Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
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 help increase access to veterinary care for animal owners on low incomes in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The price charged for veterinary care is a commercial arrangement between veterinary practices and their customers. There are, however, charitable organisations across the country that support pet owners on low incomes, including the PDSA (Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals) in the Coventry area. My officials are considering proposals for legislative reform from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons that would permit certain activities to be delegated to highly trained allied professionals. This may alter the costs of a range of services for all pet owners.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) financial and (b) other steps his Department is taking to help (i) tackle fly-tipping and (ii) prosecute the perpetrators of fly-tipping.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Defra publishes fly-tipping statistics for England annually at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england Data for the 2020/21 period will be published in early December. We last published an estimated total cost of clearing fly-tipping to local authorities in England in 2016/17 at £57.7 million.
Defra is working to develop a fly-tipping toolkit to support local councils following extra research we have commissioned. We expect to publish the first element on ‘Presenting robust cases to court’ early next year. Fly-tipping is a menace we are determined to clamp down on, not only with the new toolkit, but with measures such as electronic waste tracking and strengthening to our waste brokers, carriers and dealers licensing, as well as strengthened powers in the Environment Act to detect and prosecute waste criminals.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the cost of fly-tipping to local authorities in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Defra publishes fly-tipping statistics for England annually at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england Data for the 2020/21 period will be published in early December. We last published an estimated total cost of clearing fly-tipping to local authorities in England in 2016/17 at £57.7 million.
Defra is working to develop a fly-tipping toolkit to support local councils following extra research we have commissioned. We expect to publish the first element on ‘Presenting robust cases to court’ early next year. Fly-tipping is a menace we are determined to clamp down on, not only with the new toolkit, but with measures such as electronic waste tracking and strengthening to our waste brokers, carriers and dealers licensing, as well as strengthened powers in the Environment Act to detect and prosecute waste criminals.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
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 tackle fly-tipping in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry and (c) England; what (i) economic and (ii) other support he is providing to (A) local police forces and (B) local authorities to help tackle fly-tipping; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on trends in the level of fly-tipping in (1) Coventry North East constituency, (2) Coventry and (3) England.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Fly-tipping is a crime which blights local communities and the environment, and we are committed to tackling this unacceptable behaviour.
The role of central Government is to enable and support local action by providing a clear legal framework of rights, responsibilities and powers and setting national standards. Local authorities are responsible for keeping relevant public land (as defined in the Environmental Protection Act 1990) clear of litter and refuse. We expect local authorities to investigate all incidents of fly-tipping, prosecute fly-tippers when there is sufficient evidence and recover clearance costs where possible.
Whilst the police may support multi-agency investigations into serious and organised incidents of waste crime, including fly-tipping, fly-tipping investigation and enforcement is the responsibility of local authorities, and the Environment Agency in certain circumstances.
Local authorities have flexibility in deciding how to allocate funding based on their local priorities. This year, Core Spending Power in England will rise by up to 4.6% in cash terms, from £49.0 billion in 2020-21 to up to £51.3 billion in 2021-22.
For Coventry, this corresponds to an increase of up to £13.88 million, or 5.09%. This real-terms increase recognises the resources councils need to meet their pressures and maintain critical services.
The Settlement is unringfenced to ensure local areas can prioritise based on their own understanding of the needs of their local communities.
In recent years we have bolstered local authorities’ powers to tackle fly-tipping, such as by introducing the power to issue fixed penalty notices and to stop and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers. Our 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy set out our strategic approach to prevent, detect and deter waste crime. We committed to strengthen sentences for fly-tipping and to develop a fly-tipping toolkit to help local authorities and others work in partnership to tackle this crime. We also committed to increasing penalties for fly-tipping in our manifesto.
Budget 2020 allocated up to £2 million to support innovative solutions to tackle fly-tipping. We launched an invitation to tender on 9 March 2021 for a research project considering the drivers, deterrents and impacts of fly-tipping. We are exploring additional funding opportunities and priorities, including considering the role of digital solutions.
We are also preparing a number of legislative reforms to tackle waste crime, which will help to tackle fly-tipping. We are taking forward the commitment in the Resources and Waste Strategy to develop proposals for the reform of the waste carrier, broker, and dealer regime. We are working with industry and the regulator and we intend to consult later this year. We also intend to consult on the introduction of mandatory electronic waste tracking. This will help to ensure that waste is dealt with appropriately and to reduce the incidence of waste crime and fly-tipping.
The Environment Bill also includes several measures to help tackle waste crime. The Bill will ensure agencies and authorities can work more effectively to combat waste crime through better access to evidence and improved powers of entry. These new powers will help ensure waste criminals, such as illegitimate waste operators reliant on fly-tipping for income, are held accountable for their actions.
