Asked by: Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - The Cotswolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by what process local flood groups can apply for an allocation from the £2.3 billion of flood defence funding announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.
Answered by Rory Stewart
If a local flood group wish to progress a flood management scheme it should contact its local Environment Agency or the relevant county council or unitary authority for its area. Details for each local Environment Agency office can be obtained by email: enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk or by telephone: Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm 0370 8506 506.
Asked by: Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - The Cotswolds)
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 take steps to ensure that supermarkets (a) do not sell British milk below the cost of production and (b) include British milk under their Fairtrade agendas.
Answered by George Eustice
All operators in the supply chain should receive a fair price for their goods. We regularly bring together supermarkets, processors and farmers through the Dairy Supply Chain Forum to discuss issues such as collaboration, risk management and market volatility. I am meeting industry leaders shortly to discuss what more can be done to get through this volatile period and help to build a long-term resilient dairy industry where businesses can thrive.
The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) was set up to help suppliers if they feel they are being treated unfairly by retailers, and we encourage dairy suppliers to use the GCA where they feel the grocery code has been breached.
The Fairtrade mark is a private initiative which can be used for products which have been sourced from products in developing countries.
Asked by: Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - The Cotswolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Environment Agency classifies as a watercourse; if he will ensure that insurance companies can differentiate between major watercourses and watercourses of no consequence; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The Environment Agency defines a “Watercourse” according to section 72(1) of the Land Drainage Act 1991. It includes all rivers and streams and all ditches, drains, cuts, culverts, dikes, sluices, sewers (other than public sewers within the meaning of the Water Industry Act 1991) and passages, through which water flows.
Insurance companies take into account a range of factors in setting policy premiums and excesses, and different insurers take different approaches to assessing flood risk. Certain insurance companies would use proximity to a watercourse to assess the risk of flooding to a property, whilst other companies may use postcodes to assess flood risk or their own flood risk models.