Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he briefed Conservative hon. Members from Greater Manchester on the clean air zone on 19 January 2022.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Following a written request from several Conservative MPs to meet with the Defra Secretary of State, the meeting took place on 19 January 2022.
The Secretary of State and I also met with Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham on 26 January 2022.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what additional support the Government will provide to Greater Manchester Combined Authority to implement the clean air zone required by central government.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have provided a substantial £132 million from the Clean Air Fund to Greater Manchester authorities to help businesses and individuals upgrade to compliant vehicles. This is on top of providing £36 million to enable the implementation of the Clean Air Zone.
This funding has not yet been spent as the HGV support scheme has only recently opened for applications, and schemes for other vehicle types affected are due to launch later in the year.
We have also agreed with Greater Manchester authorities that we will keep the position of further funding under review, subject to clear evidence of need and have agreed a process for doing so.
We are aware that Greater Manchester has proposed a review of funds and we continue to engage with them on the evidence.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will make additional funding available for flood defences in Prestolee and Stoneclough.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Starting from 2021, the Government will invest £5.2 billion in a six-year capital investment programme for flood and coastal erosion risk management to build around 2,000 new flood defences. This investment will better protect 336,000 properties, including 290,000 homes, from flooding and coastal erosion by 2027.
Defra provides the majority of its funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management to the Environment Agency as Flood Defence Grant-in-Aid (FDGiA). The Environment Agency spends this funding directly on FCERM, but also passes some on as grants to Local Authorities or Internal Drainage Boards
The proposed Prestolee and Stoneclough flood scheme will protect approximately 80 homes in the community of Prestolee, with the total cost of the scheme estimated to be £3 million - £4.5 million. The scheme is currently eligible for £1.47 million of Defra FDGiA, of which £250,000 has already been awarded for 2020/21 following a successful FDGiA acceleration bid. This has allowed the scheme to progress to Outline Business Case stage.
Funding for all projects are allocated according to the rules that govern Defra’s existing six-year capital programme and in accordance with the Partnership Funding Policy. The Partnership Funding policy clarifies the level of investment communities can expect from Defra so it is clear what level of funding they need source from other sources to allow projects to go ahead.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
What recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Environment Agency on flood defences in Prestolee, Bolton.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The proposed Prestolee and Stoneclough flood scheme will protect approximately 80 homes in the community of Prestolee. The scheme is at the design stage and an outline business case is being developed. The total overall cost is likely to be around £3 million to £5 million, and a sizeable amount of investment has already been raised. The Environment Agency hopes to begin construction by spring 2023, completing works before March 2024.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South 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 Official Development Assistance his Department was allocated in the financial years (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21; and what estimate his Department has made of the amount of Official Development Assistance his Department will be allocated for the financial year 2021-22.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
HM Treasury has published departmental allocations of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for 2019-20, here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-aid-tackling-global-challenges-in-the-national-interest/official-development-assistance-oda-allocation-by-department. This table confirms Defra’s ODA allocation for financial year 2019/20 was £81m.
Outturn information of 2019 calendar year ODA spend are available in the Statistics of International Development publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development.
The Government has committed to publishing departmental allocations of ODA for 2020/21 in due course. Outturn information of 2020 calendar year ODA spend will be published later this year, as normal, in the Statistics of International Development publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development.
The Foreign Secretary recently published departmental ODA allocations for 2021-22, including HM Treasury’s allocation, in a Written Ministerial Statement available online here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2021-01-26/hcws735. This statement confirms Defra’s £92m ODA allocation for financial year 2021/22.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
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 the use of non-chemical alternatives to neonicotinoids.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra and the Devolved Administrations are currently consulting on the revised National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides (the NAP). The NAP lays out how we intend to support the uptake of integrated pest management (IPM) to reduce the risks associated with pesticides use, including neonicotinoids.
The NAP supports the development of alternatives to chemical pesticides, as part of the IPM approach. Our proposed plan will increase uptake of non-chemical approaches by improving advice and skills sharing, and by providing financial support through the new Environmental Land Management Scheme.
