The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation and other support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered.

We do not publicly comment on individual sites which may or may not be utilised. When a site becomes available and meets the requirements of our accommodation contract, we will follow our engagement process and notify local authority officials and other stakeholders in advance of using the location.

The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation and other support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered.

We do not publicly comment on individual sites which may or may not be utilised. When a site becomes available and meets the requirements of our accommodation contract, we will follow our engagement process and notify local authority officials and other stakeholders in advance of using the location.

The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation and other support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered.

We do not publicly comment on individual sites which may or may not be utilised. When a site becomes available and meets the requirements of our accommodation contract, we will follow our engagement process and notify local authority officials and other stakeholders in advance of using the location.

Defra Ministers have had a number of meetings with those who live and work in the area, including representative of the South Tees Development Corporation. The independent Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel (CMEP) published its report in January 2023 and it is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/panel-of-independent-experts-publish-findings-into-crab-deaths. In their independent investigation, the CMEP assessed land-based sources of contaminants as potential factors in the unusual crustacean mortality event along the north-east coast of England in 2021 and 2022. The panel concluded that a novel pathogen was about as likely as not to have caused the crustacean mortality.

The work referenced in the report by the Chief Executive of the South Tees Devel-opment Corporation, published on 16 December 2021, relates to the redevelopment of South Bank Quay. This work was set out and approved as part of a local authority planning permission, which would have specifically detailed the site remediation plans within a remediation strategy. The Environment Agency did not input into this planning process. Under the Planning Regime, it is the responsibility of the Local Planning Au-thority to ensure that issues such as land contamination and risks to controlled waters are addressed appropriately by the developer. This includes ensuring that remediation activities if required are undertaken by the developer and that there are no remaining unacceptable risks posed to the environment as part of the proposed development.

The work referenced in the report by the Chief Executive of the South Tees Development Corporation, published on 16 December 2021, relates to the redevelopment of South Bank Quay. This work was set out and approved as part of a local authority planning permission, which would have specifically detailed the site remediation plans within a remediation strategy. The Environment Agency did not input into this planning process. This is because, using a risk based approach, this planning application was screened out of the Environment Agency’s Planning Screening Tool. Under the Planning Regime, it is the responsibility of the Local Planning Authority to ensure that issues such as land contamination and risks to controlled waters are addressed appropriately by the developer. This includes ensuring that remediation activities if required are undertaken by the developer and that there are no remaining unacceptable risks posed to the environment as part of the proposed development.

The Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel (CMEP) considered land-based sources of toxins in their independent report and their conclusions reflect this consideration. The CMEP has been stood down, but the Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Gideon Henderson, is now consulting with relevant experts who served on the CMEP about the specifics detailed in the South Tees Development Corporation report, to check these specifics do not alter the conclusions of the report.

Defra is not progressing any further investigative work into the presence of pyridine in the River Tees at this time. We are however finalising the development and validation of a detection method to reliably quantify the amounts of pyridine in crab tissues. Once completed, we will use this test to assess the levels of pyridine in environmental crab tissues associated with the impacted and non-impacted areas, to better understand the significance of pyridine in crustacea, including the potential for its endogenous production post-mortem.

The Government Chief Scientific Adviser has conveyed an independent external expert panel to review all the scientific evidence relating to this issue and report published on Friday 20 January

Defra scientists continue to engage with the wider academic community with regard to ongoing research and development work into the ecological status of the Tees and the wider North Sea.

The expert panel announced in November has been convened and is made up of experts from outside government and its agencies, with representatives from over 10 leading marine science organisations. They will assess the evidence and consider all explanations for the mortality of crabs and lobsters that occurred in 2021, using all available data and informed by wider scientific research and expert opinions. The panel’s findings, and details of its membership and terms of reference, has now been published.

The Environment Agency carries out routine monitoring of water quality in the River Tees, which includes testing for Pyridine. Monthly samples are taken at 10 locations within the Tees Estuary and adjacent coastal waters.

The Tees South Bank Quay licence application required a full Environmental Impact Assessment under the Marine Work (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (2017) and Marine and Coastal Access Act (2009), which included an assessment of likely significant effects to fish ecology and fishery receptors. Various mitigation measures were stipulated on the licence and the full detail of the licensing and consultation process can be found on the MMO Public Register.

Meanwhile, the Marine Management Organisation uses internationally accepted guidelines including from The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic 1992 (OSPAR) to help inform its licensing decisions.

The UK is a contracting party to OSPAR, and OSPAR guidance is used to identify chemicals for testing. Pyridine is not routinely measured in sediment, and there are currently no plans to monitor for pyridine in sediments generally, including for dredge and disposal applications. Pyridine is not listed as a Chemical for Priority Action (contaminant of concern, based on persistency, liability to bioaccumulate, and toxicity) by either OSPAR (https://www.ospar.org/work-areas/hasec/hazardous-substances/priority-action) [copy attached to this answer] or the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

The MMO uses a weight of evidence approach to inform its decision making and, to date, there is no robust scientific evidence to suspend the marine licences for this work. The MMO have conducted marine licence inspections on the dredging works in question and following this they remain satisfied that the works are being conducted in line with the relevant marine licence(s). Inspections on the licenced activities will continue on a periodic basis throughout the length of the licence. The findings of the Expert Panel will steer consideration of further action.

