Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Rural England’s State of Rural Services 2025 report and what steps they are taking to improve access to services in rural areas.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government welcomes the work of the Rural England CIC and Professor Martin Phillips on their fourth State of Rural Services report. This important research underlines the importance of our commitment to improve the provision of services for rural communities going forward, including healthcare and education.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding, other than flood and coastal erosion risk management grant-in-aid, they make available to protect heritage assets and community spaces at risk from coastal erosion.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
The Government is investing £5.6 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. This includes the £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme (FCIP). As part of FCIP, Ministers have allocated £36m over six years, to develop a ‘Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme’ to trial opportunities, and innovative practical actions, in a small number of coastal areas at significant risk of coastal erosion, to transition and adapt to a changing climate. The practical adaptation actions will likely include activities that support and facilitate the managed transition of property and facilities at risk of coast erosion providing an anticipatory approach in advance of coastal change.
The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), arm’s length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, awarded a £500,000 grant to English Heritage's Hurst Castle Stabilisation Feasibility Project (see attached) in 2022 to survey damage from coastal erosion and develop a plan to protect the castle for the long term. Further details of accessing NHMF grants can be found on the National Heritage Memorial Fund website.
Guidance on managing the impacts of coastal erosion on heritage features can be found on Historic England's website, alongside details of available grants for heritage.
The Third National Adaptation Programme (see attached) details how the Government and its agencies plan to protect cultural heritage from a changing climate, including implications for our coastal heritage due to flooding and coastal erosion.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding they have made available to protect churchyards from coastal erosion where (1) the church is of historical significance, or (2) family members of those recently buried in the churchyard reside in the local community.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
The Government is investing £5.6 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. This investment includes a record £5.2 billion capital investment programme, as well as the £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme (FCIP).
Schemes are valued and prioritised using the Government’s Partnership Funding policy, with the amount of funding a scheme can attract dependent on the damages it will avoid and the benefits it will deliver. The impact on heritage assets and churchyards are included as part of this calculation.
In areas where a heritage asset is assessed to be invaluable, only schemes protecting the asset can be shortlisted.
The Third National Adaptation Programme details how Government and its agencies plan to protect cultural heritage from a changing climate, including implications for our coastal heritage due to flooding and coastal erosion.
Guidance on managing the impacts of coastal erosion on heritage features can be found on Historic England's website, alongside details of available grants for heritage.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how heritage significance is taken into account when calculating the value of (1) a coastal erosion protection project, and (2) a grant received through grant-in-aid funding for such a project.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
The Government is investing £5.6 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. This investment includes a record £5.2 billion capital investment programme, as well as the £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme (FCIP).
Schemes are valued and prioritised using the Government’s Partnership Funding policy, with the amount of funding a scheme can attract dependent on the damages it will avoid and the benefits it will deliver. The impact on heritage assets and churchyards are included as part of this calculation.
In areas where a heritage asset is assessed to be invaluable, only schemes protecting the asset can be shortlisted.
The Third National Adaptation Programme details how Government and its agencies plan to protect cultural heritage from a changing climate, including implications for our coastal heritage due to flooding and coastal erosion.
Guidance on managing the impacts of coastal erosion on heritage features can be found on Historic England's website, alongside details of available grants for heritage.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of heritage assets and community spaces at risk of coastal erosion in the Northumberland region and what steps will they take to protect those at risk.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
The coastal erosion risk, and long term policy for management of the Northumberland Coast is outlined in the Scottish Border to River Tyne Shoreline Management Plan 2009 (SMP): North East Coastal Observatory (see attached). The SMP considers risks associated with coastal processes and outlines management policies to reduce risks to people and the developed, historic, and natural environment.
As part of the Scottish Border to River Tyne SMP (2009), a comprehensive assessment was undertaken to understand the characteristics of the natural and built environment of the Northumberland Coast. This assessment included evaluating the effects of coastal erosion on heritage, cultural heritage, and the historic environment (including churches and graveyards) to help ensure all relevant considerations were made when developing policies to manage coastal erosion.
As the relevant Coastal Protection Authority (CPA) in this location, Northumberland County Council (NCC) is eligible to bid for capital FCRM Grant in Aid for projects that mitigate the effects of coastal erosion. There are around 18 coastal projects with funding on the current 6-year capital programme within the Newcastle Diocese. These schemes have been allocated over £3.7million of FCRM Grant in Aid funding. Schemes can only progress after business cases for each scheme are produced and approved.
As part of the recent Natural Flood Management Announcements (40 projects to benefit from £25 million funding for natural flood management - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) (see attached) a scheme was approved within the Northumberland Coast, at Alnmouth. NCC's project will maintain and enhance existing saltmarsh and dune systems in the Aln Estuary.