Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff employed by the Environment Agency earn salaries of more than £100,000 per year.
Answered by Rory Stewart
This information is published annually as part of the government’s transparency agenda at: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/staff-organograms-and-pay-environment-agency
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has paid in fines for what reasons to the EU in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Newton Abbott, Anne Marie Morris, to PQ UIN 31252 on 21 March 2016.
As from financial year 2010/11 Defra has accrued £336m for disallowance following the conclusion of EU audits, broken down by financial year as shown in the table below. This relates to a number of different Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Schemes over a number of historical scheme years as disallowance is paid in arrears. These are the only fines that have been imposed on Defra by the EU since 2010.
Disallowance (*) £m | ||||
10/11 | 11/12 | 12/13 | 13/14 | 14/15 |
181 | 42 | 2 | 30 | 81 |
(*) Reflects the sums the European Commission have ruled cannot be reimbursed (i.e. the amounts they have “disallowed”).
Disallowance is applied when we are considered to not have adequate controls in place to protect CAP expenditure, for example, where our inspection processes or the quality of our mapping have been deemed to be insufficient.
We are making a significant investment to improve the quality and currency of our mapping data, which is historically our biggest disallowance risk.
Other key sources of historic disallowance include failures to adequately control cross compliance, the Fruit and Vegetable Producer Organisation scheme and some of the Rural Development schemes.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
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 the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 22 February 2016, Official Report, column 35, on the European Council, whether her Department is undertaking planning in the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government's view is that the UK should remain in the EU and the civil service is working full time to support the Government’s position.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
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 effect of the EU Water Framework Directive on the level of water available in London.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Water Framework Directive aims to protect and improve surface waters and groundwater and promote sustainable water use so that we have a sufficient supply of good quality water for people and the environment. Actions to achieve this are set out in river basin management plans every 6 years.
On the 30th October, the Environment Agency published proposed updated plans which they submitted to the Secretary of State for approval, including the Thames plan which covers London. The preparation of the proposed plan has involved an assessment of current and future water availability in the Thames river basin.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
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 creating a North-South water pipeline to bring water to London.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Government is currently not considering any specific proposals to create a North-South water pipeline. Though we do recognise that increasing interconnection in our water supply system to allow water to be traded and moved will help improve long-term resilience, water is heavy and expensive to move over long distances and its transfer can also have adverse environmental impacts. In the short-term, the transfers that are most likely to be beneficial are strategic interconnection projects to join up water supply zones within, and between, water company networks.
In the longer-term, greater join-up between these networks could allow for the more strategic management of water transfers over a wider area. With the industry, we are exploring ways to increase cross-company collaboration over the next water resources planning period.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to implement the EU Water Framework Directive.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Environment Agency is the competent authority for implementing the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in England. On the basis of Ministerial river basin planning guidance, the Environment Agency produces river basin management plans which set the policy framework for decision making by everyone with a stake in the water environment for each six-year planning period.
The Environment Agency has been reviewing the 2009 river basin management plans over the last three years. This has involved direct engagement with organisations with an interest in management and protection of the water environment, such as water undertakers, land managers, and planners, and three public consultations. Draft updated plans will shortly be submitted for approval to the Secretary of State and published.
Since the river basin plans were first published in 2009 the Environment Agency has worked with partners on projects to improve and protect over 15,000km of rivers, 52 bathing waters and more than 1,000 square kilometres of lakes. These projects include the installation of over 200 fish passes and almost 500 eel passes, which have opened up more than 12,000km of river to fish.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help implement United Utilities' proposed North-South water pipeline alongside the currently proposed High Speed 2 route.
Answered by Rory Stewart
United Utilities did not approach the Department to discuss such a project during the preparations for its water resources management plan, 2015 – 2040, and did not include it in the final submission to the Secretary of State before publishing its final plan.
Defra and the Environment Agency are now working with all water companies to ensure that they consider the range of options for balancing future supply and demand in their next update to their plans to be published in 2019. This includes looking at bulk transfers between companies.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps are being taken to lower the level of air pollution in the area of Oxford Street in London.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Mayor of London is responsible for air quality standards in London. He has set up a Low Emission Zone and has announced the introduction of an Ultra-Low Emission Zone Scheme to ensure that all vehicles driving in the centre of London will be zero or low emission by 2020. A plan to deliver cleaner taxis across London has also been announced to help support London taxi driver’s transition to zero emission capable taxis. Defra’s air quality grant scheme has awarded funding to support the Mayor’s Breathe Better Together public awareness campaign to encourage behaviour change and tackle air pollution. Defra awarded a separate grant to Westminster City Council for on-street electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The Government is currently consulting on plans for how towns and cities can reduce emissions, alongside a national framework that seeks to bring the UK into compliance with limits for nitrogen dioxide in a number of areas by 2020 and in London by 2025.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
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 representations to the European Commission on overturning the ban on the herbicide Asulam.
Answered by George Eustice
Despite UK opposition, asulam was withdrawn from the market at the end of 2012 following an EU review. Asulam is a valuable resource for land managers needing to control bracken. Therefore, in line with EU rules, limited and controlled use has been allowed to continue in the UK where alternative control measures would not be effective.
A new application for EU approval has been submitted and is currently being examined by the Health and Safety Executive. Their assessment will be completed later this year and will be peer reviewed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which will issue its own conclusions. The European Commission will then decide whether to approve asulam for use. If approval is granted, Member States can consider applications to authorise products containing asulam.
The Government believes that decisions on the approval and authorisation of pesticides should be taken on the basis of a scientific assessment of risk. If the assessment shows that asulam can be used without unacceptable risk, this should be permitted.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will ensure that the Basic Payment Scheme is in operation by December 2015.
Answered by George Eustice
The Basic Payment Scheme came into effect from 1 January 2015 and the Rural Payments Agency has said it will be making full payments as early as possible in the payment window, which runs from December to June.