To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Coal: Heating
Wednesday 11th March 2020

Asked by: Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative - Thurrock)

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 potential effect the proposed ban on burning coal in domestic settings on fuel poverty.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

As stated in the Government Response published on 21 February, we want to see a move from bituminous coal to less polluting fuels in the domestic setting. We will facilitate this transition by only allowing the sale of smokeless coal (or anthracite) and low sulphur manufactured solid fuels for the purpose of domestic combustion.


Written Question
Coal: Heating
Tuesday 10th March 2020

Asked by: Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative - Thurrock)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of particulate emissions is generated by domestic coal burning.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Details on emissions of particulate matter (PM) by fuel type are not available for the latest year’s emissions inventory (first published 14 February 2020). This information will be available later in the spring via the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory website. Levels and trends in annual emissions of particulate matter in the UK are available from the National Statistics on emissions of air pollutants. These can be found at the following URL:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/emissions-of-air-pollutants

Data from the previous year’s inventory (published in 2019) indicate that approximately 3% of all PM2.5 emissions and 2% of all PM10 emissions in the UK were attributed to the domestic burning of coal in 2017. This equates to 3.3 kilotons and 3.4 kilotons of PM2.5 and PM10 emitted from domestic coal combustion in 2017, respectively. These figures include the burning of anthracite which is coal with a high carbon content.


Written Question
Thames Flood Barrier
Monday 9th March 2020

Asked by: Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative - Thurrock)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times the Thames flood barrier has been closed in each month since January 2017.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There have been 12 Thames Barrier Flood Defence Closures since January 2017. The table below shows how these have fallen over the following months.

2017

2018

2019

2020

Total

January

2

3

5

February

2

2

March

1

1

April

May

June

July

August

September

1

1

October

1

1

2

November

December

1

1

There have been 46 Thames Barrier Closures in total since January 2017. This includes monthly test closures and flood defence closures. A table showing the monthly breakdown is below:

2017

2018

2019

2020

Total

January

3

3

1

1

8

February

1

1

1

2

5

March

1

1

2

4

April

1

1

1

3

May

1

1

1

3

June

1

1

1

3

July

1

1

1

3

August

1

1

1

3

September

1

1

1

3

October

2

1

2

5

November

1

1

1

3

December

1

1

1

3