent permission to plant being granted in some locations. We are aware of plans to plant a further 66 standards trees in 2021-22 in Croydon supported by the Urban Tree Challenge Fund. Additional planting will be dependent on future applications.</p><p>The maintenance of new trees and woodland is usually the responsibility of the grant agreement holder and the grant award includes a contribution to costs to ensure successful establishment of the newly planted trees.</p><p>The Minister who has forestry in his portfolio and is accountable for the programme is Lord Goldsmith.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 20/04/2021 12:29:50 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4631 label Biography information for Sarah Jones

1306869

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
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	Avian Influenza: Disease Control
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 extending the date beyond 5 April 2021 on which Avian flu restrictions end for farmers and smallholders.
tabling member constituency	Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport
tabling member printed	Luke Pollard
uin	178580
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2021 answer text <p>The rules of the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) in England have been amended. The part requiring all birds to be housed was revoked at 23:59 on the 31 March 2021.</p><p> </p><p>All other biosecurity measures set out in the AIPZ remain a legal requirement until further notice. Bird gatherings also remain prohibited.</p><p> </p><p>Similar steps have been taken in Scotland and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>Our disease control and prevention decisions are based on risk assessments containing the latest scientific and ornithological evidence and veterinary advice and can be found on the gov.uk link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/avian-influenza-bird-flu-in-europe" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/avian-influenza-bird-flu-in-europe</a></p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 20/04/2021 13:13:35 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4682 label Biography information for Luke Pollard

1306903

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
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	Agriculture: Sustainable Development
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 steps he is taking to ensure that organic and similar agroecological farm systems are included as nature-based solutions to achieving net-zero.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh North and Leith
tabling member printed	Deidre Brock
uin	178632
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2021 answer text <p>The Government is committed to take action to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impact. Environmentally sustainable farming is fundamental to our new approach to England's agricultural system. We are introducing three schemes that reward the delivery of environmental benefits: The Sustainable Farming Incentive, the Local Nature Recovery scheme and the Landscape Recovery scheme.</p><p> </p><p>The three schemes are being designed collaboratively with stakeholders. We are considering how more environmentally sustainable farming approaches, including organic farming and agro-ecological approaches, may fit within the schemes where these contribute towards the delivery of environmental public goods. While designing the three schemes, we are running tests and trials. The tests and trials will co-design the component parts of the schemes, while the scheme pilots will test the whole end-to-end process. Two of the tests and trials are looking at organic farming. While we do not use tests and trials to validate if specific delivery methods achieve particular environmental outcomes, the pilots will pay farmers and land managers for delivering environmental outcomes.</p><p> </p><p>Defra plays a key role in supporting emissions reduction by providing scientific advice and evidence and all our publicly funded research is published as standard practice. Systems assessments of the role of organic and other extensified farming approaches in reducing greenhouse gas emissions have concluded that although such practices can reduce emissions at farm level, comparatively lower typical yields mean that, for a given level of demand, such systems do not consistently lead to reduced emissions compared to more conventional systems. Despite this, these systems can provide wider welfare and environmental benefits, for example through increasing biodiversity. The Government believes farmers are best placed to determine the best method of farming for their land and specific circumstances. While this is a private business decision, we encourage environmentally friendly farming through numerous routes which includes organics.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 178636 question first answered 20/04/2021 12:13:51 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4417 label Biography information for Deidre Brock

1306905

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
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	Agriculture: Sustainable Development
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, if he will publish any assessment he has made of the potential for organic and other agroecological farm systems to achieve the UK’s nature-based climate change targets.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh North and Leith
tabling member printed	Deidre Brock
uin	178636
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2021 answer text <p>The Government is committed to take action to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impact. Environmentally sustainable farming is fundamental to our new approach to England's agricultural system. We are introducing three schemes that reward the delivery of environmental benefits: The Sustainable Farming Incentive, the Local Nature Recovery scheme and the Landscape Recovery scheme.</p><p> </p><p>The three schemes are being designed collaboratively with stakeholders. We are considering how more environmentally sustainable farming approaches, including organic farming and agro-ecological approaches, may fit within the schemes where these contribute towards the delivery of environmental public goods. While designing the three schemes, we are running tests and trials. The tests and trials will co-design the component parts of the schemes, while the scheme pilots will test the whole end-to-end process. Two of the tests and trials are looking at organic farming. While we do not use tests and trials to validate if specific delivery methods achieve particular environmental outcomes, the pilots will pay farmers and land managers for delivering environmental outcomes.</p><p> </p><p>Defra plays a key role in supporting emissions reduction by providing scientific advice and evidence and all our publicly funded research is published as standard practice. Systems assessments of the role of organic and other extensified farming approaches in reducing greenhouse gas emissions have concluded that although such practices can reduce emissions at farm level, comparatively lower typical yields mean that, for a given level of demand, such systems do not consistently lead to reduced emissions compared to more conventional systems. Despite this, these systems can provide wider welfare and environmental benefits, for example through increasing biodiversity. The Government believes farmers are best placed to determine the best method of farming for their land and specific circumstances. While this is a private business decision, we encourage environmentally friendly farming through numerous routes which includes organics.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis grouped question UIN 178632 question first answered 20/04/2021 12:13:51 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4417 label Biography information for Deidre Brock

