Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of applications for new designated bathing water sites were (a) accepted and (b) rejected since 2010.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 2010 there have been 24 successful applications for bathing water designation in England. For data retention reasons, we only hold the number of unsuccessful applications from 2016. In 2023 Defra received 30 applications for proposed new designated bathing waters, 27 of which met the application eligibility criteria and were therefore included in the public consultation which closed on 10 March 2024.
Based on our records, the breakdown of successful and unsuccessful applications for designated bathing waters received since 2010 is in the attached table.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage accurate reporting of sewage pollution by water companies.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has made it clear that the amount of sewage discharged into our waters is unacceptable. That is why our Plan for Water sets out more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement to tackle widespread sources of pollution.
We are making the water industry accountable on a scale never seen before. To achieve this, we have ensured that 100 per cent of storm overflows in England are now monitored, dramatically increasing the information we have on storm overflow activity. We included provisions in the Environment Act 2021 that build on this monitoring programme by requiring the publication of near-real time data on storm overflow activity by no later than 2025. We are also working to bring forward secondary legislation to support our new continuous water quality monitoring programme, which will provide world-leading information on the impact of storm overflow and final effluent discharges on watercourses.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on supporting the clean air zone by investing in sustainable transport in Portsmouth.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The latest air quality data for Portsmouth was published in September 2023 as part of the 2022 National Compliance Assessment. The report is publicly available and can be found on the Defra UK Air website.
Portsmouth City Council has been allocated £9.4 million of funding to implement their local nitrogen dioxide reduction plan and to support those impacted by the plan. We continue to work closely with the local authority as they monitor and assess the success of their plan and consider if further measures are required.
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 he has made of the effectiveness of the clean air zone on improving air quality in Portsmouth.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The latest air quality data for Portsmouth was published in September 2023 as part of the 2022 National Compliance Assessment. The report is publicly available and can be found on the Defra UK Air website.
Portsmouth City Council has been allocated £9.4 million of funding to implement their local nitrogen dioxide reduction plan and to support those impacted by the plan. We continue to work closely with the local authority as they monitor and assess the success of their plan and consider if further measures are required.
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 improve the availability of sanitary bins in male toilets.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is an important issue which impacts many people, including those affected by prostate cancer treatment. The Government encourages local authorities to consider such provision in public toilets to support those with this need but does not have powers to compel the provision of sanitary bins in public toilets. I would encourage the hon. Member to raise the issue locally.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Health and Safety Executive on updating regulations to ensure that suitable means for the disposal of sanitary dressings is provided in all toilets.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is an important issue which impacts many people, including those affected by prostate cancer treatment. The Government encourages local authorities to consider such provision in public toilets to support those with this need but does not have powers to compel the provision of sanitary bins in public toilets. I would encourage the hon. Member to raise the issue locally. The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the Government’s arm’s-length bodies, including the Health and Safety Executive, on a range of issues.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 potential impact of the Common User Charge proposal on trends in the level of food imports at Portsmouth International Port.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra is analysing the responses to the 'Charging arrangements at government-run border control posts' consultation and carefully assessing potential impacts on food imports. This will ensure we implement a charging system that will deliver best value for traders, and one that meets the Government’s cost recovery objectives in as transparent and fair way as possible. We expect to publish a summary of the responses and an update on the Common User Charge proposal shortly.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the clean air zone to Portsmouth’s port.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department has not made an assessment of any changes to Portsmouth’s Clean Air Zone.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 she has made of the impact of clean air zones in Portsmouth on health outcomes for local people.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Government has a robust evaluation programme for the collection and analysis of air quality, traffic and behavioural data from Local Authority areas implementing measures for the reduction of nitrogen dioxide. The programme and collection of data is at too early a stage to draw definitive conclusions about the impact of Clean Air Zones on health. The findings of the evaluation programme for Portsmouth are expected to be published in the next evaluation Annual Report.
The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP), an expert committee of the Department of Health and Social Care, estimated that long-term exposure to man-made pollution in the UK has an annual effect equivalent to 28,000 to 43,000 deaths. The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities has also estimated the fraction of adult mortality attributable to long-term exposure to particulate air pollution at local authority level in the Public Health Outcomes Framework, available to view and search online at: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 she has made of the potential impact of clean air zones in Portsmouth on levels of air pollution in that city.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Portsmouth’s Class B Clean Air Zone has been operational since November 2021. Air quality data for 2022 was published in September 2023 as part of the 2022 National Compliance Assessment: https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/annualreport/.