Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to improve the (a) timeliness and (b) efficiency of the Environment Agency’s response to pre-application advice requests from (i) Stockport Hydro and (ii) other small-scale renewable energy producers.

The Stockport Hydro scheme was licensed by the Environment Agency (EA) in 2011/2012 and there are no current pre-application enquiries or licence applications from them. The Environment Agency has dealt with over 100 pre-application enquiries over the last 8 years concerning hydropower schemes of various sizes.

Applicants are urged to make use of the enhanced pre-application service which supports applicants to apply for the right type of licences with the correct supporting information and reduces the likelihood of delays to decisions. There is clear written guidance on gov.uk for applicants.