Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 December 2017, HCWS386, if he will publish a list of the 44 stocks of interest to the UK for which Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY)assessments have been made; and which 30 of those 44 stocks of interest to the UK will be fished at or below MSY in 2018.
Answered by George Eustice
Further to my written statement of 21 December 2017, the final agreement means that 31 stocks of interest to the UK will be fished at or below their maximum sustainable yield (MSY) rate in 2018. This is out of 45 such stocks of interest for which MSY assessments have been completed by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). A list of stocks is set out below.
Stocks of interest to the UK that have a MSY assessment and will be fished at their MSY rate in 2018.
Blue ling: Union and international waters of Vb, VI, VII |
Blue whiting: Norwegian waters of II and IV |
Cod VII b,c,e-k, VIII, IX, X, Cecaf 34.1.1(EC) |
Cod VIIa |
Cod: IV; Union waters of IIa; that part of IIIa not covered by the Skagerrak and Kattegat |
Cod: VIId |
Common sole VIId |
Common sole VIIe |
Common sole: Union waters of IIa and IV |
Haddock EC waters of Vb and VIa |
Haddock VIIa |
Haddock: IV; Union waters of IIa |
Haddock: Union and international waters of VIb, XII and XIV |
Hake EC waters of IIa and IV |
Hake VI and VII; EC waters of Vb, international waters of XII and XIV |
Herring VIIa |
Herring VIIg,h,j,k |
Herring: By-catches in IV, VIId and in Union waters of IIa |
Herring: IVc and VIId |
Herring: Union and Norwegian waters north of IV north of 53o30'N |
Horse mackerel and associated by-catches: Union waters of IIa, IVa, VI, VIIa-c, VIIe-k, VIIIabde; Union and international waters of Vb; international waters of XII and XIV |
Megrim EC waters of IIa and IV |
Norway lobster (Nephrops) VI; EC waters of Vb |
Norway lobster (Nephrops) VII |
Picked dogfish EC and international waters of I, V, VI, VII, VIII, XII and XIV |
Plaice VIIa |
Plaice VIId,e |
Saithe: IIIa and IV; Union waters of IIa, IIIb, IIIc and Subdivisions 22-32 |
Saithe: VI; Union and international waters of Vb, XII and XIV |
Roundnose grenadier Vb, VI and VII |
North Sea sprat |
Stocks of interest to the UK that have a MSY assessment and will not be fished at their MSY rate in 2018.
Blue whiting: Union and international waters of I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIIIa, VIIIb, VIIId, VIIIe, XII and XIV |
Cod VIa; EC waters of Vb |
Common sole VIIa |
Common sole VIIfg |
Haddock VII b-k, VIII, IX, X, EC waters of Cecaf 34.1.1 |
Herring: Union and international waters of Vb, VIb and VIaN |
Mackerel: NE Atlantic |
Megrim VII |
Norway lobster (Nephrops) EC waters of IIa, IV |
Plaice: IV; Union waters of IIa; that part of IIIa not covered by the Skagerrak and the Kattegat |
Whiting VI; EC waters of Vb; international waters of XII and XIV |
Whiting VIIa |
Whiting VIIbcdefhk |
Whiting: IV; Union waters of IIa |
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 December 2017, HCWS386, what scientific evidence informed the decision to set total allowable catches for anglerfish and pollack in the Celtic Sea.
Answered by George Eustice
Both anglerfish and pollack in the Celtic Sea are Data Limited Stocks. However, scientific advice published by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) was used to inform the decision to rollover the total allowable catch (TAC) for Area 7 anglerfish and Area 7 pollack in 2018.
In the case of Area 7 anglerfish, advice was issued in 2016 for quotas in 2017 and 2018 and therefore the TAC for 2018 remained the same as in 2017.
For Area 7 pollack, ICES issued advice in 2017 for quotas in 2018, 2019 and 2020, however the advised tonnage is unchanged from the previous advice and therefore the TAC for 2018 remained the same as for 2017.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to bring forward proposals to support smaller scale fleets in the UK by allocating fishing rights according to social and ecological criteria; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
We have taken measures in recent years to improve the economic viability of the inshore fleet by awarding uplift quota to support the landing obligation, permanently realigning quota from Producer Organisations to the inshore fleet. We have also addressed latent capacity through a capping exercise to provide greater certainty to those actively fishing in the inshore fleet. We will continue to review our allocation policy to promote sustainable fishing.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
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 Answer of 27 November 2017 to Question 115825, how many staff are expected to leave the Department as part of Voluntary Exit Schemes in the next two financial years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra’s plans for exiting staff under Voluntary Exit Schemes in the next two financial years have not yet been confirmed.
