Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any organisations completed air quality modelling to help inform the air quality targets in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023, published on 31 January 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Both the interim and long term targets published within the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 were informed by extensive modelling undertaken by internationally recognised experts. The modelling to inform the long term PM2.5 targets is set out on the UK Air website.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the level of funding provided to local authorities for meeting the targets set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023, published on 31 January 2023.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The delivery of the Environment Act 2021 statutory targets does not place a specific burden on local authorities but will require a shared endeavour from government, local authorities, business and the individual decisions we all make. Through the Environment Act 2021 we have ensured a robust legal framework to hold current and future governments to account, protecting nature for generations to come.
We continue to engage with local authorities on specific targets and to assess any support they need in their delivery.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she last met the Local Adaptation Advisory Panel for England Steering Group.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Local Adaptation Advisory Panel is an official-level forum in which Defra senior and working-level officials are actively engaged. Defra Ministers do not participate in the group.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will hold discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing the air quality grant for local authorities in the spring budget.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra remains committed to providing support for local authorities to tackle air pollution through the air quality grant. Since 2018 we have awarded over £35 million to a range of projects. This includes £10.7 million in funding awarded to 44 local authorities this year that will benefit schools, businesses and communities, and reduce the impact of polluted air on people’s health.
The value of funding committed to the grant is reviewed annually. The budget available for the next round of funding will be announced in summer 2023.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department made of the adequacy of the outcomes of COP15 for the Convention on Biological Diversity; and what steps they are taking to achieve targets domestically.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The package agreed at COP15, including the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, represent a historic step forward towards addressing the biodiversity crisis. Setting a clear mission to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, the commitments expected under its 23 targets, notably to protect 30% of global land and 30% of global ocean by 2030, to end human induced-species extinctions of known threatened species by 2030, alongside the package of international nature finance agreed to support its implementation – put us on the path to nature recovery. The key is now to fully implement this ambitious framework across all Parties.
Domestically, in England, we are setting legally binding targets for biodiversity: to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030; then to reverse declines by 2042. These are complemented by further targets to reduce the risk of species extinction and restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat. Following agreement of the Global Biodiversity Framework at CBD COP 15 we will be setting out our approach to implementing the framework domestically in our Environmental Improvement Plan, due to be published in 2023. The Plan will set out our ambitions and approach to nature recovery, including our legally binding targets and the actions that will drive us towards reaching them.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help protect people using rural footpaths, bridleways and trails from irresponsibly driven off-road vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Some rural public rights of way and unsealed unclassified roads allow for the legal recreational use of motor vehicles and such routes often provide essential vehicular access for local residents and businesses.
Whilst many users make use of these rights in a responsible way, the Government is aware of damage and disturbance caused by excessive use of off-road motor vehicles on some unsealed routes.
The Government is working with stakeholders to explore options for protecting our green lanes while maintaining most public and private access rights, particularly for residents and businesses.
Local authorities already have powers through Traffic Regulation Orders to control the amount and type of traffic on all roads.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what powers local authorities have to regulate the use of off-road vehicles for recreational purposes on public rights of way.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Some rural public rights of way and unsealed unclassified roads allow for the legal recreational use of motor vehicles and such routes often provide essential vehicular access for local residents and businesses.
Whilst many users make use of these rights in a responsible way, the Government is aware of damage and disturbance caused by excessive use of off-road motor vehicles on some unsealed routes.
The Government is working with stakeholders to explore options for protecting our green lanes while maintaining most public and private access rights, particularly for residents and businesses.
Local authorities already have powers through Traffic Regulation Orders to control the amount and type of traffic on all roads.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prevent off-road vehicles used for recreational purposes causing damage to farmland and the countryside in Rother Valley constituency.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Some rural public rights of way and unsealed unclassified roads allow for the legal recreational use of motor vehicles and such routes often provide essential vehicular access for local residents and businesses.
Whilst many users make use of these rights in a responsible way, the Government is aware of damage and disturbance caused by excessive use of off-road motor vehicles on some unsealed routes.
The Government is working with stakeholders to explore options for protecting our green lanes while maintaining most public and private access rights, particularly for residents and businesses.
Local authorities already have powers through Traffic Regulation Orders to control the amount and type of traffic on all roads.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has taken steps to facilitate cross-departmental collaboration on tackling air pollution.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Yes, the Secretary of State is working across Government to tackle air pollution. We will shortly be publishing our response to the consultation on environmental targets, which included proposals for targets on air quality and how they will be achieved.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of Government funding for local authorities on improving air quality.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To enable local authorities to perform their statutory functions in local air quality management, Defra run an annual air quality grant whereby local authorities can bid for funding to take forward air quality initiatives in their area. Through this grant we have awarded more than £42 million across almost 500 projects since 2010, and this year will award at least £7m.
As part of our NO2 programme, we also manage a budget of £883m, held jointly across DfT and Defra.
Funding provided to local authorities is split between Implementation funding and our Clean Air Fund. To date (June 2022) the programme has spent £237m on implementation funding for air quality measures and £284m through its Clean Air Fund.