Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many former hon. Members hold (a) paid and (b) unpaid roles within his Department as of 17 July 2018.
Answered by George Eustice
We do not hold a central record in the core Department of all employees, either paid or unpaid, who have previously been Members of Parliament.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural affairs, with reference to page 135 of the Industrial Strategy, published in November 2017, how much funding has been allocated from the public purse to (a) flood defence schemes and (b) household flood protection in each NUTS 1 region.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government is investing £2.6 billion (including the additional £76m announced in the last Budgert) between 2015 and 2021, delivering at least 1,500 new flood defence schemes and better protecting 300,000 homes. The six year Capital Investment Programme will provide Flood Defence Grant-in-Aid as shown below for flood and coastal risk management schemes by NUTS 1 regions.
Where appropriate, property level flood protection measures are integrated within flood risk management schemes. The Government does not hold information centrally about the breakdown of spending for individual elements, such as property level protection measures, of these schemes.
The nationally coordinated project investment includes flood defences which are located in more than one NUTS 1 region, and capitalised costs which support the development of these physical and natural defences.
NUTS1 region | NUTS1 code | Total government planned capital expenditure (£m) between April 2015 and March 2021 (Excluding £76m FROM LAST BUDGET) |
East Midlands | UKF | 198 |
East of England | UKH | 217 |
Greater London | UKI | 134 |
North East | UKC | 46 |
North West | UKD | 210 |
South East | UKJ | 510 |
South West | UKK | 176 |
West Midlands | UKG | 75 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | UKE | 487 |
NATONALLY COORDINATED PROJECT INVESTMENT |
| 452 |
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
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 International Fund for Animal Welfare's proposals of February 2017 to (a) ban sales of puppies through third party intermediaries, (b) ensure all dog purchases are traceable through a robust licensing system and (c) place greater legal restrictions on online puppy sales.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government set out its position on these and other recommendations in its response, which was published in February, to the review by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, entitled Animal Welfare in England: Domestic Pets.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many properties in (a) Hull and (b) each nomenclature of territorial units for statistic region 1 of England are on the Environment Agency's register of properties at higher risk of flooding; and what estimate she has made of the proportion of such properties in each of those areas that have been insured through the Flood Re scheme.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Environment Agency estimates 585 properties to be in areas at high risk of flooding in Hull. The table below summarises the number of properties in areas at high risk of flooding (as of January 2017) in each nomenclature of territorial units for statistic region 1 or NUTS1 regions of England. High risk means there is a greater than a 3.3% chance of flooding in any given year.
Location | NUTS1 code | Number of properties (residential and non-residential) at high risk of flooding in England |
East Midlands (England) | UKF | 30,167 |
East Of England | UKH | 36,444 |
London | UKI | 16,219 |
North East (England) | UKC | 5,688 |
North West (England) | UKD | 21,386 |
South East (England) | UKJ | 73,236 |
South West (England) | UKK | 43,742 |
West Midlands (England) | UKG | 19,196 |
Yorkshire And The Humber | UKE | 23,755 |
Total |
| 269,833 |
Since the Scheme’s launch in April 2016, over 45 insurers are now offering Flood Re backed policies, representing over 90% of the market. Between April and September 2016, the Flood Re Scheme has provided backing to 53,000 policies. Flood Re Scheme has provided backing to 53,000 policies across the UK. Flood Re expect the number of 350,000 UK households.
The distribution of properties backed by Flood Re is decided by the choices of individual insurers, who decide whether a property should be supported by the Scheme, based on the insurers’ assessment of a property’s flood risk. Flood Re expect to provide more detail on the policies backed by the Scheme this summer.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of home insurers have (i) met and (ii) failed to meet their quotas to issue insurance policies to properties in high flood-risk areas in the last two years; and on how many occasions the Financial Conduct Authority has taken action against insurers who failed to meet those quotas.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Since the Scheme’s launch in April 2016, over 45 insurers are now offering Flood Re backed policies, representing over 90% of the market. Between April and September 2016, the Flood Re Scheme has provided backing to 53,000 policies.
We have no powers to force insurers to make use of Flood Re. These powers, in the Water Act 2014, relate to the flood obligation. Given that Flood Re is operating well, Ministers currently have no intention to use these powers.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
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 detail the funding for flood defences set out in the National Infrastructure Delivery Plan by NUTS 1 region.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government are investing £2.5 billion between 2015 and 2021, delivering at least 1,500 new flood defence schemes and better protecting 300,000 homes.
The six year Capital Investment Programme will provide Flood Defence Grant-in-Aid as shown below for flood defence schemes by NUTS 1 regions. The nationally coordinated project investment includes capital expenditure on flood defences which are located in more than one NUTS 1 region and capitalised costs which support the development of these physical and natural defences.
NUTS1 region | NUTS1 code | Total government investment (£m) between April 2015 and March 2021 |
East Midlands | UKF | 198 |
East of England | UKH | 217 |
Greater London | UKI | 134 |
North East | UKC | 46 |
North West | UKD | 210 |
South East | UKJ | 510 |
South West | UKK | 176 |
West Midlands | UKG | 75 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | UKE | 487 |
NATIONALLY COORDINATED PROJECT INVESTMENT |
| 452 |
Note: The NUTS 1 statistical regions correspond with the regions of England as used by the UK's Office for National Statistics
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inappropriate advertisements for animals were removed from websites as a result of work with the Pet Advertising Advisory Group and other bodies in each year since 2009-10.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra does not keep records of the number of inappropriate advertisements for pet animals removed from websites. In 2014 the Pet Advertising Advisory Group ran a pilot exercise covering the UK over 12 months which resulted in around 130,000 inappropriate adverts being removed from websites.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is her policy to negotiate to participate in the (a) Common Agricultural Policy and (b) Common Fisheries Policy after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Exit from the EU presents us with a unique opportunity to review the way we manage our farming and fisheries sectors and design a set of policies tailored to the needs of the UK. These sectors are immensely valuable and supporting them will form an important part of our exit from the EU. The Secretary of State, and her ministerial team and cross-Whitehall colleagues, are therefore working with industry, rural and coastal communities, and the wider public to shape our plans for farming and fisheries outside the EU.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on the devolution of the policy and administration of agricultural subsidies to the devolved administrations once the UK exits the Common Agricultural Policy.
Answered by George Eustice
Across the UK, agriculture will receive the same level of funding that it would have received under the Common Agricultural Policy until at least the end of the Multi-Annual Financial Framework in 2020, even if the UK leaves the EU before this point.
The UK Government will be working closely with the devolved administrations as we work on future agriculture policy.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on future collaboration with the EU on air pollution and the transposition into UK law of Directive 2008/50/EC.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union (EU) and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation. The outcome of these negotiations will determine what arrangements apply in relation to EU legislation and funding in future once the UK has left the EU.
The subject matter of the Ambient Air Quality Directive (Directive 2008/50/EC) is devolved. As regards England, the Directive was transposed by the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010.