Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has produced guidance for operators of sewage processing plants on the use of Nereda reactors in areas of high population density.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The operation of sewage processing plants is a matter for water companies who must comply with any permit conditions that have been set. The use of Nereda reactors, a particular type of wastewater treatment process, must be in accordance with any relevant permit conditions.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who is responsible for defining the content of storm overflow discharges.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Storm overflows are permitted by the Environment Agency (EA) following our published guidance. Discharges from storm overflows as are referred to as “storm sewage”, which in most part is the combination of “foul sewage” (domestic and trade wastewater) and “rainfall runoff”.
Under the Environment Act 2021, sewerage undertakers will be required to monitor sewerage assets and the impact they have on the local environment. In April 2023, we consulted on Continuous Water Quality Monitoring and Event Duration Monitoring. Our consultation response published in September 2023 detailed our plans for a new water quality monitoring programme, which will place a duty on water companies to publish near real time information on the impact of sewage discharges.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to take steps to test storm overflow water to ensure that it is accurately defined.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Storm overflows are permitted by the Environment Agency (EA) following our published guidance. Discharges from storm overflows as are referred to as “storm sewage”, which in most part is the combination of “foul sewage” (domestic and trade wastewater) and “rainfall runoff”.
Under the Environment Act 2021, sewerage undertakers will be required to monitor sewerage assets and the impact they have on the local environment. In April 2023, we consulted on Continuous Water Quality Monitoring and Event Duration Monitoring. Our consultation response published in September 2023 detailed our plans for a new water quality monitoring programme, which will place a duty on water companies to publish near real time information on the impact of sewage discharges.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason a storm overflow that is at least 95% rainwater is defined as raw sewage.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Storm overflows are permitted by the Environment Agency (EA) following our published guidance. Discharges from storm overflows as are referred to as “storm sewage”, which in most part is the combination of “foul sewage” (domestic and trade wastewater) and “rainfall runoff”.
Under the Environment Act 2021, sewerage undertakers will be required to monitor sewerage assets and the impact they have on the local environment. In April 2023, we consulted on Continuous Water Quality Monitoring and Event Duration Monitoring. Our consultation response published in September 2023 detailed our plans for a new water quality monitoring programme, which will place a duty on water companies to publish near real time information on the impact of sewage discharges.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains his policy to increase Defra host funding for catchment partnerships.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Last year we announced in the Plan for Water to increase funding for catchment groups, to deliver tailored long-term catchment action plans to improve all water bodies in England. This remains the government’s policy.
The around 100 Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) Partnerships across England are critical partners in delivering many of the Government’s goals in the Environment Improvement Plan, including clean and plentiful water. At present the government annually provides approximately £1.7m funding to Catchment Partnerships as well as the CaBa National Support Group to deliver water outcomes on the ground. We also provide additional funding to Catchment Partnerships through the Water Environment Improvement Fund to deliver projects on the ground.
Additionally, earlier this month Defra launched the Water Restoration Fund, to which eligible Catchment Partnerships may apply for funding for projects to restore and enhance the water environment, using environmental fines and penalties collected from water and sewerage companies.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
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 potential impact on the environment of non-compliant vapes.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As confirmed by the Government response to the consultation on Creating a Smokefree Generation and Tackling Youth Vaping consultation, Defra is leading on implementing a ban on disposable or single-use vapes due to the environmental harm caused by these devices. On 11 March draft regulations were published along with an impact assessment, which set out the main environmental concerns. Single-use vapes are an inefficient use of finite raw materials, they are inherently difficult to recycle and are often discarded incorrectly. When littered they pose a risk to soil, water and biodiversity and are a fire risk when thrown into residual waste. A report published by Defra earlier this year provides a broader assessment of the environmental impacts of single-use vapes and can be found online here: Analysis of the market for vapes: exploring the environmental impacts of single-use vapes - EV0157 (defra.gov.uk).
Defra has not made any environmental assessment of current non-compliant vapes.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of its plans to address water scarcity in Greater Cambridge on the water bills of Anglian Water customers in (a) Suffolk and (b) Suffolk Coastal constituency.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government is committed to supporting the growth of Greater Cambridge in a sustainable way, supporting its economic potential, protecting and enhancing the quality of life for residents, habitats and the environment.
At Spring Budget 2024, the government published a policy paper setting out its ambition to address water scarcity in Greater Cambridge. Customer water bills are set every five years by Ofwat through its ‘price review’ process which includes controlling the prices that companies can charge customers whilst allowing companies to finance improvements to their infrastructure.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the list of successful new bathing water sites following the consultation which closed on 10 March.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra plans to publish the outcomes of the consultation on the designation of 27 proposed bathing sites by the start of the 2024 bathing season, which begins on 15 May.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2024 to Question 20104 on Armed Forces: Housing, if he will provide a breakdown of those figures for Scotland.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Please find below the figures broken down for Scotland.
Issue | Damp and Mould (provided from February 2023) | Loss of heating and hot water | Loss of water Supply | Electrical faults | Pest Infestation |
| 104 | 96 | 0 | 646 | 68 |
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many callouts have been made to RAF Lossiemouth for maintenance issues relating to (a) roofing, (b) loss of heating and hot water, (c) electrics (d) pest control and (e) damp and mould in the since April 2022.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Callouts made to RAF Lossiemouth for maintenance issues since April 2022, are shown in the table below;
Roofing | Loss Heating & Hot Water | Electrical | Pest Control | Damp & Mould | TOTAL |
31 | 82 | 506 | 17 | 87 | 723 |