As the Department increases its resources in response to the UK’s departure from the EU, we will aim to redeploy people into that work where they have the skills and capability to do so, rather than offering them Voluntary Exit.
We continue to keep our resourcing plans under review to ensure that we can realise efficiency savings as we transform the Department.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Autumn budget, what his Department's capital budget will be for (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21, and how that spending will be allocated.
Answered by George Eustice
Following the announcements in the Autumn budget, the Department’s capital budgets and allocations are:
£m | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
Ring-fenced: Flood Defences | 450.4 | 490.0 | 459.0 |
Ring-fenced: Official Development Assistance | 37.4 | 35.4 | 45.5 |
Other | 166.2 | 100.9 | 85.5 |
Total | 654.0 | 626.3 | 590.0 |
Allocation of the ‘other’ amounts is confirmed on an annual basis.
This mainly covers investment in our I.T systems to improve efficiency; renovating and developing our Estate to make it fit for purpose; and developing Kew’s facilities to preserve its status of world-leading botanic gardens.
Defra’s total capital spend in each of these three years will be higher than in both 2010/11 (£548m) and 2015/16 (£493m).
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the primary routes by which single-use plastics enter UK seas and rivers.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
A study in 2016 showed that of the estimated 12.2 million tonnes of plastic entering the global marine environment every year, 9.5 million tonnes (over 80%) came from land based sources. The report identified larger plastic litter, including single use plastics such as drinks bottles, and other types of plastic packaging as the main source of plastics entering the seas. Much of this plastic will have been washed into the seas down rivers. The conclusions of this report are consistent with the findings of UK marine litter monitoring supported by Defra.
The two reports can be found at:
http://www.eunomia.co.uk/reports-tools/plastics-in-the-marine-environment/
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/marine-strategy-part-three-uk-programme-of-measures
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of small businesses in the British Insurance Brokers’ Association’s new affordable flood insurance scheme.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The British Insurance Broker Association (BIBA) insurance product, launched in December 2016, provides flood insurance for small businesses that have struggled to access it to-date.
Since the scheme launched it continues to grow in line with BIBA’s expectations. With a balanced and sensible approach BIBA are now insuring over 150 businesses who have previously had problems accessing insurance.
The BIBA scheme also insures against the excess of a policy. This product has been taken up 1,100 times in the past 12 months. Its value was evidenced by last Wednesday’s flooding in Lancaster and Cumbria, where three claims have been reported so far for commercial properties, each with a £25,000 flood excess.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of his Department's overall resource budget for years (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21, and how will that resource be allocated across different areas.
Answered by George Eustice
Following the announcements in the Autumn budget, the Department’s resource budgets (excluding depreciation) and allocations are:
£m | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
Ring-fenced: Official Development Assistance | 42.7 | 45.9 | n/a |
Ring-fenced: Inshore Fisheries Conservation Areas | 3.0 | 3.0 | n/a |
Ring-fenced: Air Quality Grant | 2.0 | 2.0 | n/a |
Ring-fenced: Disallowance | 58.5 | 45.0 | n/a |
Ring-fenced: Voluntary Exit Schemes | 14.4 | 3.4 | n/a |
Other | 1,420.2 | 1,384.4 | n/a |
Total | 1,540.8 | 1,483.7 | n/a |
Allocation of the ‘other’ amounts is confirmed on an annual basis. Budgets beyond 2019/20 will be set under future Spending Reviews.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of flood insurance for leasehold properties in blocks of four or more homes.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The government remains in close contact with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and BIBA, neither of whom has identified a significant problem for leasehold properties accessing flood insurance.
Government is aware that access to insurance remains an issue for a number of leasehold properties in blocks of four or more, where there is particularly high risk. We are following with interest a new service being provided by a BIBA broker which offers to formally vary leasehold agreements in order to give the leaseholder an express obligation to insure the structure of their property, thus allowing the leaseholder to access Flood Re.
In addition, the Government continues to work with commercial interests under the Property Level Resilience Roundtable to promote the uptake of measures that make properties, including leasehold properties, more resilient to flooding. Successes include a one-stop shop flood resilience website, demonstration properties in Cumbria and the development of a Code of Practice.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) plastic bottles, (b) disposable coffee cups and (c) takeaway cartons he estimates will be thrown away between 1 December 2017 and 31 March 2018.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We do not estimate how many plastic bottles, disposable coffee cups and takeaway cups will be thrown away.