1306923

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
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	Hunting
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 extent of trail hunting on privately-owned land; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport
tabling member printed	Luke Pollard
uin	178570
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2021 answer text <p>This Government has not made any assessment of the extent of trail hunting on privately owned land. The Hunting Act 2004 bans hunting of wild mammals with dogs, except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act.</p><p> </p><p>This Government will not amend the Hunting Act. Trail hunting should not involve the pursuit of a live mammal, and if hounds do pick up the scent of a live fox during a trail hunt, it is the responsibility of the hunt staff to control the hounds and if necessary to stop them.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 20/04/2021 12:53:32 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4682 label Biography information for Luke Pollard

1306948

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
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	Environment Protection
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 promote the 2021 Great British Spring Clean campaign.
tabling member constituency	Chipping Barnet
tabling member printed	Theresa Villiers
uin	178620
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2021 answer text <p>The Government continues to use its influence to support national clear-up days, which help to empower and engage communities in tackling litter and to change attitudes towards littering.</p><p> </p><p>I recently spoke at the launch of Keep Britain Tidy’s 2021 Great British Spring Clean, encouraging as many people and businesses as possible to participate in the Great British Spring Clean, and committed to volunteer during the event. By doing so, we are setting the tone for the summer ahead, by showing that litter is not acceptable, and that people care deeply about protecting their local environment.</p><p> </p><p>We have published specific advice on our gov.uk website which states that voluntary litter picking can be carried out, and that groups must follow government guidance on staying safe outside the home. This can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-disposing-of-waste#litter-picking-during-coronavirus" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-disposing-of-waste#litter-picking-during-coronavirus</a></p><p> </p><p>Volunteers are always advised to use safety equipment, including thick gloves, litter-pickers and heavy-duty bags.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 178624 question first answered 15/04/2021 16:19:13 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1500 label Biography information for Theresa Villiers

1306949

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
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	Litter
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government's Roadmap out of lockdown, whether reaching the end of step one of that roadmap on 29 March 2021 means that voluntary litter-picks can take place where social distancing is observed.
tabling member constituency	Chipping Barnet
tabling member printed	Theresa Villiers
uin	178624
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2021 answer text <p>The Government continues to use its influence to support national clear-up days, which help to empower and engage communities in tackling litter and to change attitudes towards littering.</p><p> </p><p>I recently spoke at the launch of Keep Britain Tidy’s 2021 Great British Spring Clean, encouraging as many people and businesses as possible to participate in the Great British Spring Clean, and committed to volunteer during the event. By doing so, we are setting the tone for the summer ahead, by showing that litter is not acceptable, and that people care deeply about protecting their local environment.</p><p> </p><p>We have published specific advice on our gov.uk website which states that voluntary litter picking can be carried out, and that groups must follow government guidance on staying safe outside the home. This can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-disposing-of-waste#litter-picking-during-coronavirus" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-disposing-of-waste#litter-picking-during-coronavirus</a></p><p> </p><p>Volunteers are always advised to use safety equipment, including thick gloves, litter-pickers and heavy-duty bags.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 178620 question first answered 15/04/2021 16:19:13 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1500 label Biography information for Theresa Villiers

