Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the number of male incontinence bins in public toilets.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I fully recognise the importance of ensuring that all men have access to the facilities they need so that they can dispose of their sanitary waste in a safe and dignified way. The Government encourages local authorities to consider such provision in public toilets to support those who may need them. Officials are discussing the provision of sanitary bins in public toilets with other relevant departments to ensure we are doing all we can to support this to happen.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for the future work and responsibilities of Local Nature Partnerships.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I would like to thank all of those involved in Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs) for their ongoing work to date; it is hugely valuable. I am pleased to note that LNPs are, in most areas, playing a key role in the development of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs). It is also pleasing to see that some LNPs have formed, or reformed, for the purpose of contributing to the LNRS for their area (for example in Wiltshire).
This puts LNPs in a strong position to take an active role in delivery of the LNRSs when they are published. The Government is supportive of this and views partnership working as essential to their delivery, building on the momentum generated by responsible authorities in preparing LNRSs. The exact role of the LNP will vary from area to area, as LNPs are configured according to local circumstances.
LNPs have a track record of addressing other local concerns beyond the scope of the LNRS and I would encourage them to continue to do so.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to announce his decision on bathing water designation; and for what reason this announcement has been delayed.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The summary of responses and government response to the consultation on 27 proposed bathing water sites was published on GOV.UK on 13 May: Bathing waters: proposed designation of 27 new bathing waters in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The newly designated sites will be added to the list of bathing waters with effect from the 2024 bathing season. Defra received 10,962 responses to the consultation on designating these sites, and ensured the confirmation of designations was made before the start of the bathing season, which begins on 15 May.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much Natural England paid the Dorset Wildlife Trust for land in the last three years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England has not paid Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) for any land in the last three years.
Natural England’s Nutrient Mitigation Scheme (NMS) has recently purchased the rights to nutrient mitigation credits being created by DWT at Lyscombe Farm in Dorset. This £5m investment is securing mitigation for an estimated 3,700 homes, with costs to be fully recovered through the sale of these credits by the NMS to housing developers.
May. 18 2024
Source Page: £1m fund to help more councils combat fly-tippingAsked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the projected spend by (a) central and (b) local government is on Animal and Plant Health Agency inspectors in 2024-25.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) undertakes a very broad range of statutory inspections across Great Britain to protect animal, bee and plant health. These can relate to animal welfare, TB, biosecurity of (including pests, disease outbreaks and invasive species), trade or scientific research.
These inspections can be proactive (for example a bovine TB visit) or reactive (due to an outbreak). Direct staff and employers on costs for these inspection services are £44.7m. These costs are funded by Defra and the Devolved Administrations. APHA does not have inspectors funded by local government.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to lay the Windsor Framework (Non-Commercial Movement of Pet Animals) Regulations before Parliament.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is continuing to take forward work on the arrangements for the movement of pet animals under the Windsor Framework and will set out further detail in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve flood defences in North West Leicestershire constituency.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is investing £5.6 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. This investment includes a record £5.2 billion capital investment programme, a £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme, £170 million for economic recovery from flooding and over £30 million of funding for flood incident management.
In the £5.2 billion capital investment programme, funding is consistently distributed across the country wherever the risk is greatest and the benefits are highest. The Environment Agency administer this funding to maintain flood and coastal risk management (FCRM) assets across NW Leicestershire and is responsible the management of flood risk from watercourses designated Main River. They complete routine maintenance on assets with support from partners/contractors and this programme includes regular vegetation management, blockage removal and conveyance work to keep watercourses clear.
Packington was impacted by flooding in September 2023 and the Environment Agency are working with Leicestershire County Council (LCC) to assess what improvements can be made locally, such as improved flood warnings, property flood resilience (PFR) and natural flood management (NFM) mitigation measures.
A further 63 properties in the constituency were affected by flooding during Storm Babet in October 2023, and 43 impacted by Storm Henk in January 2024. In the current national 6-year programme, more than £0.5 million of government investment is planned by the Environment Agency to support schemes led by LCC at Breedon on the Hill, Diseworth & Long Whatton. Again, a variety of PFR, NFM and other flood alleviation measures will be utilised, aiming to better protect more than 60 properties.
The Environment Agency has also improved local flood modelling information and used this to work with developers to reduce flood risk in Ashby-de-la-Zouch.