Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers had not received money due from the Rural Payments Agency under the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme by the end of 16 November 2016 in (a) England, (b) Cumbria and (c) Copeland parliamentary constituency.
Answered by George Eustice
By 16 November, in addition to claims which the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) cannot pay due to legal reasons such as probate, all but 6 claimants had received a payment, and of those 6 none are in Cumbria or the Copeland constituency. This figure is an increase of 1 compared to the previously reported figure because the agency is completing routine final checks on nil value claims.
The RPA said it would investigate BPS 2015 claims where there is a discrepancy between the claim information and that held on the Rural Payments Service through a planned reconciliation process. This started after the BPS 2016 application window and looked at an initial stock of 13,607 claims for England. The agency continues to review new queries and has identified 1,200 claims relating to common land, of these 386 are in Cumbria and 73 are in the Copeland constituency.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of flood damage as a result of Storms Desmond, Eva and Frank to (a) national park authorities, (b) county councils, (c) borough councils, (d) fire and rescue authorities, (e) police and crime authorities and (f) parish councils.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government does not routinely hold or collect data at these levels.
The Lake District National Park Authority estimated £10m worth of flood damage was caused to access infrastructure in the Lake District National Park as a result of Storms Desmond, Eva and Frank.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
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 visit Keswick to meet the Keswick Flood Action Group, the Keswick Town Council and the hon. Member for Copeland to discuss flood prevention.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
I visited Keswick on 9 August 2016 and met members of the Keswick Flood Action Group. I saw and heard about both the impact of the winter floods and the programme of work on flooding prevention and resilience enhancement.
I do not have another visit scheduled but I would be glad to meet the hon. Member for Copeland and Keswick representatives next time. Meanwhile, I am keen to support the good work that the Cumbria Flood Partnership and all local parties are doing on flood prevention and preparedness for the coming winter.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
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 it her policy to require supermarkets to donate food to food banks and other charities.
Answered by Rory Stewart
I am replying as the Minister with responsibility for food waste.
The Government welcomes the redistribution of good quality surplus food to charities that can make sure it goes to people rather than going to waste.
Based on our experience, a simple law or requirement obliging supermarkets to donate food would not fix the barriers to redistribution. We need to look at the bigger picture. Less than 10% of food wasted in the supply chain is from supermarkets, so we need the whole chain to work together.
Facilitated and supported by government, all major retailers now have arrangements in place to redistribute surplus food. Action taken by retailers to redistribute surplus food includes:
Signatories to the voluntary Courtauld Commitment with industry have reported a 74% increase between 2012 and end 2014, and we expect it to increase further.
We want to achieve more. Last year, the Secretary of State held a meeting with industry and redistribution organisations to take stock of progress on food redistribution. Outcomes from this include the recent publication of a Redistribution Framework to help facilitate closer working between potential donors and recipients of food surpluses. Research has been commissioned by WRAP to identify where and why waste and surpluses occur in the supply chain to inform further action to increase waste prevention and redistribution.
Following the success of earlier agreements, WRAP launched The Courtauld Commitment 2025 in March. This is an ambitious new agreement that takes a whole food supply chain approach, and will build on the progress we have already made to prevent waste, including through the redistribution of surplus food.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
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 the resilience of agriculture businesses in (a) Copeland and (b) Allerdale to respond to the effects of (i) Storm Desmond and (ii) future severe weather events.
Answered by George Eustice
We have been working closely with the NFU and other industry bodies to identify major problems, not only in Copeland and Allerdale, but across Cumbria, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Durham where exceptional rainfall added to ground which was already saturated. In response, we have provided grants and other support to help farmers restore their land through the Farming Recovery Fund. Farmers affected by flooding will be able to claim grants of between £500 and £20,000 to cover the cost of restoring their farmland.
In restoring damaged features such as bridges, fences or cross drains, we are encouraging farmers to protect against the future by considering building in protection against future flood damage. They can do this by locating these in a position where they are less likely to be damaged in the future or can be (for example, in the case of bridges) raised to reduce the risk of water damage. If farmers consider relocating features within their field, they could save replacement costs in the future.
We have also put in place in Cumbria a new partnership, which includes representatives of agriculture businesses, to develop an action plan to be published this summer. The action plan will cover a range of issues, such as what improvements may be needed to flood defences in the region; upstream options for slowing key rivers to reduce peak water flows, and ways of building stronger links between local residents, businesses, community groups and flood defence planning.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
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 on the agriculture sector in Cumbria of recent flooding and severe weather.
Answered by George Eustice
Approximately 600 farmers in Cumbria suffered flooding as a result of Storm Desmond. Considerable damage has been done to stone walls, hedges and tracks. We have established a Farm Recovery Fund which enables farmers to claim grants of between £500 and £20,000 to cover the cost of restoring their farmland. The deadline for fund applications is 1 April 2016.
While recognising the significant impact on those farmers affected, the overall impact on UK livestock prices and production is likely to be limited.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of recent flooding and severe weather in Cumbria on livestock prices.
Answered by George Eustice
Approximately 600 farmers in Cumbria suffered flooding as a result of Storm Desmond. Considerable damage has been done to stone walls, hedges and tracks. We have established a Farm Recovery Fund which enables farmers to claim grants of between £500 and £20,000 to cover the cost of restoring their farmland. The deadline for fund applications is 1 April 2016.
While recognising the significant impact on those farmers affected, the overall impact on UK livestock prices and production is likely to be limited.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
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 trends in the UK bee population since the introduction of the ban on neonicotinoids.
Answered by George Eustice
In December 2014, Defra published draft statistics showing long term trends in UK bee populations in our UK and England Biodiversity Indicators. They showed that while some species had become more widespread, a greater number had become less widespread between 1980 and 2010.[1]
Defra is working with the research community to improve and update this indicator on pollinators. However, there is currently insufficient data to provide an assessment of trends since the introduction of the restrictions on neonicotinoids in December 2013. Moreover, national trends respond to a range of positive and negative pressures in the environment. Targeted field research is more likely to provide evidence on the effects of neonicotinoids and studies of this type are ongoing.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/england-biodiversity-indicators; http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-1824