Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle fly-tipping in rural areas.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government understands the difficulty that fly-tipping poses to all landowners. We have committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created and will provide further details on this in due course.
We continue to work with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to share good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land. Various practical tools, including case studies and ‘how to’ guides on key issues such as setting up effective local partnerships, are available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people were prosecuted for illegal fly tipping in 2023-24.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions, such as prosecutions, to Defra, which are published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england.
Data for the 2023/24 reporting year will be published on the 26 February 2025.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to improve the enforcement of anti-fly tipping rules.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created. This will build on the sanctions already available for fly-tipping which include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing of vehicles and prosecution through the courts which can lead to a significant fine, a community sentence or even imprisonment. Sentencing is a matter for the independent courts.
We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are considering if further guidance is needed.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage investment in natural capital projects in Frome and East Somerset constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) is developing an initiative called Heart of Wessex that incorporates large parts of the Frome and East Somerset constituency. It is led by the EA and works across Natural England, The Forestry Commission, local eNGOs and community groups. It is designed to leverage natural capital and ecosystem services to draw in largescale sustainable finance across the boundaries of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire.
We have also been working with Wessex Water and the Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership to develop a partnership project in the Cam & Wellow Catchment under the Water Industry National Environment Programme. This project will help drive large amounts of investment into natural capital, delivering nature-based solutions, habitat creation and water quality improvements across the constituency.
Other partnership projects in this constituency that we have supported, and which have invested in natural capital include:
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help protect peatlands in Somerset.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In our manifesto we said that we will expand nature-rich habitats such as wetlands and peat bogs.
In Somerset we are restoring and improving our peatlands through a number of projects, including the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, Landscape Recovery, and the Paludiculture Exploration Fund.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage farmers to implement natural flood management measures.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The new Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes aim to help the environment while supporting farming and food production. These will include support for farmers and land managers to adopt natural flood management approaches in a way that reduces flooding and coastal erosion risks to local communities.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
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 support (a) apple farmers and (b) cider makers whose crops have been affected by ermine moths in Somerset.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Dessert and culinary apples play an important role in local economies, with the sector worth a combined £188 million in 2023.
The Government is committed to championing British farming and, in partnership with the sector, we are considering a number of ways to achieve our ambitious, measurable and long-term goals for the sector, including development of new crop varieties that are more resistant to pests such as ermine moths.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
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 potential implications for his policies of pollution levels in the River Frome.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) undertake a programme of ecological, water quality and chemical monitoring on the Somerset Frome according to the requirements defined by the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017 (WFD). This provides an understanding of the overall Ecological Status of the river. The EA act on the findings of this monitoring, to investigate any failures to meet the status required.
The WFD monitoring classification shows the Frome from its source to the confluence with the Maiden Bradley Brook as achieving poor ecological status. The Frome from Maiden Bradley Brook to the River Mells is achieving a moderate ecological status.
The reasons for not achieving good ecological status are a mixture of point and diffuse source pollution. This is elevating the nutrient levels in the water which in turn are affecting the plant and algal communities in the river. The results of the Environment Agency’s monitoring work indicate that sources are a mixture of treated sewage discharges from water company assets and from agricultural and land management practices.
Cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas is a top government priority. Change has already begun – the Water (Special Measures) Bill, announced during the King’s Speech, delivers on our manifesto commitment to put water companies under special measures by strengthening regulation to clean up our waters. That change will take time. Over the coming weeks and months, the Government will outline further steps to reform the water sector and restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health.