Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to secure guide dogs and other assistance dogs part one listed status under the Pet Passport Scheme to facilitate travel with dogs between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and across the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The health and documentary requirements for pet travel to the EU are set out under the EU Pet Travel Regulations. Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, EU rules also apply to the non-commercial movements of pets into Northern Ireland from Great Britain. There are no derogations for assistance dogs under the legal framework of the EU Pet Travel Regulations.
I have previously stated that we will continue to press the EU Commission in relation to securing Part 1 listed status, recognising that achieving this would alleviate some of the new requirements for pet owners and assistance dog users travelling to the EU and to Northern Ireland. We are clear that we meet all the animal health requirements for this and we have one of the most rigorous pet checking regimes in Europe to protect our biosecurity.
Regarding pet travel between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Government is working with the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) on a permanent solution which respects the rights of assistance dog users and pet owners to travel with the minimum of friction. Guidance on pet travel to Northern Ireland is available on the DAERA’s NIDirect website.
We are proactively engaging with the assistance dog community and relevant stakeholders on the impacts on dog movements from Great Britain to the EU and to Northern Ireland. We will continue to work closely with assistance dog organisations to share the latest advice and guidance (in accessible formats) with their members on pet travel requirements.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many catchment management schemes were included in each of the water companies’ environmental programmes agreed by Ofwat in the recent periodic review (PR19), and what proportion those environmental programmes are of all schemes and expenditures in the total PR19 programme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are 550 catchment management schemes in the PR19 Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) for England and the National Environment Programme (NEP) for Wales. This is 20% of total WINEP/NEP programmes, which have a combined total of 11084 separate schemes. Water companies were funded £4.8 billion to deliver the environmental improvements WINEP and NEP. This compares with a total PR19 final determination package of £51 billion to water companies for the period 2020 to 2025.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Environment Agency has to take steps to improve the quality of chalk streams under River Basin Management Plans under the Water Framework Directive; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency is working with its partners to update the River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs). Actions to improve the quality of chalk streams are being developed in discussion with the new national chalk stream restoration group. The updated RBMPs will include measures to improve low flows by reducing unsustainable abstraction and reducing demand for water, improvements to water quality from point source discharges and diffuse pollution, and actions to improve habitats through river restoration and removal of barriers to fish migration. Taken together these actions will help tackle pressures facing chalk streams.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Environment Agency has taken to consult (a) locally and (b) nationally on the development of River Basin Management Plans; if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency is working with a range of stakeholders in updating the river basin management plans, including the many catchment partnerships across England.
The Environment Agency has completed two statutory consultations to date as part of updating the plans: the Working Together consultation in 2018 and the Challenges and Choices consultation launched in October 2019. The original 6 month consultation period for Challenges and Choices was extended by 5 months in response to the coronavirus pandemic, closing on 24th September 2020. The Environment Agency received over 600 responses from individuals and organisations. These responses will help to inform the updated plans.
Draft updates to the river basin management plans will be published for consultation in 2021.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to implement water consumption standards for new houses; what plans he has in place to ensure compliance with those standards; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are already minimum standards for water efficiency that apply to new homes. Building regulations require that new homes are built to a standard of 125 litres of water used per person per day, or 110 litres per person per day if required by the local authority. The Government consulted on measures to reduce personal water use, including potential amendments to building regulations, last year and intends to publish a response as soon as possible in 2021.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what financial requirements his Department places on housing developers in relation to meeting the costs of providing water and sewerage resources to new developments; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2016, Defra published its ‘Water industry: guidance to Ofwat for water and sewerage connections charges’. This guidance covers the rules which Ofwat may set, about the charges that water and sewerage companies may make to developer, self-build, and self-lay customers for connections to their water and sewerage services.
The guidance ensures that Ofwat’s Charging Rules reflect the Government’s policy priorities for the water sector, which include: stable and predictable charges; transparent and customer focused charging; fairness and affordability, and environmental protection.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many abstraction licences have been (a) revoked and (b) altered by the Environment Agency since commencement of its powers under the Water Act 2014; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since the Water Act 2014 provisions came into force the Environment Agency has (a) revoked 23 abstraction licences and (b) made changes to an additional 172 abstraction licences.