My Lords, we now come to another aspect of air quality. I move Amendment 152 with a strong feeling of déjà vu. I and my cosignatories, whose support I very much appreciate, argued for a similar amendment to the Agriculture Bill a few months ago. The Committee will recall that the House agreed that amendment. Regrettably, the House of Commons, advised by the Government, did not and rejected it. Ministers’ reasons for rejecting it were partly on the grounds that it would be better considered in an Environment Bill. So, here we are.
I never quite understood the Ministers’ argument since the application of pesticides is surely a matter of agricultural practice, and the amendment was and is about the impact of that practice on human health and well-being. It obviously also has implications for the environment and for biodiversity. I certainly argue the case on both those grounds, but centrally this is about for human health: the health of residents and others in danger of ingesting or touching pesticides because they are close to where crops are being sprayed. Those who are frequently close to, and often subject to repeated exposure from, multiple sprayings—in some cases over years, often of cocktails of pesticides—can develop severe illnesses. Anyhow, we now do have an Environment Bill, so I hope for a more positive line from Defra Ministers. I am encouraged by the fact that the noble Lord, Lord Goldsmith, is responding to this amendment.
5.45 pm
The health impacts of chemical pesticide ingestion and skin contact are well documented, here and around the world. We have medical records of exposure through contact with airborne pesticides causing chronic conditions, including in the respiratory, nervous and immune systems, and including cancers, reproductive problems and a range of other serious problems, as well as serious acute problems including damaged throats and vocal chords, chemical burns and rashes, asthma attacks, vomiting, violent headaches and nausea. In the past, these effects were recorded in the Government’s monitoring system, although the previous form of that system has apparently been dropped, for no obvious reason. The same symptoms are constantly brought to the attention of campaigners and local medical services. Indeed, the former chief scientist to Defra, Ian Boyd, spelled this out clearly in his approach to the use of pesticides worldwide.
In response to the amendment on the Agriculture Bill, the Government said two things. First, they said that the EU regulation of pesticide—now transposed into UK law—is the most stringent it the world. I am not sure on what criteria that is based; more than 2,000 pesticides are authorised in this country, and they are often in cocktails of pesticides whose net effect is not very clear and has not gone through that authorisation process. Secondly, they argue that the government-backed pest management approach is developing and becoming more effective, and will solve any remaining problems.
We have had a consultation on the action plan on pesticides, and I regret to say that I do not think it goes far enough. As I have expressed before, I have had misgivings about the nature of our pesticide regulation at both EU and UK level since I was a Minister. I fear that government departments and the industry are far too close on this issue. There is a major gap in all authorisations when they relate to tests on single chemicals and their effects, when pesticides are, by and large, applied to crops and orchards in combination. That has not properly been assessed. It may well be that our system is better than in many other parts of the world—in Brazil, China, or even in the USA or Australia, whose products we are now on the verge of accepting—but it does not do enough to protect the interests and the health of rural residents.
Integrated pest management includes some important guidance for growers and farmers to improve efficiency and targeting, and hence reduce the total volume of inorganic chemical pesticides and exposure. But there is no focus in that on vulnerable populations in our rural communities. Although there are references in codes of practice to notification of residents and occupiers of adjacent premises, those neither have the backing of law nor require full disclosure of the type of pesticide being sprayed. In practice, that notification often does not occur, and when it does the recipients of that notification do not have the details of what kind of pesticide or combination of pesticides is being sprayed near their premises.
The Government’s references to consultation and their current consultative document on the action plan do not really help. The paper, which went out for consultation, did not really mention rural residents, let alone propose any action except tightening up the code of practice, which, as I say, is not directly enforceable and is in general protective—rightly so—of farmers and farm workers who operate the pesticides, but not of residents and their families. Progress towards reducing drastically the use of chemical pesticides remains painfully slow. I therefore have some fundamental doubts about the totality of the strategy towards pesticides that the Government have adopted.
However, Amendment 152 itself is much more modest. It does not deal with the need to develop alternative methods in the longer term. It deals simply with the issue of reducing the exposure of rural residents, workers and citizens, meaning that it is key to the health of thousands of rural citizens and their children. It simply and straightforwardly calls for limited protection for rural residents in their homes and gardens and for others using schools and public spaces near to crop spraying, so that the incidence of crop spraying is moved well away from those places. It aims to get the Government to regulate a safe—or at least safer—distance between crop spraying and residences, public buildings and public spaces. The amendment only calls on the House to accept that principle, and leaves it to the Government to come forward with regulation. The principle is that there should be a distance between rural dwellings and institutions and the spraying of crops and orchards. It leaves much to the Government. The regulations are not prescribed in any detail in the amendment; neither is the distance required. That will be a matter for consultation with all parties and for taking note of the science. The drafting of the regulations is, therefore, in the hands of the Government, subject to that consultation in which all parties, the agricultural interests in particular, will have their say—as will, crucially, the residents themselves.
During the passage of the Agriculture Act, I quoted a range of residents and others who have suffered or whose families have suffered from exposure to pesticides. They were pretty intense quotes, revealing real distress and illness. I could read them all out again today—I have them here—but I think the point has been made. This Bill needs to have room for this amendment. It is a massive Bill. It is about the environment, so let us remember that the excessive use of chemical pesticides is damaging also to vital pollinators—as Amendment 254 seeks to address—to biodiversity generally and to the soil, water quality and the air.
The Bill is also about people and the dangers to those who live and work in our countryside. I fear that government departments—such as the European Food Safety Authority beforehand—claim that there is a low incidence of serious disease from pesticides because they rely on occupational health standards. However, farmers, farm workers and park staff are required under health and safety regulations to wear protective clothing, masks and gloves. It is true that they did not always observe those rules historically, but they generally do today. Of course, there are warnings on virtually all pesticide products about their toxicity and the danger of touching or exposure, so the users are well aware that they have to wear protective clothing and be very careful when spraying.
This is a key issue of air quality in our countryside. We have just debated a whole group on air quality; I strongly support the direction in which we are going on that. We are rightly proposing legally binding targets; monitoring and limits for exposure to particulates from vehicles and elsewhere; a whole new regime for air quality emissions from vehicles; manufacturing standards; traffic management approaches; and many controls on other sources of pollution. Poor air quality is a real threat to the health of residents and pedestrians, but those residents and pedestrians at risk are mainly in our urban and suburban areas.
We also rightly have detailed regulations on pesticide and fungicide residue on the fruits and vegetables that reach our shops and markets. So, under this Bill and other measures, the urban population is to be more protected; farm workers are largely protected by the H&S requirements; and consumers of the products are protected. However, those who live and work closest to the growing of crops, and are therefore exposed most frequently and on a more long-term basis, are hardly protected at all. Pesticide exposure causes similar diseases and afflictions to those caused by vehicular and other emissions. It is wrong that our rural population should not be equally protected. The simplest and most effective improvement in protection in the immediate term is to prohibit spraying near their homes, schools, gardens and open places. I beg to move.