Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what provisions her Department has planned for the flood warnings issued across the UK for 11 January 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of 12 January 2023, the Environment Agency (EA) has issued over 60 flood warnings and over 160 flood alerts across England. The EA is prepared to act wherever and whenever it is needed. It has 5,000 trained staff across the country ready to respond to flood events. These staff will issue flood warnings and operate flood risk management assets when flooding is forecast, and work with partners to support communities at risk.
Flood warnings give people valuable time to prepare for flooding and enable the emergency services to prepare and help communities. The EA’s Check for Flooding service provides flood warning information; river, sea, groundwater and rainfall levels; as well as the five-day flood forecast. The EA uses its flood warning system to directly alert over 1.6 million users when flooding is expected in their area.
The EA constantly monitors rainfall, river levels and sea conditions to forecast the possibility of flooding. The present situation shows local river and surface water flooding impacts are probable in parts of South West England and possible in parts of the North, the Midlands, and far South of England.
Slower responding rivers, particularly in parts of the West Midlands and North East England, are likely to remain high in the short term leading to further river flooding. River and surface water flooding are also possible across parts of the North of England, and local groundwater flooding is possible in the short term in the south of England.
The EA continues to respond to the changing situation. It is actively liaising with communities through local resilience forums, which are multi-agency partnerships made up of representatives from local public services, including the emergency services, local authorities, the NHS, the EA and others.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to mitigate the impact of avian influenza on farmers; and what steps she is taking to ensure that farmers whose birds have been killed by the disease are eligible under her Department's compensation scheme.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, on 18 November 2022, PQ UIN 84855.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 Met Office forecasts from November 2022 that February 2023 is predicted to be the wettest part of the 2022-23 winter, what steps her Department is taking to prepare for potential flooding in that month.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) is prepared to act wherever and whenever it is needed this winter. It has 5,000 trained staff across the country ready to respond. These staff will issue flood warnings, operate flood risk management assets such as the Thames and Boston barriers when flooding is forecast and work with partners to support at risk communities. The EA uses its flood warning system to directly alert over 1.6 million users when flooding is expected in their area. There are military personnel and contractors on standby who can be deployed to assist in the most significant incidents.
In addition, the EA continues to build and repair flood defences to make the nation more resilient to flooding, delivering on HM Government’s record £5.2 billion investment in flood and coastal risk management. This has already resulted in more than 35,878 properties being better protected from flooding and coastal erosion since April 2021.
The EA launched its annual Flood Action Campaign on 7 November to encourage people to prepare in advance for flooding. This promotes the simple steps that people can take to protect themselves, their family and homes.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 impact of the war in Ukraine on international food and agriculture supply chains.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Agricultural commodity prices are closely correlated to energy costs since gas is used to manufacture fertiliser and fuel energy is needed throughout the food chain. Energy prices were rising following the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine, a key global exporter of agricultural products, has caused additional turbulence in international commodity markets, for example the global prices of wheat, maize and vegetable oil have all increased since the start of the war.
The UK is working with G7 and other partners in multilateral fora, such as the World Trade Organisation, to monitor and address global food security issues, focusing on the ongoing benefits of open markets, and working together to ensure that sufficient, safe, affordable and nutritious food continues to be available and accessible to all.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of developing a vaccine to prevent covid-19 in animals; and what steps his Department has taken to prevent covid-19 transmission among animals.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We are aware of the development of vaccines for animals, specifically for farmed mink and the possible use in companion animals, big cats and non-human primates in zoos and private collections. At present we do not consider that it is necessary to vaccinate animals against the virus that causes COVID-19. There have been very few cases of infection reported from companion animals or zoo animals and none provide evidence to support development of severe clinical signs as a result of infection with this virus alone. If the virus biology changes such that companion animals do become important in the epidemiology of transmission to humans, we will reconsider.
Presently, there is only limited transmission of the virus between certain species of animals – namely between captive mink and under experimental conditions, between ferrets and between cats. No transmission has been detected with livestock species.
We have provided updates to SAGE on the likely risk of infection of cats and dogs, and of Mustelinae (including mink and ferrets). As a result, the detection of SARS-COV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) in any animal sample is now legally reportable under the Zoonoses Order (relevant in all four Devolved Administrations). The requirement to register large breeding groups of ferrets is going through consultation and stakeholders have reacted positively.
We have been involved in the recent scientific opinion from European Food Safety Authority / European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on surveillance for mink farming countries, and the World Organisation for Animal Health guidance on trade in live mink and raw mink pelts. We also have a subgroup with Joint Biosecurity Centre. The risk assessments produced by this group are currently being used to inform the UK Government’s COVID-19 response.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been allocated to flood defence schemes in (a) Lancashire, (b) Yorkshire and (c) Oxfordshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is investing £2.6 billion to better protect the country from flooding and coastal erosion between April 2015 and March 2021. This will better protect 300,000 homes in that period.
In the last five years the Environment Agency (EA) has invested £137 million on flood and coastal erosion management schemes in Lancashire.
In the last five years the EA has invested £261.3 million on flood and coastal erosion management schemes in Yorkshire. This is the total spend for the ceremonial counties of North Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
In the last five years the EA has invested £18.9 million on flood and coastal erosion management schemes in Oxfordshire.
