Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of ground water levels to meet current needs in England; and whether such water levels have (1) decreased, or (2) increased, since 2000.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Environment Agency monitors groundwater levels across the country at thousands of locations and uses groundwater models designed to manage water resources, balancing the needs of both abstractors and the environment. Groundwater models provide current and future trends of water availability and are used to inform Abstraction Licencing Strategies used for local water resource management.
Over the past 20 years, groundwater levels in some areas have declined and in other areas increased. Over relatively short periods of time groundwater levels can vary significantly in response to environmental factors (particularly rainfall both in terms of overall quantity and timing) and due to changing abstraction pressures. It should be noted that groundwater levels in most locations were relatively high in the 2000s due to a period of high rainfall recharge which caused significant groundwater flooding in some areas and more recently have been relatively low due to prolonged dry weather.
The Environment Agency’s assessment shows that since 2017 the number of groundwater bodies with sustainable abstraction has increased from 72% to 73%.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the otter population in England is increasing or decreasing; and what steps they intend to take (1) to protect otter habitats, and (2) to reduce otter deaths on the road.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The latest National Survey for Otter in England (2009-2010) noted that the otter was increasing in most of England, with the possible exception of the very south-east where no signs were found in Kent and most of Sussex.
Otters are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. They are also listed as a species of principal importance under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Thirty-two sites have been notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest for their otter interest. There are five Special Areas of Conservation sites for the species and 10 further Special Areas of Conservation where otters are a qualifying feature but are not the primary reason for designation.
Due to the level of legal protection afforded to the otter, any new road scheme which has the potential to impact on the species must provide mitigation or compensation measures to prevent road mortality. Mitigation measures include the provision of pipes under roads or otter ledges within culverts.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the resilience of flood protection measures on the Somerset levels during the winter of 2022–23.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Somerset Levels and Moors are designed to flood and the moors store flood water when the rivers flowing through them overtop. The recent heavy rain has caused spillways on the Rivers Tone and Parrett to flow and there is now water stored on the moors. This water can only be pumped back into the rivers when river levels and tides allow. It will therefore never be possible to prevent some properties from flooding occasionally, especially those that are at or below sea level.
Since the flood event in 2013/14, £80 million has been invested in flood risk interventions, which will help the Environment Agency (EA), working with its partners, to reduce flood risk to properties and infrastructure. Interventions include road raising and new control structures to ensure access, dredging of the Rivers Parrett and Tone to ensure maximum conveyance, new flood alleviation schemes, more efficient deployment of temporary pumps at pumping stations, repairs to existing defences, and construction of new schemes. Further details of these interventions can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/somerset-levels-and-moors-reducing-the-risk-of-flooding/somerset-levels-and-moors-reducing-the-risk-of-flooding (copy attached to this answer).
Asset management is also an integral part of the EA’s incident response and recovery function. This includes proactive, preventative maintenance and replacement to ensure that flood risk management assets operate as and when required. During the current flood incident in this area, the EA has used drones to augment its on-the-ground inspections and check that all its assets are fit for purpose.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 26 September (HL2150), how many local authorities in England provide residual waste collections; and of this number, how many do so on a three weekly collection cycle.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
All waste collection authorities in England (307) collect residual waste from households. According to latest WRAP data, there are 10 waste collection authorities in England where the predominant residual waste collection frequency is 3-weekly (meaning at least 50% of households receive this service).
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the health risks, if any, posed by three-weekly rubbish collections during hot weather.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Government has not made an assessment of the health risks of three-weekly collections. Currently only a small minority of local authorities in England provide a three-weekly residual waste collection. The Government supports frequent and comprehensive rubbish and recycling collections. We want to ensure that householders are not inconvenienced by being unable to get rid of putrescent or smelly waste weekly or having insufficient capacity to recycle or to remove residual waste.
Through new powers in the Environment Act 2021, local authorities will be required to provide a separate food waste collection to every household in England. Local authorities must implement at least weekly food waste collections and should continue to provide residual waste collections at an appropriate frequency, to ensure they are meeting their legal duty and to prevent any build-up of waste that could be harmful to public health.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the preparedness of flood defences in the Somerset levels and marshes for winter 2022–23.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Somerset Levels and Moors remains prone to flooding, due to its low-lying nature and a rapidly changing climate. £80 million of public investment has been made in this landscape following the floods of 2013-14 to help it adapt. This significant investment has allowed improved physical infrastructure that allows pre-emptive action to be taken to delay the onset of flooding and to evacuate water more effectively from this low-lying area. This enables communities to be more resilient and to recover more rapidly from flooding.
