Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
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 cease the £50 Government contribution to water bills for South West Water customers in 2022-23.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As confirmed with South West Water in December 2021, we have extended the water rebate for those in the South West until 31 March 2023.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
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 mark World Oceans Day by committing that the Government will not set future fishing quotas in excess of scientific advice.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK's approach is that Total Allowable Catches for all species should be based on the best available scientific advice. The goal is to seek to maintain fish stocks and fisheries at sustainable levels in the long term or to rebuild them to such levels, where necessary.
The objectives in the Fisheries Act 2020, the draft Joint Fisheries Statement and proposed Fisheries Management Plans collectively reaffirm our commitment to achieving sustainable fishing and protecting the marine environment. The Act enshrines in law the Government’s commitments for sustainable fishing, restating our commitment to fishing at maximum sustainable yield through the ‘sustainability objective’ and ‘precautionary objective’.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
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 mark World Oceans Day by committing that the Government will ban bottom-towed fishing gear and other destructive fishing activities from all offshore marine protected areas to ensure their proper and meaningful protection.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
We have designated over 100 Marine Protected Areas since 2010, so that now 40% of English waters are within the protected area network. We have already committed that the next step is to ensure all of our MPAs are properly protected, supported by our proposed legally binding target under the Environment Act which we are consulting on at present. We have already introduced byelaws in the first four sites which ban bottom towed gear over sensitive habitats and published a call for evidence relating to the next thirteen sites. We are aiming to have all Marine Protected Areas in English offshore waters protected from damaging fishing activity by 2024.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
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 (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to support people in food poverty (i) in Plymouth and (ii) across the country.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Departments across government are working collectively to tackle poverty in all forms with a sustainable, long-term approach and to support people on lower incomes. We know people are facing pressures with the increasing cost of living and recognise that some need extra support with essentials like food shopping and other day-to-day costs. These are global challenges, but the Government has taken action to support families worth over £22 billion in 2022-23. This includes an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, on top of what has already been provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion. In England, £421 million of this £500 million will be provided to extend the existing Household Support Fund, while the devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula. Plymouth Council was awarded £2,294,796.82 for the Household Support Fund between October 2021 and March 2022. The indicative allocations for the current Household Support Fund (April -September 2022) remain the same.