Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
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 adequacy of the guidance entitled Designate a bathing water: guidance on how to apply, published on 3 July 2023.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The updated bathing water guidance for England, published in July 2023, makes applying for bathing water designation clearer and more streamlined for applicants.
The main changes to the designation guidance were:
Defra engages with a range of stakeholders on bathing waters and welcomes views on the application guidance.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
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 take steps to support the establishment of (a) global and (b) national targets to reduce plastic production under the potential international plastics treaty under negotiation.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At the forthcoming round of negotiations in Canada, we will be continuing to support a treaty that will address the full lifecycle of plastic, including restraining and reducing the production and consumption of plastic to sustainable levels, addressing plastic design, and encouraging more reuse and recycling of plastic.
As negotiations are ongoing and this is the first round of negotiations where treaty text will be negotiated, we cannot prejudge what will be agreed. The UK would support an overarching global target where the particular measures to reach the target are nationally determined.
As a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, a group of over 60 countries calling for an ambitious and effective treaty, we will continue to participate actively in these negotiations.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
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 ministerial department figures in his Department's workforce management information data for February and March 2023, for what reason the payroll staff numbers are different between the two months but the payroll staff costs are identical.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
March 2023 payroll costs were not available in time for inclusion in the March 2023 monthly workforce management information update, so February 2023 data was re-used as an estimate to be revised when the data had been received.
Payroll staff costs for March 2023 have now been revised in the Defra workforce management information collection on GOV.UK to reflect the correct payroll staff costs.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department calculated its estimate of the number of dogs which would be affected by a ban on XL Bully dogs.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra calculated its assessment of the number of dogs which would be affected by a ban on XL Bully dogs using evidence and data collated in consultation with key stakeholders.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
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 meet Ebenezer Akore Yeboah of Coventry University to discuss single-use plastics, sorting waste and reducing power consumption.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In December 2018, the UK Government published its Resources and Waste Strategy. This sets out how we will achieve a circular economy for plastic and achieve our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042. Our goal is to maximise resource efficiency and minimise waste (including plastic) - by following the principles of the waste hierarchy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. To help us achieve this goal, in October 2023, Defra banned the supply of single-use plastic plates, bowls, and trays to the end-user and banned the supply of single-use plastic cutlery and expanded and foamed extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers, including cups. We will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic products and/ or materials to take a systematic approach to reducing the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products.
We are preparing for the fourth round of negotiations in April, to develop a new legally binding UN treaty to end plastic pollution. As a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, the UK is pushing for an ambitious and effective UN Treaty to address the problem of plastic waste globally.
I will ask my officials to write to Mr Akore Yeboah to discuss this matter further.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of new wildlife habitats have been (a) created and (b) restored since 31 January 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not currently have an estimate for habitat created and restored in 2023, the first year of the target.
Data on habitat created and restored is not usually available by year end. We expect there to be a two-year lag before having a 'complete' count due to the time taken for data to be reported and the quality assurance process.
In April, we published information about actions that will count toward our statutory habitat target, the list of wildlife rich habitats, and definitions of restoration and creation (available here).
We are currently working with Natural England to set up a formal reporting system for monitoring progress towards our statutory habitat target.
While we establish this formal reporting system, we are looking at whether we can collect a subset of data from Defra Group delivery mechanisms for ad hoc interim reporting.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to help ensure that Thames Water continues to (a) operate, (b) provide services and (c) keep bills low for customers.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Customers will not experience any change or disruption to their water supply or wastewater services as a consequence of the financial position of their water company. There are long standing processes in place whereby the regulator must approve individual companies’ investment plans to ensure they deliver on their requirements in an efficient way.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
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 15 April 2024 to Question 20753 on Flood Control, how many schemes that went through an appraisal process have been deferred (a) in total and (b) to a date beyond the end of the current programme of works in March 2027; and when he plans to publish more information on those schemes.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the Honourable member to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20753, which set out that delivery is the Government’s key priority, and we are working with the Environment Agency to review the programme in light of the impacts of inflation and the pandemic. More information will be available in due course.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
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 help maintain (a) Suffolk's coastline and (b) the cleanliness of bathing water.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is investing £5.6 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion, including around £1.3billion for defences along the coast. This investment includes a record £5.2 billion capital investment programme, a £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme (FCIP), £170 million for economic recovery from flooding and over £30 million of funding for flood incident management.
It is not always sustainable or affordable to defend every part of our coastline in the face of a changing climate which is enhancing the coastal erosion process. This is why we have allocated £36m over 6 years, for the ‘Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme’ (CTAP), as part of FCIP, to support communities in coastal areas at significant risk of erosion to adapt.
Coastal protection authorities are best placed to understand their coastline and to develop the most appropriate approaches to manage risk through Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) and their local planning policies. The Environment Agency (EA) work closely with Coastal Partnership East to monitor and deliver the Suffolk SMP to support the management of flooding and erosion on the Suffolk coast. This includes delivery by East Suffolk Council and partners of the FCIP ‘Resilient Coasts project as well as the recent completion of a £2.3 million project protecting Felixstowe Ferry. The EA are supporting the East Suffolk Water Management Board to deliver the £12.2 million Upper Alde and Ore Estuary Project, which will protect Snape and Aldeburgh, and are also working with partners to develop projects for Pakefield, Southwold and Thorpeness.
The Government is committed to improving the quality of our bathing waters. Almost 90% of bathing waters in England met the highest standards of ‘Good' or ‘Excellent’ in 2023, up from just 76% in 2010 and despite the classification standards becoming stricter in 2015. Suffolk has 7 designated bathing waters; last season 5 were classified as ‘Excellent’, 1 was classified as ‘Good’ and 1 was classified as ‘Poor’. The Environment Agency assesses what action is needed to improve water quality to meet the standards set by the Bathing Water Regulations. Action plans are in place at all ‘Poor’ bathing waters, including the River Deben Estuary, Waldringfield in Suffolk. This includes investigations into pollution sources and visits to farms and water company assets.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what rules apply to compensation payments made to farmers affected by flooding from the (a) Farming Recovery Fund and (b) other schemes; and what mechanisms are in place to allow for a review when such payments have been refused.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The following rules apply to farmers eligible for support from the Farming Recovery Fund. Farmers will receive payments for all land parcels which are flooded contiguous to a river with notably high river level gauge readings following Storm Henk during 2 to 12 January 2024. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will determine those farm businesses who are eligible and the amount of funding they could claim. If there are questions, then the farmer should write to the RPA.
More details on the rules and eligibility guidance on implementation of the support available for other schemes activated under the Flood Recovery Framework was sent to Local Authorities, who manage the support provided by the Framework where it has been activated. Further review of the scheme is underway. Support available for farm businesses and residencies includes:
These schemes are run by the relevant Local Authorities and any decisions on appeals should be directed to them to review.