Asked by: Baroness O'Neill of Bexley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Housing and Planning on 7 April (HC40908), what is the evidential basis for the designation of the site of special scientific interest that prevented the development of the town due to jumping spiders.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England (NE) notifies areas as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) which, in its opinion are of special interest by reason of their flora, fauna, geological or physiographic features.
The Swanscombe Peninsula SSSI is a corridor of habitats connecting Ebbsfleet Valley with the southern shore of the River Thames between Dartford and Gravesend. It is considered by NE to be of special interest for its:
The more detailed evidence base for the designation of the SSSI is publicly available.
Asked by: Baroness O'Neill of Bexley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter issued on 9 January to local authorities by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs regarding the indicative capital transitional costs for the introduction of weekly food waste collections, whether they have plans to defer the deadline of 19 January for local authorities to respond to the banking details request until after the Department has responded to the concerns of local authorities about the level of Government funding offered to cover the cost of these collections.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
So that we can provide funding this financial year, we have asked local authorities to provide bank details by 19 January. If local authorities have requested a review of their funding, then we will still need a record of their bank details.
If local authorities are undergoing a review process with our Defra team, we intend to still pay the funding indicated in their indicative letter. Subject to the result of the review, if a local authority requires further funding, then this will be provided separately.
Asked by: Baroness O'Neill of Bexley (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 merits of devolving fine-setting powers for fly-tipping and littering offences to local authorities.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Fixed penalties provide local authorities with an effective and visible way of quickly responding to environmental crimes, where prosecution may not be proportionate. Local authorities must set fixed penalties for litter and fly-tipping from within ranges specified in law. If a penalty level is not set by the authority then a default penalty level will apply.
We believe local authorities are best placed to select the appropriate level, to ensure it reflects local circumstances such as ability to pay. This flexibility is consistent with the responses we received to the consultation on introducing fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping.
Under the Prime Minister’s Antisocial Behaviour Action Plan, the first local authority fly-tipping enforcement league tables were published in August 2023. These show which councils are making good use of their powers to issue fixed penalties, encouraging both scrutiny and the sharing of best practice.