Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations she has received on the commercial collection of ragworm in Sites of Special Scientific Interest; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra has received no recent representations on the commercial collection of rag worm in Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
As part of a SSSI notification Natural England provides a list of operations requiring Natural England's consent, which may include, for example, bait digging. None of the listed operations is permitted to be carried out without Natural England's prior written consent or the consent of another public body. Consent would only be given if the activity did not impact negatively on the designated feature of the SSSI.
Natural England has not recently received any notices for consent for bait digging (including specifically for rag worm collection).
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received on park home owners being able to be individually metered for water use.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
We have not received any recent representation from park home owners on this topic.
The majority of premises either receive their water and sewerage services from a water company or a reseller. A customer of a water company can request (under the Water Industry Act 1991) a water meter and if it is not feasible to fit one (due to it being impractical or unduly costly) they will be moved across to an assessed charge. The assessed charge should ‘bear as much relation as possible to the volumes of water such customers would be likely to use’ and are normally based on the average metered bill for the area or the number of bedrooms.
Those customers of resellers (and this can include sheltered accommodation, housing association properties, flats above commercial premises, caravan parks and park homes) can ask for a meter to be fitted but there is no legal requirement on the reseller to do this.
The industry regulator, Ofwat, regulates the resale market through The Water Resale Order 2006 (section 150 of the Water Industry Act 1991) and provides examples on how the charges should be apportioned.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations she has received on increased numbers of infestations of rats in a domestic setting; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
I have not received any recent representations on the number of rat infestations in a domestic setting. Rats have no special legal protection and people are free to control them by legal means.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to reduce risks to the environment posed by the release of helium balloons.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
We recognise there are concerns about the potential risks posed by helium balloons. In 2013, jointly with the Welsh Government, we commissioned an independent study to identify and assess the impacts and risks to livestock and the environment associated with sky lanterns and helium balloons.
Evidence from the report concluded that risk to the environment from helium balloons is small or highly localised.
The report is available at:
Any future action Government may take will need to be proportionate to the problem and backed by reliable evidence.