Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which stocks the UK advocates should have Total Allowable Catch limits set above the scientific advice.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
For stocks which the UK has an interest in, and that have assessments advising on their maximum sustainable yield (MSY), 36 (67%) Total Allowable Catches (TACs) were set at MSY out of a total of 54 in 2020. A full list is set out in the “Analysis of the outcomes of the 2019 December EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council & EU-3rd Country Negotiation” report submitted to the Select Committee on the European Union on 1st April 2020.
The UK advocates an approach to TACs setting for 2021 founded on the best available scientific advice and which aims to deliver sustainability improvements.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is Government policy in total allowable catches negotiations with the EU on deep sea species that all deep-sea stocks should follow the precautionary approach advice provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK Government supports the application of the precautionary approach in setting total allowable catches (TACs) for deep sea stocks. The deep-sea stocks that are subject to a total allowable catch and which will be negotiated with the EU for 2021 and 2022 are :
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which stocks the Government has assessed to be deep sea species.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK Government supports the application of the precautionary approach in setting total allowable catches (TACs) for deep sea stocks. The deep-sea stocks that are subject to a total allowable catch and which will be negotiated with the EU for 2021 and 2022 are :
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 October 2020 to Question 98265 and to the November 2020 spending review CP 330, whether he plans to ensure that the Environment Agency receives adequate funding to meet its long-term investment scenario of £1 billion per year.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency's Long-Term Investment Scenarios (LTIS) assess what could happen with regard to flood risk over the next 50 years in England, and recommend a long-term annual average investment need over that period for works that are cost-beneficial.
LTIS considers total investment from all sources and is not a recommendation for levels of Government spend alone. However, total investment in flood risk management is currently in line with the LTIS optimum investment levels, and will rise above this through the next 6 year flood defences delivery programme beginning in April 2021.
At the Budget earlier this year, the Government confirmed it will invest a record £5.2 billion over six years to build around 2,000 new flood defences and better protect 336,000 properties. In addition, up to £170 million will be spent to accelerate work on shovel-ready flood defence schemes that will begin construction by March 2022, along with a £200 million investment in an innovative flood and coastal resilience programme.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on updating plans for all (a) catchments and (b) coastal cells in England.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The government recognises the important role that strategic planning plays in managing flood and coastal erosion risks.
The Flood Risk Regulations 2009 set out the current statutory process for regional flood risk planning over a six-year cycle. The Environment Agency is working with Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) to review and update Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) as part of the next cycle of flood risk planning.
This will aim to improve local flood risk management planning and will also inform the government’s long-term commitment to transform local flood risk planning, as set out in the government Policy Statement on Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management.
Coastal erosion is a natural and ongoing process and the government is committed to supporting communities on the coastline to adapt to and manage the risks of climate change. Defra has provided £1 million to refresh the 20 Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) in England. The Environment Agency is working with coastal authorities to update SMPs which set the future policy direction and management of the coast.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2020 to Question 104129 on Floods: Building Regulations, if his Department will work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to update British Standard 85500:2015 on flood resilient construction for new buildings and retrofits for existing buildings to make it more explicit for the reinstatement of flood-damaged properties.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The British Standards Institute is independent of Government and reviews its standards every five years. There is a consultation in progress as to whether to proceed with a review of BS85500:2015, which is due to close on 22 November.
Defra and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) keep in regular contact on these matters. MHCLG keeps building regulations under review.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2020 to Question 104127 on property level flood resilience grants, how many Risk Management Authorities have developed local Property Flood Resilience grant schemes and applied to Regional Flood and Coastal Committees for a contribution towards their cost through local-levy or grant-in-aid.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In England, 46 Risk Management Authorities (RMAs) have developed Property Flood Resilience (PFR) schemes with an element of Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Grant-in-Aid or levy funding within the current investment period (2015-2021).
Elements of PFR work may also be carried out within wider flood risk management schemes. However, it is not currently possible to readily identify the number of additional RMAs that have done this.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of flood defence funding has been allocated to (a) Yorkshire and Humber, (b) the South East, (c) London, (d) the North West, (e) the East of England, (f) the West Midlands, (g) the South West, (h) the East Midlands, (i) the North East and (j) England in each year since 2009.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Capital flood defence grant-in-aid per Office of National Statistics region is shown in the table in the attached document. Actual expenditure for 2019/20 and 2020/21 is not yet available and are allocations only, based on the Environment Agency’s latest consented Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management investment programme.