Asked by: Alison Seabeck (Labour - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many confidentiality agreements the Marine Management Organisation has sought in respect of third parties in (a) 2013-14 and (b) the current year.
Answered by George Eustice
One agreement was sought and concluded in the current year.
Asked by: Alison Seabeck (Labour - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will instruct the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to publish the report on the investigation into the potential misuse or misapplication by the MMO of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
Answered by George Eustice
I do not currently intend to ask the MMO to publish an internal report. The MMO has declared to the Office of the Surveillance Commissioner that due to a differing interpretation of the law some surveillance activity was undertaken that may have required authorisation under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. The Commissioner recognises that the MMO has put improved procedures in place to avoid a recurrence.
Asked by: Alison Seabeck (Labour - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which companies have been (a) given warnings because of breaches of environmental law and (b) prosecuted for such breaches in each of the last five years.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
a) Warnings: The table below shows the total number of written warnings issued by the Environment Agency to companies in England for breaches of environmental law for the period since 2010.
Calendar year | No of written warnings issued by the Environment Agency in England |
2009 | 16,140 |
2010 | 13,774 |
2011 | 12,009 |
2012 | 9,964 |
2013 | 10,093 |
Total for period | 61,980 |
Due to the high volume, as recorded in the above table, it would incur disproportionate cost to collate the names of the individual companies who received such warnings.
Records of any warning or warnings issued to the operator of a permitted site are held on the Environment Agency's public registers, which can be viewed at the relevant Environment Agency Area office. Alternatively, any individual may request information from the Environment Agency National Customer Contact Centre on a particular site or sites by telephoning 03708 506 506 or emailing enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
b) Prosecutions: The Environment Agency has successfully prosecuted 760 companies in England over the last five full calendar years. A list of the companies, in each year, will be placed in the House Library.
Asked by: Alison Seabeck (Labour - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations he has made to the EU Commission on the UK applying for and drawing down monies from the European Solidarity Fund following the recent flooding and storm damage; and what the deadline is for making any such bid.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
EU Solidarity Fund money is available to all Member States suffering from large-scale natural disasters, but is subject to a number of eligibility requirements, including on the level of direct damages. Comparing the damage today to the 2007 floods, and following contact with the Commission, the Government's assessment was that we had not met these conditions. The Regulation governing the EUSF sets the deadline for applications as ten weeks after the first damage caused by the disaster.