1306950

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
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	Keep Britain Tidy: 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, how much funding his Department has allocated to Keep Britain Tidy in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Chipping Barnet
tabling member printed	Theresa Villiers
uin	178625
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2021 answer text <p>In the last five years, no funding has been specifically allocated to Keep Britain Tidy, but it has successfully bid for a number of litter-related contracts:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Project</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Contract value awarded </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>Survey of roadside litter on trunk roads other than motorways</p></td><td><p>£79,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>Research into packaging design to reduce litter and littering</p></td><td><p>£8,993</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>Waterside Care community engagement project</p></td><td><p>£5,833</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-19</p></td><td><p>Economic valuation of the non-market benefits of dealing with specific types of litter that a Deposit Return Scheme in England would help to overcome</p></td><td><p>£41,525</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-20</p></td><td><p>Research into litter composition, including composition of dropped versus binned litter and brands of littered Items</p></td><td><p>£92,320</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-21</p></td><td><p>North West bathing waters programme</p></td><td><p>£30,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021-22</p></td><td><p>Macro plastic North West</p></td><td><p>£74,240</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Keep Britain Tidy has also been awarded the following grant funding towards delivery of national clear-up days and campaigns:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Grant </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016 (Clean for the Queen)</p></td><td><p>£9,500</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017 (Great British Spring Clean)</p></td><td><p>£10,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020 (Love Parks / Respect the Outdoors)</p></td><td><p>£30,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Defra has an annual contract with Keep Britain Tidy to host the National Fly-tipping Prevention Group’s (NFTPG) website: <a href="http://www.tacklingflytipping.com/" target="_blank">http://www.tacklingflytipping.com/</a></p><table><thead><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Contract value awarded</strong></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>£3,828</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>£3,828</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>£3,828</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>£3,903.60</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>£3,903.60*</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>*Awarded but not yet paid</p><p>In 2017, under the £450,000 Litter Innovation Fund, Keep Britain Tidy was awarded £39,717 across 4 grants. Full details are available at: <a href="http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/litter-innovation-fund" target="_blank">http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/litter-innovation-fund</a></p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 20/04/2021 12:48:32 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1500 label Biography information for Theresa Villiers

1306951

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
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	Paraquat: Exports
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of banning the export of (a) Gramoxone and (b) other paraquat based herbicides.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	178627
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2021 answer text <p>We take our international obligations for human health and the environment very seriously and continue to monitor action in other countries and learn from their experiences.</p><p> </p><p>The export of paraquat is regulated under the Great Britain Prior Informed Consent (PIC) regulatory regime for the export and import of certain hazardous chemicals. Companies intending to export any of these chemicals from Great Britain must notify the importing country via the exporter’s Designated National Authority. For Great Britain the Designated National Authority is the Health and Safety Executive.</p><p> </p><p>Paraquat additionally requires the explicit consent of the importing country before export can take place. The exchange of information that PIC provides allows the importing countries to make informed decisions on the import of those chemicals and on how to handle and use them safely.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 20/04/2021 12:01:27 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1307068

registered interest
date	12/04/2021
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	Fly-tipping and Litter
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 introducing auditable tracking for products and packaging to assist with the enforcement of rules on litter and flytipping.
tabling member constituency	Chipping Barnet
tabling member printed	Theresa Villiers
uin	178902
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2021 answer text <p>The Litter Strategy sets out how we intend to work with the relevant industries to tackle certain types of problematic litter, such as fast food packaging, and our Resources and Waste Strategy set our strategic approach to prevent, detect and deter waste crime, including fly-tipping.</p><p> </p><p>The Resources and Waste Strategy commits us to introducing mandatory electronic waste tracking, subject to consultation. This will help to ensure that waste is dealt with appropriately and will reduce the incidence of waste crime and fly-tipping.</p><p> </p><p>No formal assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing auditable tracking for packaging. However, exploratory discussions suggest that the burden on businesses and enforcement bodies, along with data protection issues, would mean the costs could outweigh the benefits of such a policy.</p><p> </p><p>We are exploring other measures to tackle littered packaging. Our recently published consultation on extended producer responsibility for packaging proposes that producers who make or handle consumer-facing packaging should fund the full net-costs associated with the packaging they place on the market once it becomes waste, including litter-related costs. We have also recently launched our consultation on the deposit return scheme, which will incentivise proper disposal of in-scope material by consumers. We will continue to engage with producers as these measures come forward.</p><p> </p><p>In recent years, to support local authorities in their enforcement, Defra has bolstered local authorities’ powers to tackle fly-tipping, such as by introducing the power to issue fixed penalty notices (including to householders who pass their waste to an unlicensed waste carrier) and to stop and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers. We have also introduced new powers to allow penalties to be issued to the keeper of a vehicle from which litter is thrown (recognising that it is often difficult to identify the individual who threw the litter), and published guidance on the use of enforcement powers for littering and related offences.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 15/04/2021 16:14:59 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1500 label Biography information for Theresa Villiers