Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department last revised permit conditions for storm overflows.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All discharges to the water environment, including storm overflows, require a permit to discharge issued by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Permitting Regulations. The permits contain the necessary conditions to regulate the discharge and limit the impact on the environment. These permit conditions are reviewed periodically to determine if they are still fit for purpose. The last change to the set of permit conditions used for storm overflows was the introduction in 2016 of a new condition for Event Duration Monitoring to be required on Storm Overflows.
In August 2022, the Government published the Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan which introduces new requirements and targets for storm overflows. The Environment Agency is now reviewing the permit conditions used for storm overflows to ensure the requirements and targets in the plan are accounted for in the permit conditions. These new conditions will be introduced from 2025 as the plan is implemented by the water companies.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of her Department's total spend on communications for (a) 2023, (b) 2022, (c) 2021, (d) 2020 and (e) 2019.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department publishes its expenditure on publicity, marketing and promotion in the annual report and accounts. The expenditure is summarised in the table below.
Financial Year | Core Department and Agencies (£000) | Defra Group (£000) |
2022-23 | 1,073 | 18,047 |
2021-22 | 675 | 14,813 |
2020-21 | 1,157 | 16,701 |
2019-20 | 1,740 | 19,830 |
2018-19 | 1,758 | 20,828 |
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many sewage discharges there were by each water firm on days when no rain fell in 2022.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency is currently reviewing tens of millions of data from over 10,000 storm overflows for 2022. This involves modelling storm overflow discharge data, rainfall data and rainfall radar information across England. This will identify when spills from storm overflows have occurred on dry days, but further investigation is then required to establish what caused the spill and or whether or not there has been a breach of permit. This work will take several months to complete. Any breaches of permit identified will be considered for action under the Environment Agency’s Enforcement and Sanctions Policy.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the number of PM2.5 monitors installed in each (a) constituency and (b) local authority area in each of the last five years.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Environment Agency operates the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) on behalf of Defra and the devolved administrations for the purposes of assessing PM2.5 levels across the UK. There are currently 103 sites monitoring PM2.5 on this network and the table below shows how these sites are distributed by local authority (Nb Local Authorities may also undertake their own monitoring but these are not included). The AURN network is in the process of being expanded for the purposes of assessing the new PM2.5 targets in England and more sites will be coming online over the next 2-3 years.
Local Authority | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
Aberdeen City | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Belfast | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Bexley | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Birmingham | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
Blackpool | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Bournemouth | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Bristol, City of | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Camden | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Cardiff | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Carlisle | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Central Bedfordshire | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Chesterfield | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Christchurch | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Cornwall | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Coventry | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Derry | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Eastbourne | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Edinburgh, City of | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Falkirk | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Fermanagh and Omagh | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Glasgow City | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Greenwich | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Highland | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Hillingdon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Inverclyde | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Kensington and Chelsea | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Kingston upon Hull, City of | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Leeds | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Leicester | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Lewisham | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Liverpool | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Manchester | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Medway | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Middlesbrough | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Midlothian | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Monmouthshire | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Neath Port Talbot | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Newcastle upon Tyne | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Newport | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
North Devon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Northampton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Norwich | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Nottingham | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Oxford | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Pembrokeshire | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Plymouth | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Portsmouth | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Preston | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Reading | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Richmond | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Salford | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Sheffield | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Southampton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Southend-on-Sea | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Stockton-on-Tees | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Stoke on Trent | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Sunderland | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Swansea | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Test Valley | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Thurrock | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Warrington | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Warwick | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Westminster | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Wigan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Wirral | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Worthing | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Wrexham | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
York | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Brighton and Hove | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Canterbury | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
Cheshire East | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
East Cambridgeshire | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
East Devon | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
East Staffordshire | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
Hartlepool | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
Hertsmere | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
Kirklees | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
North East Lincolnshire | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
North Norfolk | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
Ryedale | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
South Somerset | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
Swindon | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
Teignbridge | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
Telford and Wrekin | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
Tendring | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
Wealden | NA | NA | NA | 1 | 1 |
Barnsley | NA | NA | NA | NA | 1 |
Milton Keynes | NA | NA | NA | NA | 1 |
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding through the Basic Payment Scheme has reduced in each year since 2020; and by how much she plans to reduce payments in each of the next three years.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra reports expenditure under agricultural support schemes by financial year rather than calendar year.
Applying reductions to Direct Payments frees up money to be spent on financial assistance under our other schemes for farmers and land managers. As set out in our Future Farming and Countryside Programme annual report, published in October 2022, we spent £1.654 billion on Direct Payments in financial year 2021 to 2022. That was part of a total spend of £2.294 billion on existing farming schemes and our new financial assistance schemes, as set out in that report.
Information about spend on Direct Payments, and financial assistance under our other schemes, for later financial years will be included in future annual reports.
The reductions that we plan to apply to Direct Payments up to, and including, the 2024 scheme year were set out in our Agricultural Transition Plan in November 2020. The Government intends to continue to make gradual reductions in Direct Payments across the rest of the transition until the last year of Direct Payments in 2027.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much money was returned to farmers as gross cash by (a) the Sustainable Farming Incentive and (b) additional funds allocated by Countryside Stewardship in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra reports expenditure under agricultural support schemes by financial year rather than calendar year.
The Department, as required by section 5 of chapter 1 of the Agriculture Act 2020, prepared an annual report about the financial assistance given during each financial year, starting with financial year 21-22. The first report was laid before Parliament and published on 31 October 2022 Future Farming and Countryside Programme annual report (publishing.service.gov.uk) and contains details of where funds freed up from reductions applied to Direct Payments have been spent. The second report will be published later this year. The reductions enabled the launch of the Sustainable Farming Incentive in June 2022, an increase of Countryside Stewardship payment rates and respond to the demand for the scheme from farmers, and the continued rollout of other schemes to improve prosperity and reward environmental delivery, including, Farming investment Fund, Farming Innovation Programme and Farming in Protected Landscapes.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to bring forward legislation to make cat and dog abduction a specific offence.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We plan to take forward measures from the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill individually through other means during the remainder of this Parliament.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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) upland and (b) lowland farms there are in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Based on the farms which are registered with Defra for either subsidy purposes or for livestock keeping requirements, statistical estimates of the number of farms with significant levels of farming activity* show there were 819 upland farms and 195 lowland farms in the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency in 2021.
* Data only covers holdings which are registered with the Rural Payments Agency for payments or livestock purposes and have significant levels of farming activity (as recorded in responses to the Defra June Survey of Agriculture or the Cattle Tracing System). Holdings are only included if they have more than five hectares of agricultural land, one hectare of orchards, 0.5 hectares of vegetables or 0.1 hectares of protected crops, or more than 10 cows, 50 pigs, 20 sheep, 20 goats or 1,000 poultry.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's timeline is for transferring all abstraction licenses into the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working to move the water abstraction licensing regime into the Environmental Permitting Regulations. We consulted on the move in Autumn 2021 and are considering the responses alongside wider actions in our Plan for Water.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to tackle illegal imports of product of animal origin.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We plan to shortly publish the final details of the Target Operating Model. This will set out our new border controls for the importation of animal products with the aim to address public health and biosecurity risks resulting from the illegal import of products of animal origin. Since September 2022, the government has provided funding of approximately £5m to tackle the illegal importation of products of animal origin, in particular to prevent the spread of African Swine fever to the UK.