Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
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 ensure that the decision-making process on whether to grant conditional emergency authorisation to use a product containing neonicotinoids includes an assessment of the potential impact of those neonicotinoids on butterflies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Decisions on emergency authorisation applications must be taken in line with legal requirements. In making these decisions, Ministers take full account of the available evidence and expert advice, including on risks to pollinating insects.
The Government will honour its manifesto commitment on this topic.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
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 implications for his policies of the recommendations within the Environmental Audit Committee's report entitled The UK's contribution to tackling global deforestation, published on 4 January 2024.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We note the recommendations put forward by the committee and recognise the important work that there is to be done.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support UK businesses to comply with (a) domestic and (b) EU regimes for the prevention of deforestation in supply chains.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Businesses are supported to comply with UK timber regulations through the Office for Product Safety and Standards. There is currently no domestic regime in place in relation to other commodities. Guidance in respect of complying with EU legislation is a matter for the European Commission.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
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 bringing forward the Forest Risk Commodities regulations to enact the Environment Act 2021 provisions on deforestation in supply chains.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the urgency of taking action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation. We will set out our approach to addressing deforestation in the UK’s supply chains in due course.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the (a) River Rother and (b) River Hipper was last dredged.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has no record of dredging the rivers Rother and Hipper during the last 10 years. The Environment Agency (EA) undertakes dredging to manage flood risk where it is technically effective, does not significantly increase flood risk for others downstream and is environmentally acceptable.
In most places there are much more effective and efficient ways to better protect communities and increase their resilience to flooding, as part of a catchment-based approach. Whilst dredging is part of the solution in some locations, it is not a universal solution to what is a complex issue.
Since 2009, the EA has spent the following amounts on dredging rivers.
Note that more funding was used on dredging in 2016/17 mainly due the winter floods of 2015/16 and an additional £40 million resource funding that was announced in March 2016. This allowed teams to undertake more maintenance activities, including dredging.
Financial Year | Channel Maintenance (£M) | Dredging (£M) |
2010/11 | 45 | 5 |
2011/12 | 39 | 10 |
2012/13 | 45 | 8 |
2013/14 | 30 | 4 |
2014/15 | 45 | 12 |
2015/16 | 47 | 9 |
2016/17 | 59 | 22 |
2017/18 | 59 | 8 |
2018/19 | 45 | 5 |
2019/20 | 45 | 5 |
2020/21 | 34 | 4 |
2021/22 | 29 | 3 |
2022/23 | 36 | 6 |
2023/24 | 38 | 7 |
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
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 regular dredging of rivers on flooding.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has no record of dredging the rivers Rother and Hipper during the last 10 years. The Environment Agency (EA) undertakes dredging to manage flood risk where it is technically effective, does not significantly increase flood risk for others downstream and is environmentally acceptable.
In most places there are much more effective and efficient ways to better protect communities and increase their resilience to flooding, as part of a catchment-based approach. Whilst dredging is part of the solution in some locations, it is not a universal solution to what is a complex issue.
Since 2009, the EA has spent the following amounts on dredging rivers.
Note that more funding was used on dredging in 2016/17 mainly due the winter floods of 2015/16 and an additional £40 million resource funding that was announced in March 2016. This allowed teams to undertake more maintenance activities, including dredging.
Financial Year | Channel Maintenance (£M) | Dredging (£M) |
2010/11 | 45 | 5 |
2011/12 | 39 | 10 |
2012/13 | 45 | 8 |
2013/14 | 30 | 4 |
2014/15 | 45 | 12 |
2015/16 | 47 | 9 |
2016/17 | 59 | 22 |
2017/18 | 59 | 8 |
2018/19 | 45 | 5 |
2019/20 | 45 | 5 |
2020/21 | 34 | 4 |
2021/22 | 29 | 3 |
2022/23 | 36 | 6 |
2023/24 | 38 | 7 |
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Environment Agency has spent on dredging rivers in each year since 2009.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has no record of dredging the rivers Rother and Hipper during the last 10 years. The Environment Agency (EA) undertakes dredging to manage flood risk where it is technically effective, does not significantly increase flood risk for others downstream and is environmentally acceptable.
In most places there are much more effective and efficient ways to better protect communities and increase their resilience to flooding, as part of a catchment-based approach. Whilst dredging is part of the solution in some locations, it is not a universal solution to what is a complex issue.
Since 2009, the EA has spent the following amounts on dredging rivers.
Note that more funding was used on dredging in 2016/17 mainly due the winter floods of 2015/16 and an additional £40 million resource funding that was announced in March 2016. This allowed teams to undertake more maintenance activities, including dredging.
Financial Year | Channel Maintenance (£M) | Dredging (£M) |
2010/11 | 45 | 5 |
2011/12 | 39 | 10 |
2012/13 | 45 | 8 |
2013/14 | 30 | 4 |
2014/15 | 45 | 12 |
2015/16 | 47 | 9 |
2016/17 | 59 | 22 |
2017/18 | 59 | 8 |
2018/19 | 45 | 5 |
2019/20 | 45 | 5 |
2020/21 | 34 | 4 |
2021/22 | 29 | 3 |
2022/23 | 36 | 6 |
2023/24 | 38 | 7 |
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's policy is on the regular dredging of rivers.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has no record of dredging the rivers Rother and Hipper during the last 10 years. The Environment Agency (EA) undertakes dredging to manage flood risk where it is technically effective, does not significantly increase flood risk for others downstream and is environmentally acceptable.
In most places there are much more effective and efficient ways to better protect communities and increase their resilience to flooding, as part of a catchment-based approach. Whilst dredging is part of the solution in some locations, it is not a universal solution to what is a complex issue.
Since 2009, the EA has spent the following amounts on dredging rivers.
Note that more funding was used on dredging in 2016/17 mainly due the winter floods of 2015/16 and an additional £40 million resource funding that was announced in March 2016. This allowed teams to undertake more maintenance activities, including dredging.
Financial Year | Channel Maintenance (£M) | Dredging (£M) |
2010/11 | 45 | 5 |
2011/12 | 39 | 10 |
2012/13 | 45 | 8 |
2013/14 | 30 | 4 |
2014/15 | 45 | 12 |
2015/16 | 47 | 9 |
2016/17 | 59 | 22 |
2017/18 | 59 | 8 |
2018/19 | 45 | 5 |
2019/20 | 45 | 5 |
2020/21 | 34 | 4 |
2021/22 | 29 | 3 |
2022/23 | 36 | 6 |
2023/24 | 38 | 7 |
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the levels of yellow virus on sugar beet; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the use of Cruiser SB on sugar beet on wildlife.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Viruses transmitted by aphids can severely reduce yields of sugar beet crops. The degree of threat varies from location to location and from year to year. Decisions on emergency authorisation applications must be taken in line with legal requirements. In making these decisions, Ministers will take full account of the available evidence and expert advice.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) petrol, (b) diesel, (c) hybrid and (d) electric (i) cars, (ii) vans and (iii) other vehicles his Department hired in each of the last five years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The data for Defra has been provided by our supplier of hire cars “Enterprise”.
Data from Enterprise shows the following:
Hires:
Fuel | No of hires |
|
Petrol | 5,171 | |
Diesel | 660 | |
EV/Hybrid | 174 |
Due to time constraints, we have only engaged with our main vehicle hire suppliers and not where vehicle hire will be supplied as a supplementary service on other contracts, i.e. Welfare Vans through the Plant Hire framework.