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, what assessment he has made of the impact of maintaining the maximum flood resilience repair grant at £5000 on (a) levels of take up and (b) the type of property covered.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
When activated, the Defra PFR Repair Grant Scheme provides for up to £5000 as a contribution towards making a property more flood resilient. It is intended as a one-off payment to assist households and business to put place in measures that will provide greater resilience to future floods. It is not intended as compensation for flooding. Property owners can choose to add to the available grant to implement further PFR measures in their property.
There is a reasonable expectation that property owners will take steps, including having suitable insurance, which may now include an additional up to £10,000 for resilient repairs under the Build Back Better scheme.
The level of grant is kept under review and for the recent activations of the scheme we have increased the amount that can be claimed as part of the £5,000 grant to enable PFR surveys to be undertaken.
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: 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: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 his Department has taken to protect (a) hedgerow habitats and (b) associated species.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Hedgerows are important ecological and environmental building blocks across our landscapes. As set out in the Environment Improvement Plan (EIP), Defra will support farmers to create or restore at least 30,000 miles of hedgerows by 2037, increasing to 45,000 miles of hedgerows by 2050.
On the 16 April the Government laid before Parliament new regulations that will place management practices for hedgerows on agricultural land into legislation. These practices include a cutting ban between 1 March and 31 August to protect nesting birds during this period, and a 2m buffer strip around a hedge where green cover must be established and maintained to protect the health of the hedge and the wildlife that use it.
The new regulations will be supplemented by actions being undertaken by many through Environmental Land Management schemes. There are now over 55,920 miles of hedgerows with one or both sides managed under 16,000 Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farm Incentive agreements.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what financial assistance he is making available to farmers following recent extended wet weather.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Farming Recovery Fund has been opened to provide farmers support to recover from uninsurable damage with grants of between £500 and £25,000 to return their land to the condition it was before exceptional flooding of Storm Henk. The fund was initially opened in nine English local authority areas where the Flood Recovery Framework has already been activated to help farms which have experienced the highest levels of flooding, and the eligibility for the Fund remains under review.
This forms part of a package of support available to farmers through the Flood Recovery Framework, including a grant of up to £2,500 through the Business Recovery Grant Scheme.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 provided financial assistance to farmers to repair flood damage.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Farming Recovery Fund has been opened to provide farmers support to recover from uninsurable damage with grants of between £500 and £25,000 to return their land to the condition it was before exceptional flooding of Storm Henk. The fund was initially opened in nine English local authority areas where the Flood Recovery Framework has already been activated to help farms which have experienced the highest levels of flooding, and the eligibility for the Fund remains under review.
This forms part of a package of support available to farmers through the Flood Recovery Framework, including a grant of up to £2,500 through the Business Recovery Grant Scheme.
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 his Department holds on the number of appeals dealt with by local authorities with respect to amending definitive maps of public rights of way in the last 12 months; and whether he is issued recent guidance to local authorities on dealing with such requests.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Planning Inspectorate considers appeals for definitive map modification orders on behalf of the Secretary of State in accordance with Schedule 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. In 2023-24 the Planning Inspectorate considered 21 appeals with 19 decisions issued.
Guidance on Schedule 14 appeals can be found here. Further guidance for local authorities can be found in Rights of Way Circular 1/09 here.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon 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 is taking to reduce the amount of plastic packaging produced in the UK.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Reducing the use of single use plastic packaging produced in the UK is a key ambition of this Government. 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.
The UK Government and the Devolved Administrations have also committed to introduce Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. This will make producers of packaging, responsible for the costs of collecting and managing packaging when it becomes waste. This will encourage businesses to think carefully about how much packaging they use, to design and use packaging that is easily recyclable, and to use reusable packaging. In using more easily recyclable and reuseable packaging, producers will pay less.
To tackle the use of virgin plastics, the Government brought in the Plastic Packaging Tax in April 2022, a tax of over £200 per tonne on plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into the UK, that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic. We have since increased the tax to £217.85 per tonne and will continue to monitor the situation and adjust accordingly.
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of clean air zones on levels of air pollution.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The latest air quality data was published in September 2023 as part of the 2022 National Compliance assessment, and is publicly available on the DEFRA UK Air website at the following link: Air Pollution in the UK report - Defra, UK. The 2022 Evaluation of Local NO2 Plans, published in February 2024, provides information regarding the impacts of clean air zones, and is publicly available on the DEFRA website at the following link: Evaluation of Local NO2 Plans - AQ0851 (defra.gov.uk)
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on achieving its target to eliminate avoidable plastic waste by the end of 2042.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are making progress to address this concerning issue. 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 keep plastic in circulation for longer. We will do this by making producers more responsible for the plastic they make with our incoming Collection and Packaging Reforms.
Single-use plastics are a particularly problematic type of plastic that makes up much of our waste. To get us closer to our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042, we have introduced bans on the supply of many unnecessary single-use plastic items. We implemented one of the world’s toughest bans on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products and brought in measures to restrict the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds in October 2020. The use of single-use carrier bags has been reduced in the main supermarkets by over 98% with our five pence charge. In May 2021 we increased the charge to 10 pence and extended it to all retailers to build on its success to date and create a level playing field for all businesses. In October 2023 we introduced a ban on the supply of single-use plastic plates, bowls, and trays to the end-user and ban the supply of single-use plastic cutlery and single-use plastic balloon sticks and expanded and 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.