Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2024 on the ability of waste disposal authorities to generate an income from disposing of recyclable materials.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The DRS (Deposit Return Scheme) aims to reduce littering of in-scope containers. Once the DRS is operational, our Impact Assessment analysis estimates savings to local authority street cleaning costs of around £30 million per year.
Many of the containers not returned through the scheme may continue to travel through local authority waste streams such as kerbside recycling. The introduction of a DRS has a varying impact on local authorities recycling collections; there may be efficiency savings from collecting and processing less material, however we also understand the DRS will remove a material from local authority recycling streams. Details can be found in the Final Impact Assessment.
We anticipate the scheme administrator – the Deposit Management Organisation – working closely with local authorities to ensure as much material is returned as possible and to help meet collection targets and keep material within the closed-loop model of the DRS.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Environment Agency will publish the findings of its investigation into the faults of the Horncastle Flood Alleviation Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I can confirm that the Environment Agency has published its reports of their investigation into the fault at the Horncastle flood storage reservoir. The reports were published on the Horncastle Town Council website in February and a public meeting held in April for the community to raise questions. The reports conclude that the flooding was caused by heavy rainfall downstream of the reservoir and to the east of Horncastle in excess of the flood storage reservoir scheme design. It was not caused by the delayed closure of the reservoir sluice gate.
The reports can be found Flooding – Horncastle Town Council. The report from February and the notes of the April meeting are attached to this answer.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the Environment Agency’s maintenance budget for flood defences has been spent on assets in (1) flood zone 1, (2) flood zone 2, (3) flood zone 3, and (4) flood zone 3b during the current financial year.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Whilst the Environment Agency (EA) has flood risk assets in many locations, many of these are in the river channels or are the line of defence between water and dry land. For this reason, flood zones do not provide the best measure of what flood risk areas the EA’s assets protect.
The EA instead looks at assets based on their 'consequence system' which rates the impact of assets on people, property and land.
Below are the planned maintenance costs for April 2024 to March 2025 split over these flood risk consequences:
Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Maintenance Allocation for 2024-25 | Resource Grant-in-Aid (£m) |
Within High Consequence Systems | 177 |
Within Medium Consequence Systems | 21 |
Within Low Consequence Systems | 9 |
Expenditure not limited to a specific location. (multiple locations or non-asset specific) | 7 |
Total | 214 |
These totals are based on work planned for 2024-25 and are subject to change. These Totals also include wider asset management costs that are integral to delivering and supporting works in these consequences areas.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Environment Agency holds regional data on the average time taken to respond to reports of environmental incidents and faults in relation to flood defences.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For calendar year 2024 to date, 75% of incident reports received by the Environment Agency (EA) have been assessed within the target time of one hour. All incidents reported to the EA are classified by their risk to the public and environment. The EA cannot report the time taken to respond to individual incidents by locality but plans for future upgrades to systems should enable this.
The EA inspects flood risk assets on a frequency of between six and 60 months, depending on risk. If the EA is alerted to a concern with an asset, an inspection can be undertaken before the due date. If an asset is identified below required condition, it is fixed within 60 days or, if the damage is significant, a more detailed assessment is completed to determine appropriate actions. Where an asset is likely to remain below required condition for more than 60 days, mitigation measures are put in place to ensure the asset can operate until the full repair is complete. If an asset requires urgent repairs and there is an immediate risk, emergency repairs are undertaken.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps the Environment Agency is taking to support Internal Drainage Boards in maintaining flood defences in low-risk flooding areas.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Protecting communities around the country from flooding is one of the new Secretary of State’s five core priorities for Defra.
