Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of potential impact of surface water flooding on communities in Wiltshire; and what funding he has provided to help mitigate flooding risks in Wiltshire since 2015.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Lead local flood authorities are required to manage local flood risks from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses. Local flood risks should be identified and managed as part of a local flood risk management strategy. The two lead local flood authorities in Wiltshire are Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council.
In the area covered by Wiltshire Council, £38,597,000 of Capital Flood Defence Grant in Aid funding was invested between 2015/16 and 2024/25 by the Environment Agency and other Risk Management Authorities on flood related projects. The most significant of these was the Environment Agency led Salisbury River Park Scheme which spent £35,070,000 to better protect 1,062 properties. These totals exclude maintenance spending, property-level protection schemes, and some projects which cross county borders.
In the area covered by Swindon Borough Council, £2,615,993 was invested between 2015/16 and 2024/25 by the Environment Agency and other Risk Management Authorities on flood related projects.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
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 his Department has made of the cause of the persistent odour affecting residents in Calne, Wiltshire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has received a significant number of reports of odour in the Calne area throughout April. EA officers have attended and substantiated odour, believed to be landfill gas from regulated activity in Compton Bassett.
While landfill activity will on occasion give rise to a level of odour, the odour substantiated by the EA indicates an unacceptable level of pollution and the EA is actively investigating potential sources.
As part of their investigations, the EA has carried out surface emission surveys to detect landfill gas at two landfill sites in Compton Bassett. These inspections have highlighted several points on the site infrastructure at Lower Compton Landfill where improvements are required to reduce emissions of landfill gas; the EA has required the operator to make these improvements. While these works will reduce the level of odour from this site, it is unlikely that in isolation the issues identified are the sole cause of the recent complaints. The EA is considering multiple potential sources.
Further inspections of both regulated landfill sites are planned, to confirm the improvements required at Lower Compton Landfill have been completed and to continue investigations into other potential sources.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) Wiltshire council, (b) operators of waste management and sewage facilities (c) residents and (d) the Environment Agency on the persistent poor odour in Calne.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As the independent regulator for major industry and waste, the Environment Agency (EA) is investigating sites which fall under its regulation in the Calne area to determine whether they are potential sources of the odour currently being experienced. Investigations into other potential sources are being carried out by Wiltshire Council. The EA is sharing information and updates on its ongoing investigation into the source of odour complaints in Calne with stakeholders via briefing notes. An initial briefing note was circulated on 3 April 2025, with an update issued on 28 April 2025. Further briefings will be issued as the investigation progresses.
The briefings are being issued to members of the public who have contacted the EA to report the issue, Wiltshire Council, waste site operators, UK HSA, Local Councillors, and the honourable member for Chippenham.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reduction in the Rural England Prosperity Fund for 2025/26 on rural businesses.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Department announced on 4 March that it would be providing an additional £33 million for the Rural England Prosperity Fund in financial year 2025-26. This announcement continues funding beyond the lifetime of the original scheme providing new money for new projects in rural areas.
The Autumn Statement on 30 October confirmed Defra’s budgets for 2024-25 and 2025-26. Funding allocations for individual programmes have been determined through the departments business planning exercise. Future funding decisions remain subject to the Government spending review.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of adopting World Health Organisation Air Standards.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to meeting current legal targets for air quality, including the targets recently set under the Environment Act 2021, and will review the policy measures needed to achieve them. We will deliver a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy, including a series of interventions to reduce emissions so that everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines are intended to inform the setting of air quality standards and are not ready-made targets for direct adoption as they do not consider achievability or individual countries’ circumstances. However, we will consider WHO guidelines as part of an evidence led process when considering future targets.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the (a) effectiveness of the Pfand recycling system in Germany and (b) potential merits of adopting a similar approach in the UK.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials have worked closely with international partners to learn lessons and consider best practice when developing the scheme design of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in the UK. This includes teach-ins with the German scheme administrator, as well as a visit earlier this year to observe the recycling system in Germany.
This Government remains committed to delivering the DRS for drinks containers in October 2027, as agreed with the devolved Governments of the UK, and in accordance with the Joint Policy Statement published in April 2024.
Defra intends to lay the DRS regulations for England and Northern Ireland before Parliament later this year, assuming Parliamentary time allows. The regulations would come into force in early 2025 before the Deposit Management Organisation, who will run the scheme, would be appointed in April 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to investigate the cause of floods in (a) Calne and (b) other areas that have not experienced flooding for decades.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Over 300 properties flooded across 50 communities in Wiltshire alone during the winter of 2023/24, which was the wettest since records began 1871. These same areas of Wiltshire also experienced heavy rainfall in September 2024. The rural catchments that have seen numerous floods during this period are sensitive to both rainfall intensities and durations. It is understood that it has been a combination of both high intensity and prolonged durations during these storm events combined with saturated catchments resulting in localised flooding.
Wiltshire Council are in the process of undertaking Flood & Water Management Act 2010 Section 19 flood reports investigating the flooding issues experienced across the county last winter. We will input information and evidence into these reports.
We are working with flood risk management authorities, through a Wiltshire Rural Runoff project, to improve understanding of the causes of flooding, and it will look for potential for interventions to reduce the impacts of these types of flood events. The Calne catchments is in one of the five focus areas, and the evidence and understanding is being gathered this winter with support of the Wildlife Trusts and local landowners and farmers.
As these types of rainfall events are expected to become more frequent with climate change, The Environment Agency are exploring how they can make our flood warning service more effective for these types of rural catchment, that respond quickly to heavy intensity rain.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that water companies reduce water bills; and what steps he is taking to ensure that water companies do not pass the costs of (a) any fines incurred, (b) debts and (c) infrastructure upgrades on to customers.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has been clear that vital infrastructure investment is ringfenced and can only be spent on upgrades benefiting customers and the environment. When money for investment is not spent, companies must refund customers, with money never allowed to be diverted for bonuses, dividends or salary increases.
New infrastructure will need to be paid for, and while water companies can attract private investment, this will also need to come from customer bills. It is Ofwat's responsibility to independently scrutinise water company plans to ensure that the prices water companies charge their customers are fair and proportionate.
We have inherited a water system spilling record levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas. Water companies must take action to turn this around and Ofwat must ensure customers do not pay twice for upgrades.