Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding from the Clean Bus Technology Fund her Department has allocated to Wirral Council.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have not awarded any Clean Bus Technology Fund funding to Wirral Council, however we have allocated funding to Liverpool City Region Combined Authority of which the Wirral is a constituent part. In total, through four different rounds of the Clean Bus Technology Fund, we have allocated £6,833,026 to the Combined Authority.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings her Department has had with Wirral Council to discuss preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.
Answered by George Eustice
We have communicated on a range of topics with local authorities, including in a conference call on 13 August along with other Government departments. Each local Authority has established a Brexit lead officer to liaise with Government.
Defra has identified areas where our exit preparations impact local authorities. For instance Environmental Health Officers are responsible for issuing Export Health Certificates on fish and we have discussed capacity and the requirements with them.
We regularly contribute to a cross-government working group which coordinates engagement with local authorities.
Information on leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement relevant to a particular local authority can then be accessed by the local authority via shared channels, such as:
Information on a range of Defra’s exit projects if we leave the EU without a withdrawal agreement has been made available to local authorities through these channels. This includes information on:
Local authorities have been invited to attend various meetings, including workshops, training events and roadshows on topics including:
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Liverpool City Region Mayor on tackling air pollution in the Liverpool City Region area.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs attended the Clean Air Summit on 14 February with the Liverpool City Region Mayor and city leaders from across the country.
A range of issues were discussed at the Summit including the ambitious goals set out in our new Clean Air Strategy, the need to focus on reducing emissions from a variety of sources, and support for local authorities with powers and funding.
Defra officials have regular and ongoing engagement with those local authorities named in the 2017 Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations to support them in considering measures to address nitrogen dioxide exceedances in their areas, including Liverpool City Council.
Liverpool City Council have been directed to develop a local plan by 31 October 2019 and on 28 February this year presented an update on their plan to senior representatives in the Joint Air Quality Unit.
Due to the highly localised nature of the problem, local knowledge is crucial in solving pollution problems in these hotspots. Local authorities, including Liverpool, are considering a range of measures to tackle their nitrogen dioxide exceedances, including, where appropriate, charging Clean Air Zones.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
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 trends in the use of antibiotics in the UK fisheries sector in the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
Over the last five years, the amount of active ingredient of antibiotic sold for use in fish-only has oscillated around an average of 1.5 tonnes and, in 2016, represented less than 0.5% of antibiotics sold for use in animals.
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
Tonnes | 2.1 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 1.6 |
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
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 trends in antibiotic usage in the UK agricultural sector over the most recent five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The latest data from 2016 shows that antibiotic sales in the UK agricultural sector had fallen to 45mg/kg; this figure represents a 32% reduction over the last five years.
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
mg/kg | 66 | 62 | 62 | 56 | 45 |
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
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 he has made of the effect of diesel engines on air quality in (a) Wallasey constituency, (b) Wirral and (c) Merseyside.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The national pollution climate mapping modelling includes assessment of air quality within Wallasey, Wirral and Merseyside. Our latest modelling for the 2017 national plan showed no air pollutant exceedances in Wallasey and Wirral.
There were modelled exceedances of nitrogen dioxide in Liverpool City Council in Merseyside. Of these exceedances, 66% of the modelled concentrations were attributable to emissions from diesel engines for the Liverpool Urban Area reporting zone.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that small businesses can access flood insurance.
Answered by Rory Stewart
While we recognise the difficult challenges that some small businesses could face in accessing commercial flood insurance in areas of high flood risk, we are not currently aware of evidence that there is a systemic problem. Therefore, we have committed to work with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and other interested parties to monitor the insurance market for small businesses. We are keen to work across government, and with a range of business interests, to better understand the nature and extent of any problem that might exist.
The ABI have assured us that the insurance industry will continue to provide insurance to small businesses on a competitive basis.