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 most recent estimate is of the number of residential properties in Hemsby at risk of loss to coastal erosion within (i) 5 and (ii) 10 years.
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.
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 most recent estimate is of the number of businesses in Hemsby at risk of loss to coastal erosion within (i) 5 and (ii) 10 years.
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.
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) coastal modelling, (b) geomorphical studies and (c) monitoring programmes the Environment Agency has commissioned in relation to Hemsby since 2020.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency was a partner in the development and publication of the Shoreline Management Plan for northeast Norfolk: Kelling Hard to Lowestoft SMP6 | Shoreline Management Plans. In 2018/19, the Environment Agency worked with the Anglian Regional Flood and Coastal Committee to provide local levy funding to Great Yarmouth Borough Council to undertake a high-level study of options for the Hemsby coastal erosion issues. The Environment Agency’s Anglian Coastal Monitoring Programme (ACMP) undertakes detailed coastal monitoring of the coastline which began in 1991. The ACMP team works closely with Risk Management Authorities, including Great Yarmouth Borough Council staff, to refine monitoring to meet their local needs.
In January 2025 the Environment Agency published an update to the National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping online. The new mapping includes data from the National Coastal Monitoring Programme (NCMP), which includes coastal assets, beach profiles, bathymetry, aerial photography, LiDAR and coastal habitats. All coastal monitoring data, reports and analysis are available as open data on the coastal monitoring website ( Programmes - Welcome).
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 discussions her Department has had with (a) Great Yarmouth Borough Council, (b) Norfolk County Council and (c) the Environment Agency on long-term coastal erosion management options for Hemsby, including managed realignment and engineered defences.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has a strategic overview of the management of all sources of flooding and coastal change. Local authorities take the lead in managing coastal erosion. In Hemsby, Great Yarmouth Borough Council are the lead authority for coastal erosion.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council is a partner in the £8 million Resilient Coast Project – part of the Government’s £150 million Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme. This project is working with communities, including Hemsby, to develop new, innovative methods to build resilience and help communities adapt to flooding and coastal erosion.
The Environment Agency are working closely with Great Yarmouth Borough Council as they consider and implement options for the management of the area. The Environment Agency’s Local Operations Area Leadership team meets frequently with Council representatives and regularly attends Hemsby Stakeholder Group meetings hosted by the Council.
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 cost-benefit ratio in relation to (a) maintaining current shoreline management policy outcomes at Hemsby and (b) alternative policies involving additional coastal defences.
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 undertake detailed assessments of risk management options along with their costs and benefits.
In 2018/19, the Anglian Regional Flood and Coastal Committee provided local levy funding to Great Yarmouth Borough Council to undertake a high-level study of options for the Hemsby coastal erosion issues.
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 visits to farms have been undertaken by (a) the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (b) the Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs since their appointments.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra Ministers regularly visit a range of farms across the UK, and meet with farming stakeholders in London and on site to hear directly from industry.
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, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.
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, what assessment she has made of recent trends in the level of fly-tipping incidents in Great Yarmouth; and whether additional enforcement funding will be provided.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No assessment of recent trends in the level of fly-tipping incidents in Great Yarmouth has been made. Local authorities are however required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions to Defra, which we publish annually here. This excludes the majority of private-land and large scale incidents. Great Yarmouth reported the following number of incidents in the last five years:
2019-20 = 1491
2020-21 = 2146
2021-22 = 1869
2022-23 = 1171
2023-24 = 1153
We are not considering additional funding specifically for fly-tipping enforcement. However, the Spending Review 2025 provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29.
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 street cleaning, litter collection and maintenance in Great Yarmouth’s town centre and seafront.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of street cleaning, litter collection and maintenance in Great Yarmouth’s town centre and seafront.
Local councils are responsible for keeping their streets clear of litter and refuse. The role of central Government is to enable and support local action. In the Pride in Place Strategy this Government has committed to bringing forward statutory enforcement guidance on both littering and fly-tipping, modernising the code of practice that outlines the cleaning standards expected of local authorities, and refreshing best practice guidance on the powers available to local authorities to force land and building owners to clean up their premises.
We are also targeting some of the more commonly littered items to reduce the presence of these on our streets. The sale of single-use vapes was banned from 1 June 2025 and a Deposit Return Scheme will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. Plastic drinks bottles and metal drinks containers make up 55% of litter volume. The Deposit Return Scheme will cover plastic and metal drinks containers (like bottles and cans), and the goal is to reduce litter and help keep our streets, rivers, and oceans clean.
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 will review the impact of waste disposal charges on the level of illegal dumping in Great Yarmouth.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department has no plans to review the impact of waste disposal charges on the level of illegal dumping in Great Yarmouth.
Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) play an important role in helping people to dispose of their waste responsibly. Local authorities have responsibility for the operation and management of HWRCs in their area. It is their duty to provide services for residents within their local area to dispose of or recycle their waste responsibly.
Local authorities are also responsible for tackling fly-tipping in their areas. They have a range of fly-tipping enforcement powers at their disposal, which we encourage them to make good use of. Powers include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing and crushing of vehicles and prosecution action.