Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of local authority refuse collection points to dispose of white goods.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Every waste disposal authority is required to provide collection points for household waste including white goods. We recognise that there is a current issue with the treatment capacity for fridges. The Environment Agency is working at the local level to respond positively to requests for storage of fridges above site permit limits to help alleviate this pressure.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 her Department has made of the effect of the Alternative Fuels Framework on implementation of the Government's Clean Air Zone initiative.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Clean Air Zones are part of a range of measures to improve air quality as set out in the revised national air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide, published in December 2015.
The national air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide sets out a comprehensive approach to improving air quality and reducing impacts on health. It recognises the use of alternative fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied and compressed natural gas and where appropriate it presents opportunities to improve emissions from vehicles. The plan sets out some of the measures we are taking to support innovation in this area.
The Government continues to review evidence concerning the environmental impact of alternative fuels, with any changes to the tax treatment of alternative fuels announced at fiscal events.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what powers environmental health officers have to assess excessive noise from residential and commercial properties on a street level.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Local authorities have a range of powers available to them to assess excessive noise from residential and commercial properties. These are set out in various pieces of legislation, including the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and Noise Act 1996.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 enable environmental health officers to assess excessive noise in a neighbourhood on a daily basis.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Local authorities have a range of powers available to them to assess excessive noise from residential and commercial properties. These are set out in various pieces of legislation, including the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and Noise Act 1996.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures are in place for environmental health officers to arrange a second observation of excessive noise in a property where a household frequently changes occupancy.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Local authorities have a range of powers available to them to assess excessive noise from residential properties through various pieces of legislation. It is for local authorities to decide how best to apply the powers available to them.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 to local authorities on the (a) issuing and (b) geographical extent of abatement notices to homes affected by noise nuisance.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Government does not consider it appropriate to provide best practice guidance to local authorities on abatement notices. Noise nuisance is best dealt with at a local level. Local authorities should therefore be free to take account of local circumstances when determining how best to apply the powers available to them in relevant noise and nuisance legislation.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures her Department has in place to record noise nuisance incidents.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Defra does not keep records of noise nuisance incidents. Local authorities are the main enforcers of the statutory noise nuisance regime and associated legislation. There is no obligation on local authorities to report noise complaints data to central government. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health carries out a voluntary annual survey of local authorities regarding complaints about noise, the results of which are published as part of the Public Health Outcomes Framework and may be found via the following weblink: http://www.phoutcomes.info/search/noise.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the (a) annual contribution to the economy of food production and (b) number of people employed in the food production industry.
Answered by George Eustice
The latest provisional data shows that in 2014 the whole food chain from farming to retail and catering was worth £108 billion to National Gross Value Added, and employed 3.8 million people. Within this, farming contributed £10.7 billion Gross Value Added and employed 440 thousand people, and food and drink manufacturing contributed £26.9 billion Gross Value Added and employed 410 thousand people. These statistics are derived from the Aggregate Agricultural Accounts by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Annual Business Survey and the Labour Force Survey by the Office for National Statistics.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 encourage consumers to buy local produce.
Answered by George Eustice
The Great British Food Campaign celebrates the best of the UK’s food and drink, focusing particularly on our unique Protected Food Name products such as Traditionally Farmed Gloucestershire Old Spots Pork and Fenland Celery. Through Great British Food we aim to encourage consumers to think more carefully about the provenance of the food that they eat and to consider choosing innovative British produce as part of a balanced healthy diet.