Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
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 make an assessment of the cost to the public purse of reopening the navigable waterways in the Anglian region which have been closed by the Environment Agency since 2006; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
No navigations on Anglian Waterways have been closed permanently since 2006. For health and safety reasons, and to protect the general public and those who use the waterways, the Environment Agency has temporarily closed some assets such as locks and landing stages, that have made some waterways difficult to access for some craft.
The Environment Agency has not held any recent discussions with local authorities in the Anglian region about the re-opening of closed navigable waterways in that region. The Environment Agency will consider the restoration and re-opening of closed navigable waterways depending on the amount of future funding available and the importance, such as the level of use, of the waterway to be re-opened.
The Secretary of State has had no discussions with the Environment Agency on reopening the navigable waterways in the Anglian region.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
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 have discussions with the Environment Agency on reopening the navigable waterways in the Anglian region which have been closed by that agency since 2006.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
No navigations on Anglian Waterways have been closed permanently since 2006. For health and safety reasons, and to protect the general public and those who use the waterways, the Environment Agency has temporarily closed some assets such as locks and landing stages, that have made some waterways difficult to access for some craft.
The Environment Agency has not held any recent discussions with local authorities in the Anglian region about the re-opening of closed navigable waterways in that region. The Environment Agency will consider the restoration and re-opening of closed navigable waterways depending on the amount of future funding available and the importance, such as the level of use, of the waterway to be re-opened.
The Secretary of State has had no discussions with the Environment Agency on reopening the navigable waterways in the Anglian region.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions the Environment Agency has had with local authorities in the Anglian region on reopening the navigable waterways in that region which have been closed by the Environment Agency since 2006.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
No navigations on Anglian Waterways have been closed permanently since 2006. For health and safety reasons, and to protect the general public and those who use the waterways, the Environment Agency has temporarily closed some assets such as locks and landing stages, that have made some waterways difficult to access for some craft.
The Environment Agency has not held any recent discussions with local authorities in the Anglian region about the re-opening of closed navigable waterways in that region. The Environment Agency will consider the restoration and re-opening of closed navigable waterways depending on the amount of future funding available and the importance, such as the level of use, of the waterway to be re-opened.
The Secretary of State has had no discussions with the Environment Agency on reopening the navigable waterways in the Anglian region.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Environment Agency plans to spend on the navigable waterways in the Anglian Region in each of the next three years.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Environment Agency reports the condition of the essential navigation assets such as locks, landing stages and canoe portages on a quarterly basis. Assets are considered to be at a required condition if they do not have any defects that significantly reduce the performance of the asset, or adversely increase the safety risk to the public or Environment Agency staff.
The Environment Agency regularly inspects all navigation assets. If there is a safety risk to members of the public then repairs will be undertaken to remove the risk or the asset will be closed.
The information in the table below relates only to expenditure associated with navigation assets within Anglian Region. The Environment Agency also invests money on other assets and in-river works that provide benefit to navigation, for example in-river weed cutting for Flood and Coastal Risk Management purposes, and investment to weirs and sluices that maintain a water level for navigation.
Anglian Waterways Expenditure | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 Forecast |
TOTAL | £5,839,710 | £5,299,677 | £5,704,044 | £4,125,984 | £4,142,018 | £4,919,461 |
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Over the next three years the Environment Agency will continue to invest the income it receives from registration charges collected from the users on the Anglian waterways. From March 2017 this is expected to be £2,265m per annum. The Environment Agency also secures funding from within the organisation which is negotiated on an annual basis.
As part of the 2015 Spending Review the Environment Agency’s capital settlement from Defra was £3m pa over the next three years to be spent across all our waterways. Funding will be allocated to assets which will benefit the most from investment. Anglian waterways will receive a proportion of this funding.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Environment Agency spent on the navigable waterways in the Anglian region in each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Environment Agency reports the condition of the essential navigation assets such as locks, landing stages and canoe portages on a quarterly basis. Assets are considered to be at a required condition if they do not have any defects that significantly reduce the performance of the asset, or adversely increase the safety risk to the public or Environment Agency staff.