Financial Year | Total Government spend (£m) | ||
Lancashire | Oxfordshire | Yorkshire | |
2014-15 | 32.7 | 6.4 | 47.7 |
2015-16 | 30.4 | 4.1 | 44.7 |
2016-17 | 34.7 | 2.3 | 44.7 |
2017-18 | 18.3 | 5.2 | 51.1 |
2018-19 | 20.9 | 0.9 | 73.1 |
Total | 137.0 | 18.9 | 261.3 |
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to ban the burning of peatland in England.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has always been clear on the need to end burning of protected blanket bog to conserve these vulnerable habitats and we are looking at how legislation could achieve this.
Progress is being made in promoting sustainable alternatives. We have urged landowners to adopt these and we continue to work with them constructively.
Our intention has always been to legislate if a voluntary approach failed to deliver.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the risk of flooding in flood risk areas by maintaining (a) peatland, (b) natural dams and (c) other natural catchment areas and defences.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The use of nature based solutions is an important part of the Environment Agency’s (EA) strategy in strengthening resilience to flood and coastal erosion risk. Nature based solutions can include activities in different areas of a catchment for example:
Upper slopes (tree planting, leaky debris dams and peatbog restoration)
Mid-catchment (flood washlands and river re-connection and naturalisation)
Coastal (management and creation of coastal marsh and sand dune systems)
Nature based solutions that are appropriately designed and situated, can help manage flood and coastal risks, often alongside other measures. Nature based solutions can also provide benefits to the natural environment, including but not limited to habitat creation, increased biodiversity and improved water quality. Approximately 40 projects in the EA’s core Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Investment programme include natural flood risk management elements and we expect the use of nature based solutions to increase.
Defra has a £15 million programme of 58 projects piloting the effectiveness of nature based solutions. These projects are testing new approaches to help determine where natural measures can be most effective at improving resilience to flood risk. Additionally, since 2003, the Moors for the Future Partnership has transformed over 32 square kilometres of bare and eroding peat in the Peak District and South Pennines through re-vegetation, grip and gully blocking, and sphagnum planting.
Finally the Government’s Agriculture Bill introduced to the House of Commons on 16 January sets out an ambitious and effective system based on the principles of ‘public money for public goods’. This new scheme will enable land managers to enter into agreements to be paid for delivering a range of public goods set out in the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan. This includes mitigation of and reduced risk from environmental hazards, such as flooding which could be achieved through natural flood management.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) track and (b) reduce the volume of microplastics in rivers; and whether his Department plans to introduce an independent regulatory body to enforce and monitor the reduction of microplastics in wastewater and rivers.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Defra is working with the Environment Agency, Highways England, academics and the UK water industry to understand the scale of the microplastic pollution problem and to establish detection methods to monitor, characterise and quantify the types of microplastics entering our rivers. There has been substantive research reporting the presence and impacts of microplastics in the marine environment. However, little is known about their sources, release and impact on freshwaters and their ultimate transport to the marine environment. Defra has commissioned evidence reviews to further understand these issues and will use the outcomes from these and other research to develop policy options.
The Government has set a target to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within the lifetime of the 25 year Environment Plan (by 2042) and set aside £20 million for research and development managed through the Plastics Innovation Fund in March 2018. A further £10 million was committed in the 2018 Autumn Budget for continued/additional plastics research and development along with £10 million to pioneer innovative approaches to boosting recycling and reducing litter.
The Department does not plan to introduce an independent regulatory body to enforce and monitor the reduction of microplastics in wastewaters and receiving rivers.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what welfare protections will be put in place for caged animals as part of the Agriculture Bill.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government shares the public’s high regard for animal welfare and the welfare of our farmed livestock is protected by comprehensive and robust legislation. This is backed up by statutory species specific welfare codes, which encourage high standards of husbandry and which keepers are required by law to have access to and be familiar with. Animal and Plant Health Agency inspectors and local authorities conduct inspections on farms to check that the animal welfare standards are being met.
Whatever the system of production, the most important factor in determining animal welfare is good stockmanship and the correct application of husbandry standards. This reflects the advice of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee.
We have already banned cages or close confinement systems where there is clear scientific evidence that they are detrimental to animal health and welfare. For example, we banned the keeping of calves in veal crates in 1990, the keeping of sows in close confinement stalls in the UK in 1999, and the use of conventional (‘battery’) cages for laying hens in 2012.
The Government will maintain its high regulatory baseline and look to raise standards sustainably over time as new research and evidence emerges. We have been very clear that our departure from the EU will not lead to a lowering of our high animal welfare standards. Our regulatory system will offer the same level of assurance of animal welfare following exit as it does now and we are actively exploring options for strengthening the UK system moving forward. We have introduced mandatory CCTV in abattoirs and are looking to control exports of live animals for slaughter. On 26 June, the Government introduced a Bill to enable tougher prison sentences for the worst animal abusers. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill means that animal abusers could face up to five years in prison, a significant increase from the current maximum sentence of six months. Courts will be able to take a firmer approach to cases such as dog fighting, abuse of puppies and kittens, or gross neglect of farm animals.
In England, we intend to use the powers in the Agriculture Bill to develop publicly funded schemes for farmers to deliver animal welfare enhancements beyond our high regulatory baseline that are not sufficiently rewarded by the market, and also want to provide greater transparency and certainty for consumers and for farmers. We will work with industry, retailers, welfare groups and the Farm Animal Welfare Committee to define these enhancements.