The Government fully supports the important work internal drainage boards (IDBs) do in managing water and flood risk, benefiting communities, businesses and the environment. To support this important work, and in recognition of the significant impact flooding has on farms and rural communities, the Government has announced [Written Ministerial Statement HCWS214] additional financial support for IDBs.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional resources will be provided to local authorities to carry out their enforcement obligations under the Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (England) Regulations 2024.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will consider enforcement of single-use vapes alongside other types of illicit vapes. In the coming months we will be working closely with the Department for Health & Social Care and relevant enforcement bodies to understand how we can support those enforcing the ban.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to invite officials in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to sit on, and become members of, the Flood Resilience Task Force.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s new Floods Resilience Taskforce marks a new approach to preparing for flooding and developing policy. It brings together a range of partners in national, regional and local government, including the Environment Agency, Devolved Administrations, selected Regional Mayors and Lead Local Flood Authorities. Membership of the Taskforce from national, regional and local partners is flexed to meet the specific agenda and priorities but the Taskforce will also work with a wider range of flood risk partners as needed.
The Floods Resilience Taskforce liaised with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero before the first meeting and received information on the Energy Sectors’ readiness for flooding. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will be invited to attend future Taskforce meetings when the agenda requires and the Taskforce will work with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero as needed.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to invite officials in the Department for Transport to sit on, and become members of, the Flood Resilience Task Force.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s new Floods Resilience Taskforce marks a new approach to preparing for flooding and developing policy. It brings together a range of partners in national, regional and local Government, including the Environment Agency, Devolved Administrations, selected Regional Mayors and Lead Local Flood Authorities. Membership of the Taskforce from national, regional and local partners is flexed to meet the specific agenda and priorities but the Taskforce will also work with a wider range of flood risk partners as needed.
The Floods Resilience Taskforce spoke to the Department for Transport (DfT) before the first meeting and received information on the Transport Sectors’ readiness for flooding. This builds on Defra’s existing close work with the Department for Transport. DfT will be invited to attend future Taskforce meetings when the agenda requires and the Taskforce will work with DfT as needed.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the role of the Environment Agency in ensuring that drainage ditches owned by riparian owners are maintained
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
Under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, the Environment Agency has a strategic overview of the management of all sources of flooding and coastal change and are the lead authority for managing the risk of flooding from main rivers, estuaries and the sea.
Many different public and private bodies are involved in flood and coastal erosion risk management, each accountable for different aspects of risk management. The National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England (copy attached) sets out the different roles and responsibilities and describes how organisations and communities can work together to tackle flood and coastal risk in a co-ordinated and effective way.
Landowners are responsible, under common law, for maintaining the bed and banks of any watercourses that run through their land in a state which avoids flooding on their neighbours’ or other land. This common law duty also extends to keeping watercourses and culverts clear of anything that could cause an obstruction, either on their own land or downstream if it is washed away.
Drainage ditches are usually ordinary watercourses rather than main rivers, so the oversight of flood risk arising from unmaintained drainage ditches sits with other Risk Management Authorities (RMAs). Lead local flood authorities (county councils and unitary authorities), district councils, internal drainage boards, highways authorities and water and sewerage companies are collectively known as RMAs.
The Environment Agency has published guidance on owning a watercourse on GOV.UK, covering riparian landowners’ responsibilities and the rules to follow and the permissions needed. By March 2024, new engagement guidance will be published, to help RMAs, Environment Agency staff and landowners have more effective conversations on this matter.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial situation of internal drainage boards and what plans they have to ensure that internal drainage boards can collect levies independently to that of local government.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
Internal drainage boards (IDBs) are local independent public bodies responsible for managing water levels and flood risk supporting and better protecting farms and communities in predominately low-lying areas in England. IDBs are funded by the beneficiaries of their important work, farmers, who pay drainage rates, and local authorities, who pay special levies.
The Government is aware of recent impacts on IDBs, predominately from rising costs and especially rising energy costs, and is keeping in close contact with IDBs, the Association of Drainage Authorities and relevant local authorities on this.
In recognition of the rising costs and following the winter storms the government will be providing £75 million in funding to IDBs in 2024-2025, on a one-off basis, to support agricultural land drainage and continue the important work IDBs do in helping to better protect farmers and communities from flooding. This will support IDBs to accelerate asset recovery from the winter storms and will also provide opportunities to modernise and upgrade their assets. More information will be available shortly, and we will work with the sector on delivery.
In addition, DLUHC is providing £3 million to support those local authorities in 2024/25 who are experiencing the biggest pressures with IDB special levies. DLUHC will confirm the distribution of this funding in the coming months.