Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has plans to develop a national plan for inner city trees.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
In November 2018, the Secretary of State announced that we will launch a national Tree Strategy for England. The Tree Strategy will set out the Government’s vision for the sector for the years to come and will aim to cover both rural and urban areas. The Strategy will set out how we intend to use a natural capital approach to forestry to maximise the benefits trees can provide such as carbon sequestration, increasing biodiversity and improving water and air quality.
We aim to publish the Tree Strategy in 2020 following a broad and open-ended consultation to maximise sectoral engagement and gauge ambition outside of Government.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has plans to develop a national plan for inner city trees.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 25 July 2017 to Questions 5342, 5394, 5395 and 5396, what the reasons are for the time taken by the Environment Agency to deal with the site operated by Rowan Oak Waste at Shaw Road in Dudley.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Environment Agency revoked the operator’s permit in April 2016 and served notice against the operator to clear the site by 16 September 2016. When the operator failed to clear the site the Environment Agency started a formal investigation to take firm enforcement action against the operator.
Investigations at this level can take some time to complete as the Environment Agency wants to build the best and strongest case against an offender, particularly if an investigation is complex as for the site operated by Rowan Oak Waste at Shaw Road in Dudley. During the investigation the Environment Agency has also been working hard to get the landowner to take responsibility for clearing the waste. By 5 September 2017, 290 tonnes of waste have been removed with the Environment Agency making sure that all waste leaving the site is disposed of legitimately.
The case is currently being reviewed by the Environment Agency legal team and once this review has been completed the Environment Agency will be taking the next step towards appropriate enforcement action against the operator.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 25 July 2017 to Questions 5342, 5394, 5395 and 5396, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Environment Agency in dealing with the site operated by Rowan Oak Waste at Shaw Road in Dudley; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Environment Agency revoked the operator’s permit in April 2016 and served notice against the operator to clear the site by 16 September 2016. When the operator failed to clear the site the Environment Agency started a formal investigation to take firm enforcement action against the operator.
Investigations at this level can take some time to complete as the Environment Agency wants to build the best and strongest case against an offender, particularly if an investigation is complex as for the site operated by Rowan Oak Waste at Shaw Road in Dudley. During the investigation the Environment Agency has also been working hard to get the landowner to take responsibility for clearing the waste. By 5 September 2017, 290 tonnes of waste have been removed with the Environment Agency making sure that all waste leaving the site is disposed of legitimately.
The case is currently being reviewed by the Environment Agency legal team and once this review has been completed the Environment Agency will be taking the next step towards appropriate enforcement action against the operator.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 25 July 2017 to Questions 5342, 5394, 5395 and 5396, what the reasons are for the time taken by the Environment Agency to deal with the site operated by Rowan Oak Waste at Shaw Road in Dudley.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Environment Agency revoked the operator’s permit in April 2016 and served notice against the operator to clear the site by 16 September 2016. When the operator failed to clear the site the Environment Agency started a formal investigation to take firm enforcement action against the operator.
Investigations at this level can take some time to complete as the Environment Agency wants to build the best and strongest case against an offender, particularly if an investigation is complex as for the site operated by Rowan Oak Waste at Shaw Road in Dudley. During the investigation the Environment Agency has also been working hard to get the landowner to take responsibility for clearing the waste. By 5 September 2017, 290 tonnes of waste have been removed with the Environment Agency making sure that all waste leaving the site is disposed of legitimately.
The case is currently being reviewed by the Environment Agency legal team and once this review has been completed the Environment Agency will be taking the next step towards appropriate enforcement action against the operator.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Environment Agency powers to tackle sites such as the site operated by Rowan Oak Waste at Shaw Road in Dudley.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
In 2015 the Government consulted on enhancing regulators’ powers to tackle non-compliance with waste regulations at sites operated under an environmental permit. A large majority of the respondents were supportive of the proposals, and of additional measures detailed as part of a call for evidence run alongside the consultation.
The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 were subsequently amended in 2015 to give the Environment Agency four new powers, including to suspend permits where the permit conditions are breached and to take steps to remove the risk of pollution at non-compliant sites. Further details are outlined in the Government response to that consultation: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/waste-crime-improving-enforcement-powers-to-reduce-persistent-non-compliance-at-waste-handling-sites.
The Government is currently finalising draft regulations which will give the Environment Agency the power to secure premises to prevent additional waste being deposited, and the power to require operators to remove all waste deposited at a non-compliant site, including waste deposited lawfully.
The Government is also developing proposals to provide the Environment Agency with more powers to assess the competence of waste operators. This assessment would apply to existing and prospective waste operators, and could therefore lead to refusal of new environmental permits, and revocation of existing permits, where operators do not meet appropriate standards.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions the Environment Agency has had with Dudley Council on the site operated by Rowan Oak Waste at Shaw Road in Dudley.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Environment Agency have met Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council Environmental Health and Planning Departments four times between November 2016 and July 2017 to discuss Rowan Oak Waste. At each meeting the Environment Agency have provided the latest information on their action against the clearance of the site and their enforcement action against the operator. The Environment Agency have also discussed and agreed how amenity complaints from the site would be dealt with.
Councillor Steve Waltho and Councillor Ali Shaukat have also attended these meetings. They have taken the information shared back to their local communities to keep them updated.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions the Environment Agency has had with West Midlands Police on (a) the site operated by Rowan Oak Waste at Shaw Road in Dudley and (b) Rowan Oak Waste Services Limited.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
We have made all Emergency Services, including West Midlands Police, aware of the site through the West Midlands Local Resilience Forum (WM LRF) meeting. We have advised West Midlands Police that we are undertaking a criminal investigation into the company.
We have shared information and raised awareness of this site, along with other sites within the West Midlands Conurbation, to all the partners of the WM LRF detailing the high risk of fire from these sites and what action we have taken to reduce this risk.
We have separately met with West Midlands Fire Service to ensure that fire risk has been appropriately assessed and a suitable incident response plan has been produced for this site.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions the Environment Agency has had with (a) the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and (b) the Health and Safety Executive on risks posed by the site operated by Rowan Oak Waste at Shaw Road in Dudley.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Environment Agency have not had reason to contact the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy nor the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regarding Rowan Oak Waste.
At present the property is secure except when waste is being removed and from regular visits to the site The Environment Agency have not found unsafe working practices. The Environment Agency would contact the HSE if they became aware of a risk to the sites workers.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency has met HM Revenue and Customs to discuss the business dealings of the landowners of the site operated by Rowan Oak Waste at Shaw Road in Dudley.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Environment Agency has spoken with HM Revenue and Customs on this matter. The Environment Agency have provided them with details regarding the criminal investigation into the site. The investigation is ongoing and we cannot, at this stage, provide the details of what information was shared as this could undermine our enforcement action.