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Written Question
Angling: Licensing
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

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

To ask His Majesty's Government how many successful prosecutions by the Environment Agency there were for fishing without a licence in England in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

In addition to prosecution, the Environment Agency will use other enforcement outcomes that include formal cautions, warning letters and issuing advice and guidance. The table below provides the numbers of these used alongside prosecutions between 2019 to 2023.

Final Action Taken

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Grand Total

Advice and Guidance Total

261

59

167

114

78

679

Caution Total

113

25

254

573

1176

2141

Warning Letter Total

182

102

238

1447

338

2307

Prosecutions (Successful) Total

1876

464

728

379

250

3697

Grand Total

2432

650

1387

2513

1842

8824

The total number of successful prosecutions is higher (+498) than the table above if you include fisheries byelaw offences such as fishing in the close season. Please see the table below for all prosecutions and enforcement actions.

Final Action Taken

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Grand Total

Advice and Guidance

269

62

167

116

79

693

Caution

123

29

276

579

1185

2192

Warning Letter

191

110

265

1461

362

2389

Prosecutions (Successful)

2057

494

818

483

343

4195

Grand Total

2640

695

1526

2639

1969

9469


Written Question
Social Prescribing
Monday 22nd January 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of social prescribing; and whether her Department issues guidance on which models provide the most effective treatment.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As a relatively new programme, the evidence base around nationally linked social prescribing is still evolving and robust quantitative evidence is limited. However, a growing body of work is suggestive of positive effects. The Department continues to work to understand the effectiveness of social prescribing to enhance physical and mental health and wellbeing, building on existing positive local evidence.

The Department of Health and Social Care works on the Green Social Prescribing programme established with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to increase the use and connection to the natural environment to tackle mental ill health. The Department of Health and Social Care funds the evaluation and research element including research studies into angling and outdoor swimming.

The Department funds via grant the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP). Their role is to support and promote social prescribing at a local and national level and develop the evidence base. A range of research into the effectiveness of social prescribing published by NASP is available at the following link:

https://socialprescribingacademy.org.uk/read-the-evidence/


Written Question
Fisheries
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)

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 make an assessment of the potential merits of using fines collected from water companies to support angling societies to replenish fish stocks.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

In the Plan for Water, we announced the Water Restoration Fund which will channel environmental fines and penalties collected from water companies into projects that improve the water environment. The Fund will support a wide range of projects to improve the environment such as removing invasive non-native species; creating and restoring water-dependent habitats; removing barriers to enable fish and other species’ natural movement in rivers. Further details will be announced later in the year.


Written Question
Angling: Licensing
Friday 8th September 2023

Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many rod licences were issued by the Environment Agency in each (a) region and (b) county in 2022.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency holds information on the sale of rod licences for the following geographical areas. The numbers of rod licences issues in 2022 are provided below.

Cumbria and Lancashire

32,081

Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Leicestershire

50,657

Devon and Cornwall

17,011

East Anglia

94,956

Greater Manchester Merseyside and Cheshire

58,513

Hertfordshire and North London

52,320

Kent and South London

64,009

Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire

39,702

Northumberland Durham and Tees

25,669

Solent and South downs

37,149

Wessex

39,771

West Midlands

101,326

West Thames

45,452

Yorkshire

74,158

TOTAL

732,774


Written Question
Angling: Licensing
Friday 8th September 2023

Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the number of rod licences issued by the Environment Agency in 2022.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

In addition to the information provided to PQ196068 the Environment Agency records the type of rod licence sold (e.g. salmon / coarse and trout / senior / junior / disabled / annual / 8 day or 1 day).

Additional information is recorded for the individuals who purchase a rod licence as follows: Name, Address and Date of Birth (Mandatory); E-mail and Telephone number (Optional); Proof of eligibility for disabled concession (mandatory for those claiming concession).


Written Question
Social Prescribing: Health
Tuesday 18th July 2023

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effectiveness of social prescribing in improving (a) physical and (b) mental health.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department continues to work to understand the effectiveness of social prescribing to enhance physical and mental health building on existing positive local evidence.

