Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 ensure that the alternative of bringing new water to the Thames Valley via a Severn Thames Transfer pipeline is considered effectively by the Ofwat/RAPID scrutiny process.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Environment Agency’s National Framework for water resources, published in 2020, identified that between 2025 and 2050 around 3,435 million additional litres of water per day will be needed for public water supply.
Water companies have a statutory duty to provide a secure supply of water for customers, efficiently and economically. Statutory water resources management plans show how companies will continue to meet this duty and manage water supply and demand for at least the next 25 years. In their plans, water companies must consider all options, including demand management and water resources infrastructure.
Collaborative regional water resources groups and water companies are preparing their water resources plans for consultations during 2022. Thames Water will formally consult publicly on its draft water resources management plan at the end of 2022, on which, both Ofwat and the Environment Agency are statutory consultees. Ofwat/RAPID’s ongoing scrutiny of proposed strategic water resources schemes will also improve the statutory plans.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the average timeframe for receiving approval for an application for bathing water status.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
We aim to assess and make decisions within 4-6 months of receiving an application so that new designations can be added to the following year’s list of designated bathing waters before the start of the season on 15 May. However, as every application is different, in some instances it can take longer.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 halt and reverse population declines in (a) skylarks and (b) other farmland birds.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
In England, the Countryside Stewardship scheme provides funding for a range of options which support farmland birds by increasing important food sources such as seeds and pollinators, providing nesting and roosting sites, and creating habitats for birds and other species. The scheme has a specific option which supports skylarks by providing nesting habitats in winter cereal crops throughout their breeding season.
As part of our environmental land management approach, participants are able to select from an initial set of eight standards to build their own agreements. Several of these standards contain actions to support birds. For example, the Arable and Horticultural Land Standard aims to support increased farmland biodiversity, including wild bird and pollinator populations through specific actions that will provide year-round resources for farmland birds and insects. Further, the Low and No Input Grassland Standard contains an additional action in its advanced level to provide habitat for wading birds.
Schemes that reward environmental land management will support local environmental priorities while making an important contribution to the delivery of our ambitious national targets and commitments, such as the target to be set to halt the decline of species abundance by 2030 and the establishment of a Nature Recovery Network. For example, the new Landscape Recovery scheme will support the delivery of landscape and ecosystem recovery through long-term, large scale projects, such as by creating woodland and restoring wetland and peatland. The new Local Nature Recovery scheme will also include creating, managing and restoring habitats on a smaller scale.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to migratory birds, what steps are the Government taking (a) nationally and (b) internationally to mitigate species decline.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The UK is a globally important territory for migratory birds, and that is why we continue to take steps nationally and internationally to mitigate species decline. This is underpinned by our new target under the Environment Act 2021, to halt species decline by 2030.
In England, the Countryside Stewardship scheme can help to mitigate species decline, including migratory birds, through a range of options which provide food, habitat and nesting sites. Migratory birds which can be supported through the scheme include lapwing, stone curlew, turtle dove, whitethroat, redshank and snipe.
The Government's 25 Year Environment Plan commits us to restoring 75% of our one million hectares of terrestrial and freshwater protected sites to favourable condition by 2042. Many of these sites, which in total cover over 1 million hectares, protect the habitats of migratory birds even if not specifically notified for those species. Defra and the Devolved Administrations commissioned a review of the terrestrial and coastal UK network of Special Protection Areas, some of which are designated to protect the habitats of regularly-occurring migratory birds, and we have developed an England implementation plan in liaison with Natural England.
The Government continues to support specific conservation action for species, such as the curlew, and as part of the Nature Recovery Network (NRN), we have funded a trial translocation and recovery project in the east of England. We have also supported a range of successful reintroductions for migratory raptors including the white-tailed eagle to southern England.
Internationally, the UK is a signatory to, and proactively engaged with, a number of international agreements which seek to conserve and protect migratory birds and their habitats, in particular the Convention on Migratory Species, the African Eurasian Waterbird Agreement and the International Task Force on Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds in the Mediterranean. In addition to domestic financial support, the UK provides targeted funding to support the conservation of threatened migratory birds and their habitats in developing countries, in particular in Africa.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2021 to Question 59130, on Nature Conservation, when badger culls will be included in the Government's bovine tuberculosis eradication strategy in the event that epidemiological evidence points to a reservoir of disease in badgers.
Answered by Jo Churchill
We are still developing our future policy of badger culling where epidemiological evidence points to a reservoir of disease in badgers. Once the policy has been developed further, we intend to consult on the proposals.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 were received for bathing water status (a) for coastal areas, (b) for inland waters and (c) in total from 1 November 2020 to 31 October 2021.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Between 1 November 2020 and 31 October 2021, Defra has received a total of four applications for bathing water designation: two applications at coastal areas and two applications for inland waters. All applications are currently under consideration.