Capital and maintenance dredging are common activities around the coast of England and have taken place on the Tees for many decades. The decisions on dredging methodologies and disposal of dredge material are fundamental to the continued operation of ports and associated industries. Requirements of dredging techniques may be entirely dependent on local conditions, and an assessment is made pre-determination as a part of the licensing process as to the type of dredging allowed to take place and any mitigation required is included as licence conditions.

Defra policies are evidence based and use the best scientific evidence available. A marine licence to dispose of dredged materials to sea requires the sediments to be characterised to allow the potential impact on the marine environment, including on marine life, to be considered. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is advised by Cefas on what sampling and testing should be carried out for each individual licence application. These requirements are tailored to the dredged site and depend on the local marine environment and any known sources of contamination or historic inputs in the area. Defra’s position on dredging in the mouth of the River Tees has not changed: Defra and its agencies have no current plans to pause dredging in the area.

Defra led a comprehensive investigation into the cause of dead crabs and lobsters that washed up on the North-East coast between October and December last year. HM Government scientists carried out extensive testing for chemicals and other pollutants including pyridine but concluded a naturally occurring algal bloom was the most likely cause.

We recognise the concerns in regard to dredging, but no evidence was found to suggest this was a likely cause. Before a marine licence can be granted to allow dredged sediment to be disposed, samples of dredge material must be tested, and they must meet high international standards protecting marine life before it is permitted to be disposed of at sea. If samples analysed for contaminants do not meet the standards, the disposal to sea of that material will not be licensed.

It has been incorrectly reported in the media that Defra scientists suggested that capital dredging for South Bank Quay should stop. Defra and its agencies have no current plans to pause dredging in the River Tees. The MMO makes licensing decisions based on the best available evidence. Powers under the Marine and Coastal Access Act (2009) can be triggered to suspend, vary or revoke the licence for certain reasons if information comes to light once a marine licence has been granted. These reasons include an increase in scientific knowledge relating to the environment or human health and must be based on robust evidence.

We welcome research carried out by universities around the high number of crab and lobster deaths that occurred in the North-East last year and are keen to review it in detail. As such, the Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority for the North-East contacted the researchers and asked for them to share their research in full with Defra and its agencies so that it can be considered carefully. We are yet to receive the data but will review it thoroughly when the researchers are able to share it. It is not possible for conclusions to be appropriately made by regulators, scientific advisors or policy makers without having access to the information in full.

My officials have been working with National Highways and TVCA in progressing the scheme development and to understand its wider potential merits, to allow me to make a balanced decisions against other priorities for roads funding. I understand that TVCA officials have appreciated the unique level of direct support National Highways and DfT have been providing to the TVCA team and that a final report is due by March 2023.

The Growth Plan sets out infrastructure projects which will be accelerated, aiming to get the majority into construction or under contract by the end of 2023. The scale of development work required for a project of the scale of the Tees Crossing means that is it not in that scope, but may be included in future schemes

The European Chemicals Agency states that pyridine is not considered persistent, toxic, and likely to bioaccumulate. It is also not considered a contaminant of concern for marine sediment under OSPAR (the convention for the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic), due to its high solubility in water. On this basis, pyridine is not routinely tested for in the same way as other, recognised contaminants of concern. A substance likely to be pyridine was detected in crab tissue as part of the 2021 mortality incident investigation. However, the method used is not validated for tissue detection and so the numerical results are not conclusive. Research is ongoing to validate a method of tissue detection which will then confirm the concentrations of pyridine observed.

There is very limited potential for pyridine to be present within species for human consumption due to its low likelihood to bioaccumulate.

The Environment Agency routinely carries out a surveillance programme of monthly water samples in the Tees estuary. Monitoring data also exist for contaminants in blue mussels, fish, and sediments, as well as in the receiving waters of permitted water discharges.

The environmental samples collected as part of the investigation into recent crab and lobster mortalities have been considered against historic data for the Tees. Data and findings have fed in to a wider Defra-led investigation and have been reported via stakeholder briefings and within the final investigation report, available here (www.gov.uk/government/publications/joint-agency-investigation-into-teesside-and-yorkshire-coast-crab-and-lobster-mortalities). The Environment Agency data are also published as Open Data, available here (://environment.data.gov.uk/water-quality/view/landing).

All applications, decisions and supporting documentation associated with licensed dredging activity are published on the Marine Licensing public register. This includes the results of sampling and testing undertaken in accordance with international guidance developed to ensure this activity does not harm marine life.