Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how the Department plans to reduce the complexity, cost and time for landowners to obtain the required licences to carry out repairs, tree management and flood mitigations on water courses.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government keeps all legislation under review, including permitting, and announced, in its Regulation Action Plan, plans to streamline the process for defining exemptions within environmental permitting. The Environment Agency will be able to exempt certain flood risk activities, making the regime quicker, more flexible and proportionate for low-risk activities.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has considered the establishment of a cross-border agency to co-ordinate and consolidate the flood response for waterways running through Wales and England.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Although the response to flooding is a devolved matter, during flooding incidents Defra coordinates closely with colleagues in Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales where appropriate.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support the Department offers to both households and businesses who are unable to secure insurance following repeated flood events.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Flood Re, the joint Government and industry scheme, supports households to access floods insurance. Households and businesses can use the British Insurance Brokers’ Association Find Insurance Service and Flood Insurance Directory to identify specialist providers. Parametric insurance can provide business insurance for pre-agreed events, with choices of premiums for multiple levels of risk.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding her Department has secured for flood management and mitigation schemes in rural areas.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is investing at least £10.5 billion until 2036 to construct new flood schemes and repair existing defences, protecting communities across England from the devastating impacts of climate change.
Last October, the Government announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy. Our funding rules will support farming and rural communities and improve resilience against flood risk across the country.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total proceeds of fines on water companies have been since the Treasury announcement on 30 November 2022 that they would be reserved for river restoration; and how much has been spent for this purpose.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Water Restoration Fund, which launched in April this year, is reinvesting water company environmental fines and penalties into projects to improve the water environment. A total of £11 million has been made available for local projects in regions where fines and penalties have been issued between April 2022 and October 2023. The application window for the Water Restoration Fund closed on Friday 7th June and we are currently reviewing applications. The Government is committed to restoring and enhancing the water environment in England.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Nutrient Taskforce on phosphate pollution in the river Wye.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Wye catchment area is internationally important for biodiversity, principally due to the wide range of rare river wildlife. It is vitally important that we achieve the right balance to allow sustainable development to continue and protect our most important natural habitats.
A cross border taskforce focussing on the Wye Catchment was convened by Herefordshire Council in September. The taskforce further supports the ongoing work of the Nutrient Management Board and its associated Technical Advisory Group to find effective solutions.
The board meets quarterly to identify and review actions that achieve the phosphorus conservation target of the River Wye Special Area of Conservation. The primary mechanism for achieving this will be through the delivery of the Nutrient Management Plan, the first draft of which has been published.
In the short term, and alongside the work of the Nutrient Pollution Taskforce, Natural England has been working with Herefordshire Council to enable housing projects that can demonstrate nutrient neutrality to be able to proceed. This has included funding put in place by the Council for both a wetlands scheme, which will have a series of eight interconnected wetlands to support approx. 1500 houses, and the commissioning of the 'Interim Delivery Plan' which includes a Phosphate Calculator, thus enabling small scale developments to be unlocked.
I also attended a productive roundtable meeting on 13 July with Minister Pincher of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and local staff from the Environment Agency, Natural England and Herefordshire County Council to discuss this issue.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on allocating funding to tackle pollution in the river Wye.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Wye catchment area is internationally important for biodiversity, principally due to the wide range of rare river wildlife. It is vitally important that we achieve the right balance to allow sustainable development to continue and to protect our most important natural habitats.
In the recently-announced Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, Defra has been allocated an additional £250 million to deliver against the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan for nature's recovery and the new legally-binding target to halt biodiversity loss by 2030. This specifically includes tackling nutrient pollution in rivers and streams.
We are almost doubling funding for the Catchment Sensitive Farming programme. This additional £17 million will allow all farms in England, including those in the Wye catchment, access to free 1-2-1 advice and support farmers to help them reduce water and air pollution through management of farmyard manure and soils, among other things.
We have also recently increased funding to the Environment Agency for 50 new farm inspectors. These will be targeted at high-risk catchments such as the Wye.