The Environment Agency is implementing nature-based solutions at a landscape scale and working with individual landowners to support this, enhance biodiversity and increase the capacity of the landscape to absorb water and slow flooding whilst creating carbon storage.
Construction work will start next year on the £100 million Bridgwater Barrier, one of the largest flood defence schemes in the country, which was identified as an action in the 20-year Flood Action Plan for Somerset. This will reduce tidal flood risk to over 13,000 residential homes and businesses and ensure that high tide levels do not adversely impact on the Somerset Levels and Moors.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) sewerage capacity in the UK, (2) the need to increase capacity in line with population projections, and (3) the ability of privatised water companies to invest and deliver the capacity required.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Under section 94 of the Water Industry Act 1991, sewerage undertakers have duties requiring them to provide, improve and extend their networks to ensure their area is properly drained.
Recognising the importance of having a robust drainage system both now and for future demands, a new statutory duty through the Environment Act 2021 will require water companies to produce comprehensive Drainage and Sewerage Management Plans from spring 2023. The first cycle of non-statutory planning is underway with draft plans being consulted on this summer, and final plans due spring 2023.
Sewerage companies are working with other risk management authorities to produce these plans, which will provide a full assessment of the condition and capacity of their networks and enable development of collaborative solutions. Statutory duties will better ensure companies identify long-term infrastructure needs and set out how they will manage and develop their sewerage networks.
Under the Water Industry Act, Ofwat has a statutory duty to ensure that companies can finance their functions, including those related to their statutory obligations.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effects, if any, of the dumping of (1) disused vehicles, and (2) scrap metal, on Sites of Special Scientific Interest within the (a) Blackmore Vale Commons, and (b) Moors area, of Somerset.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Natural England is not aware of, or currently investigating, any recent incidences on the Blackmore Vale Commons and Moors SSSIs.
Local authorities are responsible for keeping relevant land (land, which is open to the air, under the direct control of the authority, and accessible to the public with or without payment, as defined in the Environmental Protection Act 1990) clear of litter and refuse. Landowners are responsible for the land that they own.
Local and national park authorities (authorities) must remove abandoned vehicles from any land in the open air (including private land) and roads (including private roads). Authorities do not have to remove an abandoned vehicle if the cost of moving it from open land to the nearest convenient road is determined to be unreasonably high (for example, if special machinery is needed).
The Environment Agency has a role in circumstances where an incident may affect a watercourse and could potentially cause flooding or pollution. Both local authorities and the Environment Agency carry out investigations and can take enforcement action against fly-tipping.
If fly-tipping occurs on an SSSI, this would be investigated by Natural England and enforcement action taken if SSSI features have been damaged. Natural England can take enforcement action on the owner/occupier or third party who:
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they define the term “re-wilding” when used in environmental policy.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The concept of ‘rewilding’ is a relatively new and evolving concept and as such, it is currently defined and approached in different ways. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is developing a conceptual and methodological framework for rewilding with the goal of restoring functional native ecosystems, which - where possible - are self-sustaining. We will continue to develop our definition and approach to rewilding working with the IUCN and other expert stakeholders.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the flood prevention measures in place on the Somerset Levels in advance of winter 2021–22.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Environment Agency (EA) is acutely conscious of the impacts that flooding has on local communities in the Somerset Levels and Moors and is spending around £3 million each year on flood risk management asset operation and maintenance in the Levels and Moors. This financial year, the EA is forecasted to spend £1.3 million on repairing 20 assets in the area and will continue to collaborate with partners through the Somerset Prepared initiative to train community flood wardens and improve local resilience to flooding.
The EA has a sizeable fleet of plant and equipment at the centrally located Bradney Depot, including Ultra High Volume Pumps, sandbags, flood barriers, excavators, and other specialist plant and equipment. It also operates a ‘trigger point’ early warning system on a number of the moors, where incident response activity kicks in well before actual risk to property. This allows the use of permanent pumping stations to be maximised and gives the option of bringing in extra temporary pumping capacity if required, especially at key locations like Currymoor Flood Storage Reservoir.
In addition, construction works are underway to enhance the capacity of the River Sowy/Kings Sedgemoor Drain. These works are being delivered by the EA but funded by the Somerset Rivers Authority and will help reduce the flood risk to a number of communities. This work will be completed before winter.