Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many civil servants employed by their Department work in roles primarily focused on (a) transgender policy, (b) diversity, (c) equity and (d) inclusion; and at what annual salary cost.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The team responsible for policies relating to equity, diversity, and inclusion do not align roles to single protected characteristics. As of 31 December 2025, there were six employees (with a full-time equivalent of 6.0) on payroll in this team. The annual salary for the six employees totalled £302,927.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to help support pubs in sourcing and promoting British-produced food and drink.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The food strategy recognises the key role that regional and local food systems can play in supporting delivery of the growth, health, sustainability, and food security/ resilience outcomes. Defra wants to create an environment that champions UK food cultures and celebrates British food. The strategy is an opportunity to celebrate the food we make which is uniquely British, combining our heritage and the expertise and innovation of our food businesses. Connecting local communities can be a key vehicle for achieving this outcome and for harnessing a stronger food culture.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 current and projected rate of coastal affecting Hemsby, Norfolk over the next (i) 5, (ii) 10 and (iii) 25 years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In January 2025 the Environment Agency published the new National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping (NCERM) on ‘Check coastal erosion risk for an area in England’ and Shoreline Management Plan Explorer. The new NCERM dataset is openly accessible via data.gov.uk. It provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date national overview of current and future coastal erosion risks across England. The Environment Agency worked with local authorities, who supplied local data and verified outputs across the country.
The mapping for properties located at Hemsby can be accessed here: Winterton-on-Sea (South of Beach Road) to Scratby 6.14 | Shoreline Management Plans. Erosion projection lines can be added to the map, both with present day climate change projections and those with upper/higher projections to 2055 and 2105. The ‘customise map display’ button allows access to this spatial data, and the desired projection can be selected for display on the map.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) financial support and (b) support for (i) relocation, (ii) purchase of replacement housing and (iii) compensation for loss of property value is available to households in Hemsby whose properties are lost to coastal erosion.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency administers and assures the coastal erosion assistance grant (CEAG) on behalf of Defra. A grant of £6,000 per property is available to support the prompt and safe demolition of homes at greatest risk of loss from erosion. Local authorities can apply for the grant to help with the costs associated with demolishing residential property at risk of loss and basic moving costs if appropriate.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council is a partner in the £8 million Resilient Coasts project – part of the Government’s £150 million Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme. This project is developing new, innovative methods to build resilience and help communities adapt to flooding and coastal erosion. The local project team are trialling new mechanisms to create a self-sustaining fund to help communities at risk of coastal erosion.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 how her Department's proposed funding reforms will impact coastal communities with high proportions of (a) small businesses, (b) seasonal tourism employment, and (c) non-standard housing such as holiday chalets.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 14 October 2025, following consultation, the Government announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy. The reforms will make it quicker and easier to deliver flood defences by simplifying our funding rules, and optimising funding between building new flood projects and maintaining existing defences.
Under the new rules, projects will be prioritised by their benefit-to-cost ratios to drive value for money. Projects are developed in line with HM Treasury Green Book guidance and FCERM Appraisal Guidance and capture a wide range of benefits including those related to private properties (including holiday chalets with a fixed address), businesses, heritage, environment, recreation, and tourism. All schemes must achieve a benefit cost ratio of greater than one to receive Defra grant in aid.
The new rules give equal weighting to different types of benefits, which will help coastal areas where under the old rules, benefits such as those from recreation attracted lower weightings.
The list of projects to receive Government funding will be agreed in the usual way, on an annual basis, through the Environment Agency’s annual refresh process, with local representation.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 assess the potential impact of new flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes on (a) primary residences, (b) second homes, (c) holiday chalets and (d) small businesses.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 14 October 2025, following consultation, the Government announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy. The reforms will make it quicker and easier to deliver flood defences by simplifying our funding rules, and optimising funding between building new flood projects and maintaining existing defences.
Under the new rules, projects will be prioritised by their benefit-to-cost ratios to drive value for money. Projects are developed in line with HM Treasury Green Book guidance and FCERM Appraisal Guidance and capture a wide range of benefits including those related to private properties (including holiday chalets with a fixed address), businesses, heritage, environment, recreation, and tourism. All schemes must achieve a benefit cost ratio of greater than one to receive Defra grant in aid.
The new rules give equal weighting to different types of benefits, which will help coastal areas where under the old rules, benefits such as those from recreation attracted lower weightings.
The list of projects to receive Government funding will be agreed in the usual way, on an annual basis, through the Environment Agency’s annual refresh process, with local representation.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 the steps her Department is taking to consider (a) displacement costs, (b) temporary accommodation costs and (c) local authority rehousing pressures when deciding on new coastal erosion management projects.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Coastal management is delivered through collaboration between the Environment Agency, local authorities and a range of partners. Defra retains overall policy responsibility for flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) in England, while local authorities lead on managing coastal erosion.
Projects within the Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme are assessing the costs and benefits of proactive coastal transition measures in coastal communities. This includes evaluating socio-economic benefits such as reduced temporary accommodation costs, lower mental health impacts, and decreased financial pressures on councils.
Under the Government’s new funding policy, economic assessments of FCERM projects may include additional by-product benefits beyond flood or erosion reduction. In addition, the Environment Agency’s FCERM appraisal guidance recommends that, when assessing the economic impacts of a project, indirect damages avoided should be taken into account. Indirect damages typically include costs such as displacement and temporary accommodation.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the current Shoreline Management Plan policy is for the Hemsby coastline; and what the evidential basis was for selecting that policy.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In January 2025 the Environment Agency published the new Shoreline Management Plan Explorer. The documentation associated with preferred policies can be found in the SMP Main Report: Kelling Hard to Lowestoft SMP6 | Shoreline Management Plans. The management approach for Hemsby’s coast is “managed realignment”. This has been developed locally by the East Anglia Coastal Group and included local consultation. The policy development and engagement documents can be found in the appendices. Appendix A, SMP Development Stages 2 and 3, pages 9-17, provide detailed information regarding the policy development process.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the potential economic impact of coastal erosion in Hemsby on (a) tourism, (b) local employment and (c) local tax revenues.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Great Yarmouth Borough Council are the Risk Management Authority (RMA) for the Hemsby area. They are best placed, using local knowledge and data, to continue making detailed risk assessments, including for the potential economic impacts. To support all RMA’s, the Environment Agency have developed and published the new National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping which has been in place since 2011, updated in 2017 and most recently received a major update in 2025.