Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many storm overflow discharges there have been in South Holland and The Deepings constituency in the last five years.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has significantly driven up monitoring and transparency of water companies in recent years. The number of storm overflows monitored across the English network has increased from 7% in 2010 to 100% now monitored.
To improve transparency this data is now publicly available on the Government website (Event Duration Monitoring - Storm Overflows - Annual Returns - data.gov.uk). This shows the following discharges records for South Holland the Deepings:
The difference in the figures is due to the increase in the number of assets being monitored. 2023 data will be available in March this year.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to ban the non-commercial transportation of heavily pregnant dogs.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As outlined in our 2021 Action Plan for Animal Welfare, the Government has an ambitious agenda for animal welfare and conservation reforms, which we are taking forward during this Parliamentary session. We will continue to introduce and support legislative and non-legislative reforms where possible.
We are aware that Selaine Saxby MP has introduced a Private Members’ Bill on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of dogs, cats and ferrets. In accordance with Parliamentary convention, the Government will set out its formal position on this Bill when it receives its Second Reading.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people are employed by the Environment Agency in roles relating to diversity, equality and inclusion.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is a total of 9.66 full-time equivalents (FTE) currently employed by the Environment Agency in equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). 8.66 are in the EDI national team (2 of which are on a temporary contract), and 1 FTE is employed as a local lead. The role of the EDI team is to implement Defra policies on EDI legislation, as the Environment Agency is bound by the Public Sector Equality Duty, which came into force in April 2011, arising from section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. At the Environment Agency, EDI resources are a supporting function and are fully integrated within all work areas of the Strategic Workforce Plan, to enable better environmental outcomes and to achieve a better representation of the community the Environment Agency serves.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an estimate of the potential cost to farmers of dog attacks on farm animals in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
National Farmers Union (NFU) Mutual data shows that insurance claims costs of dog attacks on farm animals rose to more than £1.8 million in 2022. In 2022 the National Sheep Association reported that, on average, there was a cost of £1,232 per farmer per year as a result of livestock worrying.
The Government takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising the distress this can cause animals and their keepers. The Government is currently supporting a Private Members’ Bill to amend the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953. The measures in the Bill will greatly strengthen the existing legislation and are vital in tackling the issue of livestock worrying.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help increase the number of hedgehogs.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to taking action to recover our threatened native species, such as hedgehog. In England, we have set four legally binding targets; to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030; then to reverse declines by 2042; to reduce the risk of species extinction by 2042; and restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, also by 2042.
The Environment Act 2021 introduced several policies, such as Biodiversity Net Gain, Local Nature Recovery Strategies, and a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities, which will work together to support the creation and restoration of habitat which will benefit native species.
In addition, our environmental land management schemes will provide farmers, foresters and other land managers with financial support to engage in a wide range of measures which will deliver positive benefits for native species, including hedgehog. For example, as hedgerows are an important habitat for hedgehogs, funding the creation, restoration and maintenance of hedgerows through the Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes, will support the recovery of the species.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help restore wetlands.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has made a number of commitments which will help to restore our wetland habitats. Our Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) is underpinned by our legally binding Environment Act targets, including our apex target to halt species decline by 2030, and a commitment to create or restore over 500,000 hectares of a range of wildlife-rich habitats, including wetland habitats, by 2042. We also aim to bring 75% of our Protected Sites to favourable condition by 2042; many wetlands are Protected Sites.
The UK is a member of the international Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Across the UK, including the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories, we protect 175 internationally important Ramsar wetlands, which is more than any other country. As part of our commitment under Ramsar, we have committed to establishing a UK Wetland Inventory which involves mapping our wetlands for the first time and supporting future action to protect these vital habitats.
Our England Peat Action Plan sets out a strategic framework to improve management and protection of our peatlands, which are a kind of wetland. In our Plan for Water, we acknowledge the vital role that wetlands can play in Natural flood management (NFM) and are also actively using wetlands in our proposals for Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), which mimic natural water flow and are designed to reduce the impact of rainfall on new developments.
Additionally, we have launched 12 landscape-scale Nature Recovery Projects over the past two years, and half of them include wetland habitat elements within their wilding mosaics. These include a 60,000-hectare Nature Recovery Project focusing on the Somerset Wetlands, with the 6,140-hectare super National Nature Reserve at its heart.
We are also encouraging the delivery of wetlands through our other schemes. Recent actions announced under our Environmental Land Management schemes include increased payments for the creation and management of wetlands; for example, payment for management of fen has increased from £35 per hectare to £920 per hectare. In addition to this, our multi-million-pound Species Survival Fund grant scheme will create and restore a range of habitat types, including wetlands. Together these projects will enhance connectivity, species recovery and resilience to climate change.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to reform the funding of internal drainage board levies.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government remains committed to the important work that internal drainage boards (IDBs) undertake. IDBs are independent statutory public bodies, mainly funded by the beneficiaries of their work, as set out in the Land Drainage Act 1991. This is divided between farmers / landowners (who pay drainage rates) and local authorities (who pay a special levy) and is proportionate to the land classification in the IDB area. The Government provided additional one-off funding to 15 councils in 2023 in respect of the significant additional pressure caused by energy costs on IDB special levies. The government remains in contact with the sector.
There is currently a technical barrier to the creation of new and expansion of existing IDBs. The Government has amended the Land Drainage Act 1991, via the Environment Act 2021, to remove this barrier. This enables new updated valuation calculations for IDBs to use in apportioning their expenses between drainage rates and special levies to be included in secondary legislation. We will aim to implement the statutory instrument as soon as possible, pending the outcome of the consultation which we hope to launch shortly.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help reduce puppy smuggling between Northern Ireland and England.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government takes the illegal importation of pets seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency continues to work collaboratively with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland and other relevant authorities, sharing intelligence to disrupt illegal imports and safeguard the welfare of animals.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the Environment Agency on the (a) accuracy of flood maps and (b) extent to which those maps take into account an area's flood defences.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Defra’s arm’s length bodies, including the Environment Agency, on a range of issues. This includes many topics on flood and coastal erosion risk management such as the Environment Agency’s flood risk maps and models.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 have been (a) made and (b) approved in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window and as of 15 December the RPA had received 6 applications of which 4 agreements have been offered and 3 accepted for the South Holland and the Deepings constituency.