The Government has not made any assessment of the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on trends of fly-tipping. However, Defra publishes annual fly-tipping statistics for England, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. Data for the period April 2020 to March 2021 will be published in due course.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of flood defences in (a) the West Midlands and (b) England.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Environment Agency (EA) visually inspect all flood risk assets using trained and accredited inspectors. The frequency of visual inspection is risk based, taking account of factors such as the status, nature and significance of the flood defence. They also carry out additional inspections following flooding.
Based on the inspection, they assign a condition grade to each asset:
a) In the West Midlands: As of 11 December 2020, 94.12% of all flood risk assets on Main River are at their required condition.
b) In England: as of 1 December 2020, 94% of flood risk assets on Main Rivers and the coast are at their required condition.
If an asset is below its required condition it is identified as requiring work. This does not necessarily mean the asset has structurally failed, or that its performance in a flood will be compromised. If the performance of an EA flood risk asset is reduced, action will be taken to ensure that flood risk continues to be effectively managed until the asset is fully repaired or replaced and has met the required condition.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the number of households in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England that have fallen into arrears with their water supplier; and what steps his Department is taking to protect vulnerable households in water arrears during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Regional water companies are regularly assessing the needs of their customers. Across England, all companies have measures in place for households who may struggle to pay their water bills, including the WaterSure, social tariffs and payment breaks. Water consumers are also protected from being disconnected from their water supply if they are unable to pay their bill.
Feedback from companies to date has shown no significant impacts on the number of non-payments by households. This could be attributed to an initial increase in the take up of water support schemes, which may have reduced the risk of customers falling into long term arrears.
It is too early to fully assess the impacts of COVID-19 on water bills as the impacts of general support is still being understood. However, we continue to work with the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), Ofwat and Water UK to monitor the industry’s regional and national response to Covid-19.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of water lost through leakage in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Discover Water website publishes up to date records on leakage. Details can be found here: discoverwater.co.uk/leaking-pipes.
Severn Trent and South Staffordshire cover Coventry and the West Midlands. A map of the area that each water company in England covers can be found here: www.ofwat.gov.uk/contact-companies.
Below is the data as reported by the water companies in their annual returns on water resources management plans. We have included the total leakage for Severn Trent Water and South Staffordshire Water which are the water companies in the area. The total leakage is in megalitres per day. One megalitre is 1,000,000 litres.
Water Company | Total leakage Ml/d | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 |
Severn Trent Water | Total leakage Ml/d | 440 | 429 | 424 | 446 | 418 | 399 |
South Staffordshire Water | Total leakage Ml/d | 69 | 70 | 70 | 72 | 71 | 69 |
England total | Total leakage Ml/d | 2921 | 2876 | 2899 | 2967 | 2951 | 2771 |
Water Company | Leakage l/property/d | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 |
Severn Trent Water | Leakage l/property/d | 125.68 | 121.58 | 118.84 | 123.27 | 114.88 | 108.51 |
South Staffordshire Water | Leakage l/property/d | 119.30 | 119.46 | 118.91 | 122.59 | 123.63 | 115.16 |
England average | Leakage l/property/d | 124.24 | 121.47 | 120.78 | 124.14 | 120.83 | 111.57 |
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
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 increase access to veterinary care for animal owners on low incomes in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
While recognising the challenges that animal owners on low incomes may be facing, particularly at this unprecedented time, the Department has no plans to increase access to veterinary care for owners. However, depending on where an owner lives, charities such as the RSPCA, People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), Blue Cross as well as other local charities, may provide support for owners who may be struggling to pay their vets bills, subject to certain criteria being met.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of air quality around schools in Coventry.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Local authorities are required to review and assess local air quality and to take action where there are high levels of air pollution. Local authorities have discretionary powers to restrict car access to schools and enforce anti-idling laws outside schools.
The Government’s Air Quality Grant Programme provides funding to local authorities for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions which may include action targeting schools. The Government has awarded over £64 million in funding since the air quality grant started in 1997.
The Government has put in place a £3.8 billion plan to improve air quality and reduce harmful nitrogen dioxide roadside emissions. Our Clean Air Strategy sets out measures we are taking to improve air quality and reduce emissions of pollution, improving public health.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to public purse of sending waste to landfill in each of the last three years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
My department does not estimate the costs to the public purse of sending waste to landfill.
Information for England on the amount of Local Authority collected and managed waste sent to landfill is as follows:
Year | 000s tonnes |
2016/17 | 4,136 |
2017/18 | 3,213 |
2018/19 | 2,756 |
Data on local authority costs of waste disposal, which would include waste to landfill, is published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in ‘Revenue Outturn Cultural, Environmental, Regulatory and Planning Services (RO5).
Costs for 2016/17 can be found at:
Costs for 2017/18 can be found at:
Costs for 2018/19 can be found at: