Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to institute infraction proceedings where Water Framework Directive river quality standards are not met.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
It is for the European Commission, in its role as guardian of the Treaties, to oversee the application of European Union law and institute infraction proceedings where it considers such action appropriate.
The standards which apply under the Water Framework Directive are set out in Directions from the Secretary of State to the Environment Agency. These standards are used by the Environment Agency in drawing up objectives for all water bodies in river basin management plans. These plans are then approved by the Secretary of State. All public bodies have a duty to have regard to these plans and the Environment Agency must exercise its functions to achieve the plans’ objectives.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department provides on (a) the future funding of catchment management partnerships and (b) the role of water companies; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Defra provided start-up funding to catchment partnership hosts of £1.6 million in the 2013/14 financial year and a further £2.2 million in 2014/15. Some of this funding was allocated to a national support group of representatives from the organisations that are hosting catchment partnerships to develop further guidance and support tools. This has included developing a ‘knowledge hub’ to help hosts share existing good practice around securing external funding. Defra continues to support this process through our ongoing evaluation of the catchment based approach to help guide partnerships further. The evaluation will also help to establish whether becoming fully self-sustaining partnerships remains a viable ambition. Catchment partnerships are able to draw in funding through other sectors and organisations. No decision has yet been made about future Defra funding for catchment partnerships.
In parallel, Defra continues to encourage water companies to play an active role in catchment partnerships. In our Strategic Policy Steer to OFWAT, we stipulated that it should provide a regulatory framework which enables water companies to consider funding catchment schemes where they are more cost effective than end-of-pipe treatment solutions. Defra’s ongoing evaluation shows that water companies are working closely with all catchment partnerships. As a result, we anticipate that there will be more catchment investment in water companies’ future business plans under the current Price Review process.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department provides on the level of phosphate discharge allowable from sewage treatment works under the Water Framework Directive; and what plans she has to review this guidance.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
In July Defra published updated Ministerial guidance to the Environment Agency to assist it in carrying out its river basin planning functions under the Water Framework Directive. This includes guidance on environmental standards such as phosphates standards.
Current phosphate standards are set out in Directions to the Environment Agency and will apply to the end of the current six-year planning cycle in 2015.
Updated standards for phosphate will apply for the next six-year river basin planning cycle. This follows a review and consultation by the UK Water Framework Directive Technical Advisory Group. The new standards will be reflected in revised Directions to the Agency.
The Environment Agency sets limits on discharges from sewage treatment works to achieve standards set out in the Directions.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to ensure that the best available technology is used to reduce phosphate discharges into rivers at sewage treatment works in England.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The Environment Agency sets permit limits for sewage works discharges to meet the Environmental Quality Standards required by the Water Framework Directive, as set out in supporting Directions from the Secretary of State. This includes the standards for phosphorus.
There has been considerable investment by water companies in phosphorus removal across the country. In order to meet the new standards, water companies propose further programmes of innovation in their business plans for 2015 to 2020, to optimise the performance of these plants and also to trial novel techniques. This will inform their investment decisions on the appropriate technology to achieve the Environmental Quality Standards.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the levels of fines and sanctions for the illegal felling of trees were last reviewed and updated; and what steps her Department takes to ensure that fines and sanctions for the illegal felling of trees are kept up-to-date and are effective.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The fines and sanctions for the illegal felling of trees are laid out in the Forestry Act 1967 (as amended). The Criminal Justice Act 1982 made provision to increase the level of fine when it introduced the standard scale of fines for summary offences.
The Forestry Act 1967 was also amended by the Regulatory Reform (Forestry) Order 2006. This amendment now enables the Forestry Commissioners the option of serving a Restocking Notice on a person who appears to the Commissioners to have committed an offence of felling without a licence.
The Government’s regulation of the forestry sector was last reviewed in 2011 by the Forestry Regulations Task Force. The independently appointed Task Force made a comprehensive review of the regulations that protect and affect the management of woodland. The Government’s response to its recommendations can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-by-the-forestry-regulation-task-force-government-response
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees have been illegally felled in England and Wales; how many restocking orders have been issued by the Forestry Commission or other relevant body; how many enforcement notices have subsequently been issued following restocking orders not being completed; and how many prosecutions have been taken forward by the Forestry Commission as a result of illegal felling of trees in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The answer below is for England only. Forestry is a devolved matter and responsibility for and monitoring of illegal felling in Wales rests with the Welsh Assembly.
The Forestry Commission does not hold records for the number of trees which are illegally felled because it is the volume of licensable timber which is the key consideration in whether any action may be taken. In 2013/14 however, 99.91% of licensable tree felling was carried out with Forestry Commission approval. The other data requested is shown in the table.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department issues on the time required to investigate cases where prosecution is being considered by the Forestry Commission for the illegal felling of trees.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Defra does not issue any such guidance. Strict time limits are specified in the Forestry Act 1967 which states that proceedings for an offence of felling without a licence may be instituted within six months from the first discovery of the offence by the person taking the proceedings, provided that no proceedings shall be instituted more than two years after the date of the offence.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what powers the Forestry Commission has to (a) impose fines, (b) restore woodland and (c) take other enforcement action where a landowner has carried out deforestation contrary to the Forestry Act 1967.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Only the courts have the power to impose fines on people convicted of felling trees without a licence where one is required under the Forestry Commissioners' Power to control felling of trees in Part II of the Forestry Act 1967 (as amended). This can be up to £2,500 or twice the value of the trees, whichever is the higher.
Where it appears to the Forestry Commissioners that somebody has committed an offence by felling trees without a licence where one is required, the Commissioners can serve them with a Restocking Notice requiring the area to be restocked. Failure to comply with the requirements of a Restocking Notice can result in an Enforcement Notice being issued. It is an offence not to obey an Enforcement Notice, which can mean a possible fine of up to £5,000.
Where deforestation accompanied by a change of land use has not received the required consent and has a significant impact on the environment, the Forestry Commission can, under the provisions in The Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry)(England and Wales) Regulations 1999, issue an Enforcement Notice requiring the land to be restored to its condition before the work started.