Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve flood prevention on the River Arun and River Adur in West Sussex.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Environment Agency (EA) has completed Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) schemes totalling approximately £90 million at Littlehampton and Arundel on the River Arun and at Shoreham on the River Adur during the current 6 year capital investment programme (2015-2021).
Further capital investment is planned over the following 6 years, subject to confirmation of funding. On the River Adur, works to benefit communities at Beeding and Bramber will involve ‘upstream’ natural flood management with habitat creation. The EA will also repair and refurbish flood defences at Burgess Hill. For the River Arun catchment, investment is scheduled at Liss, at the Warnham Mill reservoir at Horsham and along the west bank of the Arun at Littlehampton. The EA is also supporting Local Authority works at Shoreham and Angmering.
The EA will continue to carry out maintenance at ‘high flood risk’ locations along the Arun and Adur rivers, and to provide advice to landowners undertaking their own watercourse maintenance.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
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 is taking to regulate which vessels can fish in UK waters after the transition period.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
At the end of the transition period, the UK will become an independent coastal state under international law. We will automatically take back control of our waters, and others’ right to fish in them. Access by non-UK vessels to fish in UK waters will be a matter for negotiation. Any foreign vessels we agree may fish in UK waters will be required to have a licence issued by the UK’s Single Issuing Authority. They will also be obliged to abide by the same rules as UK vessels when fishing in our waters, including those on sustainability.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with National Park Authorities on strengthening protections against light pollution.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government is engaging with National Park Authorities on a range of matters including the delivery of the 25-year Environment Plan and the Landscapes Review recommendations. There have been no recent discussions with National Park Authorities on the specific issue of strengthening protections against light pollution.
The government has put in place a range of measures to ensure that light pollution is effectively managed through controls in the planning system; the statutory nuisance regime, and when improvements are made to street lighting.
My department has worked with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Department for Transport to ensure that the National Planning Policy Framework policies include consideration of the impact of light pollution from artificial light on local amenity, intrinsically dark landscapes and nature conservation, including where there may be impacts on wildlife and eco-systems.
We strongly welcome the designation of the South Downs National Park as an International Dark Sky Reserve, one of only 16 in the world. As a result of this designation the South Downs National Park Local Plan, adopted on 2 July 2019, has incorporated local policies to protect dark skies. We welcome the adoption of local policies for dark sky protection and understand their extension to other National Parks is under consideration.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to make mesh filters in washing machines compulsory to prevent microbeads entering rivers and oceans.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government currently has no plans to require manufacturers to install mesh filters on new washing machines but is working with industry to encourage improved environmental outcomes and reduce water pollution. We will continue to assess new and emerging evidence and?consider the need for legislation in the future if industry approaches are not successful.
With our world leading microbeads ban in place, we are exploring how other microplastic sources enter our marine environment. In 2018 we pledged £200,000 for scientists at the University of Plymouth to explore how microfibres and tyre particles enter our waterways and oceans. The findings of their research include that particles released from vehicle tyres could be a significant and previously largely unrecorded source of microplastics in the marine environment (GOV.UK press release). The Government has also launched the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance to help address marine plastic pollution across the Commonwealth.