As well as Government funding, we are also looking to other investment routes to improve the state of our rivers and the surrounding environment. The water sector is investing £5.4 billion to protect the environment between 2020 and 2025 and we have set a stretching new target to raise at least £500 million in private finance for nature’s recovery every year by 2027 and more than £1 billion a year by 2030.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Natural England and (b) the Environment Agency on pollution in the River Wye.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Improving water quality is a government priority. The issues with phosphate pollution in the River Wye are well known. We are working closely with the Environment Agency (EA), Natural England (NE), Natural Resources Wales, Welsh Ministers and local councils to address this issue through multiple channels.
A cross-border meeting about the Wye catchment was convened by Herefordshire Council in September. It is a new group set up to bring together the councillors and officers across all authorities, agencies, Welsh Water, and The Wye and Usk Foundation.
Separately, NE, Natural Resources Wales, the EA and other partners continue to work together, through the Nutrient Management Board and its associated Technical Advisory Group. The board meets quarterly to identify and deliver actions that achieve the phosphorous conservation target of the River Wye Special Area of Conservation. The primary mechanism for achieving this will be through the delivery of the Nutrient Management Plan which will identify measures needed to both restore the site to favourable condition and seek to create capacity for development, without harming the natural environment.
I have also visited the River Wye and attended a roundtable meeting with the hon. Member for North Herefordshire, the Minister of State (Minister for Housing) the Rt Hon Member for Tamworth, local EA and NE staff as well as Herefordshire Council staff held on 13 July to discuss the long-term plan for the River Wye and how we mitigate nutrient pollution there.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Ministers in the Welsh Government on pollution in the River Wye.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Improving water quality is a government priority. The issues with phosphate pollution in the River Wye are well known. We are working closely with the Environment Agency (EA), Natural England (NE), Natural Resources Wales, Welsh Ministers and local councils to address this issue through multiple channels.
A cross-border meeting about the Wye catchment was convened by Herefordshire Council in September. It is a new group set up to bring together the councillors and officers across all authorities, agencies, Welsh Water, and The Wye and Usk Foundation.
Separately, NE, Natural Resources Wales, the EA and other partners continue to work together, through the Nutrient Management Board and its associated Technical Advisory Group. The board meets quarterly to identify and deliver actions that achieve the phosphorous conservation target of the River Wye Special Area of Conservation. The primary mechanism for achieving this will be through the delivery of the Nutrient Management Plan which will identify measures needed to both restore the site to favourable condition and seek to create capacity for development, without harming the natural environment.
I have also visited the River Wye and attended a roundtable meeting with the hon. Member for North Herefordshire, the Minister of State (Minister for Housing) the Rt Hon Member for Tamworth, local EA and NE staff as well as Herefordshire Council staff held on 13 July to discuss the long-term plan for the River Wye and how we mitigate nutrient pollution there.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
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 (a) level of pollution in the river Wye and (b) impact of that pollution on aquatic life.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Environment Agency (EA) carries out regular sampling of the River Wye to monitor chemical and biological quality. The main sampling season for the impacts on aquatic life is March to September. Recently collected data is available on the Defra Data Services Platform website here:
https://environment.data.gov.uk/appgallery
The last formal classification of ecological status for the River Wye was carried out in 2019. Overall waterbody classifications for the Wye Management Catchment within England were:
Where there is new data available a refresh of these classifications will be completed in 2022. Details of these assessments are published on the Catchment Data Explorer website here:
https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/
The EA has increased monitoring of water quality and aquatic life in the Wye Catchment in response to deteriorations identified in the 2019 assessments and recent algal blooms within the catchment. The EA is analysing data collected through the growing season this year (March – September 2021) to update its understanding of the sources, pathways and impacts of pollution in the catchment.
Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, the EA and other partners are working together to find effective solutions to restore the River Wye Special Area of Conservation (SAC) to a favourable condition with respect to phosphate. These measures are set out in the Nutrient Management Plan which is published here:
https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/directory-record/2097/nutrient_management_plan