The Government has recently agreed to allow the use of a neonicotinoid seed treatment on sugar beet in 2021. This is an exceptional measure and we do not see such products as a permanent solution for sugar beet growers. The sugar beet industry has been developing alternative approaches including improved husbandry, plant breeding to develop new varieties and potential new insecticide products. Their forward plan maps out the route to develop each of these areas further so that economic production is possible without neonicotinoid seed treatments.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions she has had with the Foreign Secretary on the Government’s commitment to international women’s rights ahead of the G20 summit in Riyadh.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
As has been the case under successive administrations, details of internal policy discussions are not routinely disclosed.
Advancing gender equality and the rights of women and girls are a core part of this Government’s mission and Global Britain’s role as a force for good in the world, including fulfilling every girl’s right to at least 12 years of quality education. The Government remains steadfast in its commitment to this agenda.
The UK has consistently called for women in Saudi Arabia to be able to participate fully in society. We welcome positive developments, including reforms to the guardianship system. The World Bank's "Women, Business, and the Law 2020" report recognises Saudi Arabia's efforts to advance women's economic participation within the Kingdom. However, women's rights still fall significantly short of international standards. We will continue to raise the issue with Saudi Arabia, and work to promote and support further progress.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department has taken to help tackle the disproportionate effect of the covid-19 outbreak on Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The steps we have taken to tackle the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on ethnic minority groups were set out in my first quarterly progress report to the Prime Minister, published on 22 October, and in my statement to the House of Commons on the same day.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to reduce flood risk to communities that experienced flooding in the last 12 months.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This government is acting to drive down flood risk from every angle. In March 2020, we announced a record £5.2 billion investment to build 2,000 new flood defences over the next 6 years. This investment will better protect 336,000 properties from flooding and coastal erosion. The government also announced a £120 million package to repair assets damaged as a result of last winter’s flooding – recognising the importance that maintenance of assets has on ensuring our network of defences are effective in a changing climate.
The government published a long-term Policy Statement in July setting out our ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk. The Policy Statement outlines five ambitious policies and over 40 supporting actions?which we will take to?accelerate progress to?better protect and better prepare the country against flooding and coastal erosion in the face of more frequent extreme weather as a result of climate change. These actions will help to reduce the likelihood of flooding and coastal erosion and ensure that we are better prepared to reduce impacts when flooding happens.
In July, we announced an additional £170 million to accelerate the building of 22 flood schemes across the country. In addition to our investment in the flood and coastal defences we are also investing £200 million between 2021 and 2027 to support 25 local areas – urban, rural and coastal – to test innovative actions to improve resilience to flooding and coastal erosion.
Following the flooding events in November 2019 and February 2020, the Environment Agency (EA) has carried out approximately 20,000 post-incident inspections. These inspections are now complete and the results have been used to plan projects for the EA’s recovery programme that will deliver asset repairs. The EA are making sure that any flood defences and equipment damaged during last winter’s floods are either fixed or will have robust contingency plans, such as temporary defences, in place by 31 October.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
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 level of access to insurance for households affected by 2019-20 winter floods.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The 2019-20 winter floods impacted communities across the country both in November 2019 and February 2020. The November 2019 flooding mainly impacted South Yorkshire, in particular Doncaster where over 760 households and businesses were severely affected.
Flood Re is a joint government and industry initiative launched in 2016 to improve the availability and affordability of flood insurance for households at high flood risk. In 2019/20 Flood Re provided cover for over 196,000 household policies. More than 300,000 properties have benefitted since the scheme’s launch.
Flood Re is available through more than 85 insurance brands representing 94% of the home insurance market.
Research has found that before the introduction of Flood Re, only 9% of householders who had made prior flood claims could get quotes from two or more insurers, with 0% being able to get quotes from five or more. Since May 2019, 99% of households with prior flood claims can now receive quotes from five or more insurers. Four out of five householders with a prior flood claim saw price reductions of over 50%.
In December 2019, the Government commissioned an independent review into the affordability and availability of insurance in Doncaster. The review, led by Amanda Blanc, will be fully considered by Ministers and published later this year.