The Environment Agency regularly inspects all navigation assets. If there is a safety risk to members of the public then repairs will be undertaken to remove the risk or the asset will be closed.
The information in the table below relates only to expenditure associated with navigation assets within Anglian Region. The Environment Agency also invests money on other assets and in-river works that provide benefit to navigation, for example in-river weed cutting for Flood and Coastal Risk Management purposes, and investment to weirs and sluices that maintain a water level for navigation.
Anglian Waterways Expenditure | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 Forecast |
TOTAL | £5,839,710 | £5,299,677 | £5,704,044 | £4,125,984 | £4,142,018 | £4,919,461 |
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Over the next three years the Environment Agency will continue to invest the income it receives from registration charges collected from the users on the Anglian waterways. From March 2017 this is expected to be £2,265m per annum. The Environment Agency also secures funding from within the organisation which is negotiated on an annual basis.
As part of the 2015 Spending Review the Environment Agency’s capital settlement from Defra was £3m pa over the next three years to be spent across all our waterways. Funding will be allocated to assets which will benefit the most from investment. Anglian waterways will receive a proportion of this funding.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
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 she has made of the condition of the navigable waterways managed by the Environment Agency in the Anglian region.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Environment Agency reports the condition of the essential navigation assets such as locks, landing stages and canoe portages on a quarterly basis. Assets are considered to be at a required condition if they do not have any defects that significantly reduce the performance of the asset, or adversely increase the safety risk to the public or Environment Agency staff.
The Environment Agency regularly inspects all navigation assets. If there is a safety risk to members of the public then repairs will be undertaken to remove the risk or the asset will be closed.
The information in the table below relates only to expenditure associated with navigation assets within Anglian Region. The Environment Agency also invests money on other assets and in-river works that provide benefit to navigation, for example in-river weed cutting for Flood and Coastal Risk Management purposes, and investment to weirs and sluices that maintain a water level for navigation.
Anglian Waterways Expenditure | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 Forecast |
TOTAL | £5,839,710 | £5,299,677 | £5,704,044 | £4,125,984 | £4,142,018 | £4,919,461 |
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Over the next three years the Environment Agency will continue to invest the income it receives from registration charges collected from the users on the Anglian waterways. From March 2017 this is expected to be £2,265m per annum. The Environment Agency also secures funding from within the organisation which is negotiated on an annual basis.
As part of the 2015 Spending Review the Environment Agency’s capital settlement from Defra was £3m pa over the next three years to be spent across all our waterways. Funding will be allocated to assets which will benefit the most from investment. Anglian waterways will receive a proportion of this funding.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her overseas counterparts on proposals to protect the Last Ice Area and its polar bear population.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Defra has had no recent discussions with our overseas counterparts on proposals to protect the Last Ice Area. We were however pleased that polar bear range countries committed to the first-ever circumpolar, 10 year action plan in 2015 to protect and manage the bears and their habitat. The UK supports this collaborative approach as the way forward to ensure the long term conservation of the species.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her EU counterparts about preventing whale meat and other whale-based products from passing through EU ports.
Answered by George Eustice
The transit of whale meat through UK and EU ports remains a point of concern for the UK. Alongside other EU Member States, we have continued to push the European Commission to look at the scope for collective action within the EU.
This is a complex issue involving complying with international trade rules, however, leaving the EU will present us with an opportunity to consider this issue from a different perspective.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Chinese counterpart on preventing the breeding of tigers for commercial purposes.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
I met the Chinese delegation to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 17th Conference of Parties, including the Vice Minister of the State Forestry Administration, in London on 21 September 2016 immediately prior to the Conference. Although discussions did not specifically include the commercial breeding of tigers, we did discuss the conservation of a number of species including tigers.
At the Conference the UK, working with Member States of the European Union and other countries, achieved strong outcomes for tigers including the agreement of proposals to scrutinise captive breeding facilities.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the National Wildlife Crime Unit in tackling wildlife crime and protecting endangered species.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Crawley, Henry Smith, on 7 July 2016, PQ UIN905727.