Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation, including in relation to any changes to waste legislation.

With the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Home Office funds the National Wildlife Crime Unit, which provides intelligence, analysis and specialist assistance to individual police forces and other law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom that allows them to deal effectively with wildlife crime investigations, including cases that involve the illegal trading of ivory.

The Unit will provide briefing notes for all UK police forces with regards to the enforcement of any changes arising from the Government’s plans to ban the sale of any post-1947 worked ivory. The police may also receive expert advice about ivory from organisations such as the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Police and NCA are given appropriate training as their deployment requires.

The terms of the EU’s 2030 Clean Energy Package have only just been proposed by the Commission so it is too early to say what requirements will be agreed by Member States and the European Parliament. The extent to which the UK will be bound by the requirements of the EU 2030 framework will depend on the terms of the UK’s exit from the European Union. The UK’s action to tackle climate change is framed by the Climate Change Act, which is domestic legislation and therefore unaffected by the result of the referendum.

Promoting food and drink exports is a high priority for Government. Under the International Action Plan which ran from 2013, the Government supported over 4000 companies to secure more than £1bn of new exports. This helped exports for the sector to reach £18.2bn in 2015. A refreshed International Action Plan for Food and Drink was launched in October 2016 and will provide fresh impetus for the coming years.

While the UK is still a member of the EU, UK organisations can continue to bid directly to the European Commission, on a competitive basis, for EU funding. Even when specific projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU, such as universities participating in Horizon 2020.

Decisions for future support will be made following discussions between stakeholders, Treasury and other interested Government Departments.

Defra, the Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council and the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership are jointly providing a total of £100,000 over two years to co-ordinate the Food Innovation Network. We have appointed the Knowledge Transfer Network to carry out this coordinator role.

The aim of the Network is to connect small and medium-sized companies with the help, expertise and funding they need to innovate and thereby improve their productivity and competitiveness. This includes working with businesses in both rural and urban areas to raise their awareness of the support that is available and providing a website which makes information available to support business innovation and direct them to where they can access further support.. The Network will also pilot approaches at a local level to maximise ways to support rural companies.

Future support for the fishing industry has still to be determined. Decisions will be made following discussions between stakeholders, Treasury and those Government Departments with responsibility for delivering European Structural Fund programmes.

The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme and Sectors Based Scheme for agricultural and food production sectors were closed at the end of 2013 when the transitional employment restrictions applied to nationals of Bulgaria and Romania were lifted. Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force.

There are a number of options as to how EU migration might work once we have left. We are about to begin these negotiations and it would be wrong to set out further positions in advance. At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people.

The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible is if British citizens’ rights in European member states were not protected in return.

The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme and Sectors Based Scheme for agricultural and food production sectors were closed at the end of 2013 when the transitional employment restrictions applied to nationals of Bulgaria and Romania were lifted. Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force.

There are a number of options as to how EU migration might work once we have left. We are about to begin these negotiations and it would be wrong to set out further positions in advance. At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people.

The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible is if British citizens’ rights in European member states were not protected in return.

My Lords, the Courtauld Commitment 2025 is a very positive step. In the UK each year, there are 10 million tonnes of food and drink waste, around 70% of which is from households, and 1.9 million tonnes of food waste from households goes to landfill, compared with 2,000 tonnes from manufacturing. We need to work with WRAP and with industry and consumers to remedy this unacceptable situation. WRAP’s Love Food, Hate Waste campaign is directed towards consumers and is a key priority.

My Lords, Courtauld 2025 brings together all parts of the food system to reduce food waste, from farmer to producer and from retailer to consumer. It goes further than before, with targets to be reached by 2025 including a 20% reduction in UK food and drink waste. WRAP has established industry-led working groups to address key issues including reducing waste from fresh produce, meat protein, dairy, and the hospitality and food sector, and increasing surplus food redistribution.

Improving air quality is a priority for this Government and we are determined to cut harmful emissions.

The Government is considering next steps in light of both the High Court judgment and recent updates in data on emissions from diesel vehicles and we will set out further measures next year.

Our plans have always followed the best available evidence and we have always been clear that we are ready to update them if necessary. We can now confirm a timetable for updating our plans next year and further improving the nation’s air quality. We will consult on a revised air quality plan by 24 April 2017 and publish a final plan by 31 July 2017.

Local authorities are responsible for reviewing and assessing local air quality, including decisions on local air quality monitoring. Their local knowledge and interaction with the communities that they serve mean that they know the issues on the ground in detail and the solutions that are best suited to local circumstances.

Defra provides guidance, including helpdesk advice, to local authorities on the appropriate type of monitoring to install. Where local authorities conduct air quality monitoring, they are expected to site monitors in accordance with local and national priorities, which may include schools and other locations where there is high risk of exposure.

Improving air quality is a priority for this Government and we are determined to cut harmful emissions.

The Government is considering next steps in light of both the High Court judgment and recent updates in data on emissions from diesel vehicles and we will set out further measures next year.

Our plans, which include national and local measures for all 38 zones and Clean Air Zones in the areas of greatest challenge, have always followed the best available evidence and we have always been clear that we are ready to update them if necessary. We can now confirm a timetable for updating our plans next year and further improving the nation’s air quality. We will consult on a revised air quality plan by 24 April 2017 and publish a final plan by 31 July 2017.

Local authorities report their spend on flood recovery every fortnight. At the end of October, 40 per cent of grants available under the Communities and Business Recovery Scheme had been allocated to households and communities, and 60 per cent to businesses. This excludes grants of up to £5,000 being made available to both commercial and residential properties under the Property Level Resilience Scheme.

My Lords, perhaps I should say to the noble Baroness that, in fact, Flood Re does include leaseholders for up to three flats and contents insurance, but above three flats it becomes a commercial policy. So in point of fact there are permutations to the scheme. I want to emphasise that Flood Re is an industry-owned and managed not-for-profit reinsurer; it pools the risk of flood claims and is targeted, with a subsidy, to lower-income households.

Funding is being allocated on a case-by-case basis to support evidenced local need.

Good progress is being made on the implementation of the National Flood Resilience Review (NFRR) recommendations. All infrastructure companies have completed their initial assessments of their vulnerable sites for suitability for temporary flood defences and as a result companies are investing heavily in resilience measures to ensure continuity of supply this winter. This includes putting in place or having deployment plans for temporary defences, and other contingency measures such as rezoning of water supplies and the use of mobile telecommunications cells to reduce the risk of disruptions of services. Further to this, the Government is working with utility companies to improve permanent defences in the longer term.

Coordination of flooding policy is a high priority across Government with a number of Departments responsible for delivering actions arising from the NFRR. As such an inter-Ministerial group has been established to oversee flooding policy, including the implementation of the NFRR.

Good progress is being made on the implementation of the National Flood Resilience Review (NFRR) recommendations. All infrastructure companies have completed their initial assessments of their vulnerable sites for suitability for temporary flood defences and as a result companies are investing heavily in resilience measures to ensure continuity of supply this winter. This includes putting in place or having deployment plans for temporary defences, and other contingency measures such as rezoning of water supplies and the use of mobile telecommunications cells to reduce the risk of disruptions of services. Further to this, the Government is working with utility companies to improve permanent defences in the longer term.

Coordination of flooding policy is a high priority across Government with a number of Departments responsible for delivering actions arising from the NFRR. As such an inter-Ministerial group has been established to oversee flooding policy, including the implementation of the NFRR.