As part of our commitment to the cross-Government, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA)-led Green Social Prescribing Programme, we have commissioned and funded three clinical research feasibility studies that could lead to full Randomised Controlled Trials via the National Institute for Health and Care Research. These studies aim to test the effectiveness of nature-based activities on mental health outcomes, including outdoor swimming as a nature-based intervention for depression, angling to treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and work with Newquay Orchard and the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust. The Department expects decisions to be made soon on whether they will proceed to full scale trials.


Written Question
Social Prescribing: Swimming
Tuesday 18th July 2023

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of including swimming in social prescribing.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department continues to work to understand the effectiveness of social prescribing to enhance physical and mental health building on existing positive local evidence.

As part of our commitment to the cross-Government, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA)-led Green Social Prescribing Programme, we have commissioned and funded three clinical research feasibility studies that could lead to full Randomised Controlled Trials via the National Institute for Health and Care Research. These studies aim to test the effectiveness of nature-based activities on mental health outcomes, including outdoor swimming as a nature-based intervention for depression, angling to treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and work with Newquay Orchard and the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust. The Department expects decisions to be made soon on whether they will proceed to full scale trials.


Written Question
Rivers: Fish
Wednesday 12th July 2023

Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the plans by the Environment Agency to oxygenate England's rivers in the event of a heatwave, what other action they intend to take to protect river fish in England; and in particular, what action they plan to take to improve the resilience of rivers in England in the face of climate change and to address poor water quality, pollution, over abstractions and low flows, which the Angling Trust say are also responsible for the rise in ‘fish kill’ incidents.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The third National Adaptation Programme, due to be published later this year, will set out the government's approach to addressing the 61 risks and opportunities identified in the third Climate Change Risk Assessment. This includes risks to freshwater habitats and species, like river fishes, from changing climatic conditions and extreme events. It will include actions to support the resilience of our freshwater, such as those we have committed to in the Government’s Plan for Water, Environmental Improvement Plan and River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs).

The actions in the Plan for Water are directed towards addressing poor water quality, pollution, over abstractions and low flows and will provide a basis for planning our longer- term response to mitigate climate impacts. The River Basin Management Plans, produced by the Environment Agency, and supporting catchment plans aim to mitigate climate change impacts by restoring the integrity and resilience of natural systems. As well as action on water quality, pollution and low flow, they include actions such as restoring habitats, improving river connectivity by removing barriers to fish migration and the Keeping Rivers Cool project (copy attached), to reduce fishes’ exposure to increasing temperatures.


Written Question
Fish: Conservation
Tuesday 27th June 2023

Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to secure the salmonoid and coarse fish stocks in England and Wales against predation by cormorants and goosanders; and what consideration they have given to amending the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 for this purpose.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The Government recognises the impact that fish-eating birds, such as cormorants and goosanders, can have on fish populations. Currently, Natural England can grant licences to shoot a limited number of cormorants and goosanders to prevent serious damage to inland fisheries, where it can be shown that non-lethal measures are failing to manage predation. In the case of cormorants, up to 3000 birds may be licensed to be shot each year. To improve the effectiveness of both non-lethal and lethal measures, Natural England encourages fisheries within the same river-catchment area to cooperate as part of an area-based licensing scheme.

The Environment Agency also supports the employment of Fishery Management Advisers, who provide practical support to angling clubs and fisheries about protecting fish from cormorants and goosanders.

Working together, Natural England and the Environment Agency help fisheries effectively manage predation problems without irreversibly harming the conservation status of these species.

The Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) continues to be effective at providing licensing functions to permit the control of piscivorous birds to protect fisheries and in that regard the Government has no plans to amend the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.


Written Question
Angling: Environmental Information Regulations 2004
Thursday 30th March 2023

Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits for anglers of maintaining the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is in the process of analysing and assessing its retained EU law stock to determine what should be preserved as part of domestic law, and what should be repealed, or amended. This work will determine how we use the powers in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, including in relation to the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.