Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether senior officials from his Department have travelled to China since January 2019.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Yes, senior officials have travelled to China since January 2019.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the report entitled Stepping Forward - The Stakeholder Working Group on Unrecorded Public Rights of Way: Report to Natural England, published in March 2010, what progress her Department has made on developing a rights of way reform package.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Secretary of State is keen to ensure that rights of way policy is delivering for users, landowners and local authorities. The 2026 cut-off date is currently under review and we will provide a further update shortly.
The Government is committed to implementing the rights of way reform measures which will streamline processes for recording rights of way with landowners, local authorities and users benefitting from a faster, more cost effective, less confrontational and less bureaucratic process. We will also introduce the right to apply regulations which will give landowners a statutory right to apply to have rights of way diverted or extinguished in certain circumstances, such as where paths pass through hazardous farmyards.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
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 intends to implement a cut-off date of the 1 January 2026 for registering historic rights of way claims with local authorities.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Secretary of State is keen to ensure that rights of way policy is delivering for users, landowners and local authorities. The 2026 cut-off date is currently under review and we will provide a further update shortly.
The Government is committed to implementing the rights of way reform measures which will streamline processes for recording rights of way with landowners, local authorities and users benefitting from a faster, more cost effective, less confrontational and less bureaucratic process. We will also introduce the right to apply regulations which will give landowners a statutory right to apply to have rights of way diverted or extinguished in certain circumstances, such as where paths pass through hazardous farmyards.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to support local authorities to limit domestic sources of air pollution, including wood burning stoves, as the leading cause of the air pollutant PM2.5.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local authorities have a number of powers to tackle air pollution, such as introducing speed restrictions including on school streets, enforcing anti-idling laws and environmental permitting to reduce emissions from many local industries.
On domestic sources of air pollution and specifically domestic burning, local authorities have the power to declare Smoke Control Areas (SCAs), where householders are not allowed to emit a substantial amount of smoke from a chimney. The recently introduced Environment Act makes it easier for local authorities to enforce SCA requirements by replacing the criminal offence applying to smoke emissions in SCAs with a civil penalty regime. Local authorities in England can now issue financial penalties of up to £300 to those emitting a substantial amount of smoke from their chimneys in an SCA. The Environment Act also extends the system of statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act to private dwellings in SCAs, enabling local authorities to take action against smoke emissions that are harmful to human health.
To further support local authorities, we have also provided £880 million to help local authorities develop and implement local nitrogen dioxide (NO2) reduction plans and to support those impacted by these plans. We also have awarded £11.6 million from Defra's annual Air Quality Grant Scheme to 40 local authorities in England for local projects to tackle air pollution. The scheme will reopen for applications later this year, building on more than £38 million investment so far since 2010.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funds have been paid by his Department to Stonewall in each of the last five years; and to what projects those funds were allocated.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Payments made to Stonewall Equality Ltd for the last five financial years are shown in the table below, along with a brief description as to what the payment relates to.
Financial Year | Amount paid | Description |
2016-17 | £390.00 | Attendance at a training programme for LGBT Role Models |
2016-17 | £2,400.00 | Membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme 01/02/16 - 31/01/17 |
2017-18 | £3,000.00 | Membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme 01/02/17 - 31/01/18 |
2017-18 | £3,000.00 | Membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme 01/02/18-31/01/19 |
2018-19 | £3,000.00 | Membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme 01/02/19-31/01/20 |
2018-19 | £813.60 | Attendance at Stonewall Workplace Conference |
2018-19 | £252.00 | Attendance at Stonewall Workplace Conference |
2019-20 | £8,400.00 | Subscription to Proud Employers website (for advertising vacancies) |
2019-20 | £3,000.00 | Membership of Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme 01/02/20 to 31/01/21 |
2020-21 | £741.60 | Attendance at Stonewall Workplace Conference |
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
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 implications for his policies of the Ornamental Horticulture Roundtable Group report, Growing a Green Economy: The importance of ornamental horticulture and landscaping to the UK, and accompanying action plan, Unlocking Green Growth: A plan for the ornamental horticulture and landscaping industry.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra recognises the crucial role that the domestic ornamental horticulture industry plays in both promoting people’s well-being and to the economy. The Ornamental Horticulture Roundtable Group (OHRG) report identifies how barriers to the sector’s growth can be unlocked through a collaborative approach between Government and industry. This collaboration reflects our shared ambition for a truly vibrant and sustainable ornamental sector. We are working with the OHRG and the sector to build on current good work already happening within the industry, and will ensure that where the Government can help, it will support the opportunities outlined in the report and its associated action plan.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
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 17 September 2021 to Question 44161, on DEFRA: Listed Buildings, if he will publish a list of the (a) properties classified as heritage assets owned by his Department, (b) most recent estimate of the value of those properties and (c) annual income derived from those properties as opposed to the details of the body responsible for advising him on the management of those properties.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
This information is set out in the table below.
(a) Site | (b) Value (Existing Use Value) | (c) Income |
Rhydymwyn, North Wales | £0 In accordance with accounting standards. | £0 |
Weybourne Building, Weybridge. One building on a large site, with many different specialist buildings. | Unable to identify the value of just the Weybourne building as it is value is a function of its role as part of a larger science campus. It cannot be segregated from the rest of the campus. | £0 |
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when checks on live animals, including commercial movements of pets, are expected to begin at Border Control Posts.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Live animal checks will continue to be carried out at the point of destination as introduced on 1 January 2021. Live animal checks will move from the point of destination to designated Border Control Posts when sufficient capacity allows.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
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 publish the (a) properties classified as heritage assets by his Department, (b) most recent estimate of the value of those properties and (c) annual income derived from those properties.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra is advised on the management of designated heritage assets in its portfolio by Historic England’s Government Historic Estate Unit. Further details can be found here:
https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/our-planning-services/advice-for-government-historic-estates
Defra does not collect or collate data on the property value or income data for these assets.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether companies with a record of criminal activity will be eligible to receive compensation under a future funding package for the fishing industry.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Details of eligibility criteria for the fisheries support scheme will be announced in the coming weeks. Defra will ensure that necessary checks and procedures are in place to minimise the risk of fraud. Seafood firms and individuals convicted of fraud in the context of fisheries funding schemes have previously been ineligible to access other financial support made available to the sector.