Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 effect on his Department's policies of the conclusion of the 2011 post-legislative scrutiny of the Scottish Land Reform Act 2003 that helped formalise and clarify access rights where previously there was informality and ambiguity; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a similar approach in relation to public access for recreation on inland waterways in England.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
There has been no assessment made by the Department and none is planned.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 Answers of 30 May 2018 to Question 256982 on Canoeing: River Derwent, of 23 May 2019 to Question 254720 on Canoeing and of 15 April 2019 to Question 243346 on Canoeing, if his Department will make an assessment of whether its current policy of locally negotiated access arrangements is delivering adequate public access for recreation on English waters.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
No.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 effectiveness of recent efforts by canoeists to clear rubbish and plastic from inland waters; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure that such activity is encouraged and supported on all inland waterways in England.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government has not made any specific assessments of the effectiveness of recent efforts by canoeists to clear rubbish and plastic from inland waters.
We support and endorse action by volunteers and local communities to take action to address the specific litter issues in their areas, and were pleased to support Keep Britain Tidy’s recent Great British Spring Clean. The Prime Minister has also recently recognised the work of Dhruv Boruah of the Thames Project through a Points of Light Award.
The Government’s Litter Strategy recognises that much‑loved features of the local environment such as rivers, canals and beaches can be used as ‘flagship’ locations for clean-up action by communities. Organisations such as the Marine Conservation Society, Thames21 and Surfers Against Sewage are represented on the Community Engagement Working Group which was established under the Litter Strategy to explore the barriers to engaging and involving citizens in tackling litter and improving local places, and to recommend steps to address them.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We can confirm we have searched our records and can provide the information below. This information covers the period 1 April 2018 – 31 March 2019. We do not hold data relating specifically to stress as a separate category of sick leave absence. Instead we have provided data relating to all mental health absences. This category includes psychological illnesses such as stress, depression, anxiety and any other mental health condition.
How many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to mental health in the last 12 months | 109 members of staff 2.25% of total staff headcount |
What proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department | Absences relating to mental health made up 34.9% of all sickness absences |
What the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period | Total cost of mental health sickness is £427,559.55 |
The proportion of officials taking sick leave for reasons relating to mental health has remained constant at around 2% for the last five years.
We have various services and support mechanisms in place to support employee mental health. For example we have an internal employee led mental health ‘buddy’ network, and employees have access to an external provider Employee Assistance Programme, and Occupational Health Service. We also have a process in place for notifying and managing work related stress.