Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects to respond to the Natural England's report on the Weybourne to Hunstanton proposals for the England Coast Path submitted to his department on 21 Mach 2018; and when he expects to receive proposals from Natural England for the Hunstanton to Sutton Bridge section.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A decision regarding the Coastal Access Report on Weybourne to Hunstanton has been delayed due to the European Court ruling known as People Over Wind. Natural England is reviewing the relevant Habitats Regulations Assessment in compliance with this ruling. In addition, a number of objections were received following the publication of Natural England’s initial report. Defra has appointed an independent planning inspector to examine these objections.
This evidence will need to be considered as part of the Secretary of State’s decision on the proposals.
Natural England is still finalising its reports for the stretch between Hunstanton and Sutton Bridge. Work on the reports has been delayed by Covid-19, and Natural England now expects to submit its proposals in the autumn.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 he has made of the level of risk of an outbreak of African swine fever in the UK; and what steps the Government is taking to mitigate that risk through border controls.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Animal and Plant Health Agency regularly assess the changing global animal disease presence and its potential risk to the UK. The most recent assessments for African swine fever (ASF) were published on the Gov.uk website in March 2020 (for Europe) and May 2020 (for South East Asia and Oceania). The UK remains at medium risk for the entry of contaminated or infected products. The risk of exposure to the UK pig population is highly dependent on the level of biosecurity on individual pig premises and is low.
In terms of mitigating that risk, EU safeguard measures restrict the commercial trade of pork and pork products from regions that are affected by ASF so these cannot be traded with the UK. All countries outside of the EU who are currently approved to trade in pork and pork products with the UK are free of ASF. The import of pork products from non-approved countries is illegal. Defra continues to work closely with Border Force officials to crack down on illegally imported meat and UK Border officials target and search freight, passengers and luggage at the border and will seize and destroy illegally imported meat products. A specific communications campaign about ASF was launched in summer 2019 which included a new poster campaign introduced in UK airports and ports, to raise awareness of the disease and the risks of bringing back potentially contaminated products.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to include heritage buildings and structures in the definition of the natural environment to be used in preparing environmental improvement plans.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our current 25 Year Environment Plan committed us to “safeguarding and enhancing the beauty of our natural scenery and improving its environmental value while being sensitive to considerations of its heritage”. We will continue this approach to improving the natural environment, both identifying the mutually positive impacts on the natural and historic environments our policies can have, as well as identifying potential trade-offs between them.