Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason Natural England's annual report and accounts for 2023/24 have not yet been presented to Parliament; and what his planned timetable is for its publication.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England are working with external auditors to ensure that their Annual Report and Accounts are true and fair. The process has taken longer this year due to ensuring that new accounting judgements are robust. We are in the final stages of the audit and intend to publish within the next month.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Environment Agency and Natural England have made on facilitating reinstatement of the Avon Valley footpath between Christchurch and Burton.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The closure of the footpath in this location is because there are breaches in the banks of the Hampshire Avon along Winkton Common upstream of Christchurch. These breaches have worsened over the last 6 months because of the exceptionally high-water levels in the river.
The Environment Agency (EA) is working with the Meyrick Estate, South West Water (SWW), Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) and Natural England (NE) to understand and mitigate the long-term implications. We are jointly exploring potentially significant environmental benefits in the form of new wetland habitat, but there are a number of important considerations, such as assets owned by SWW which run across the common.
While the EA is neither responsible nor funded to maintain the banks of the river in this location, we are supporting Natural England in their work with the Meyrick Estate to identify a long-term alternative route for the footpath. NE have worked with the Meyrick Estate on a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier application which will include a review of public access in this area and aim to identify a new sustainable route for the footpath.
We recognise that the situation is frustrating for those who want to access the Avon Valley footpath, but changes in river levels associated with climate change do mean that the historic route is likely to be unsustainable.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the public consultation on fairer food labelling which closes on 7 May 2024 does not include labelling the method of slaughter used in respect of meat products.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter, and legislation sets out the main requirements to protect the welfare of animals when being slaughtered. The Government expects the industry, whether food producer or food outlet, to provide consumers with all the information they need to make informed choices. Where any information is provided on the method of slaughter it must be accurate and not misleading to the consumer.
We are currently consulting on proposals to improve and extend current mandatory method of production labelling, including options for the production standards behind them. Our proposed standards initially focus on the period of time the animal spends on farm. We are seeking views through consultation on these standards, including the period of life which they should cover.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to write to the hon. Member for Christchurch on the potential impact of the level of phosphates in the River Avon on housing developments in Christchurch.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to my letter issued on 7 May 2024.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to write to the hon. Member for Christchurch on the Avon Valley footpath between Burton and Christchurch.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following our recent meeting on the Avon Valley footpath, I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many XL Bully dogs have been seized by the police since 1 January 2024; and how many and what proportion of those seized have been euthanised.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra does not hold data on XL Bully dogs which have been seized by the police. This information would be held by individual police forces.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will list all Government investments in the farming sector in Christchurch constituency since 1 April 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has supported the farming and rural sector through payments under a range of schemes.
Since 1 April 2023, the RPA has released through schemes and grants approximately £326k in the Christchurch constituency. A breakdown of these figures is in the table below.
Basic Payment Scheme | Countryside Stewardship Scheme | Environmental Stewardship | Sustainable Farm Incentive | Other Grants | Total |
£218,516 | £57,616 | £21,286 | £5,602 | £22,802 | £325,822 |
There are no species recovery or landscape recovery projects funded within the Christchurch constituency.
There are no live Conservation and Enhancement Scheme agreements.
The Dorset peat project is Defra funded. However, there are no peat restoration sites within the constituency boundary – sites at Cannon Hill and Holt Heath are close to the boundary.
The only project to highlight which falls within the constituency is the Salisbury to sea (Christchurch Harbour) fish barrier removal study, which also incorporates floodplain reconnection opportunities funded by Network Rail but is being managed and contracted by Natural England in partnership with the Environment Agency.
Except for New Forest Higher Level Stewardship there are no other funds that Natural England is aware of linked to New Forest National Park which overlaps at the east boundary of the constituency.
There are Countryside Stewardship agreements funded and associated investment of time by Natural England staff locally on agri agreements and Catchment Sensitive Farming (Stour and Avon catchments) within the Christchurch constituency.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the Government response to the consultation on commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into Great Britain, launched in August 2021.
Answered by Mark Spencer
In August 2021 we launched a consultation on the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. It was a wide-ranging consultation with excellent engagement and some complex issues to work through. The consultation response will be published soon.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 bring forward revised Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) England Regulations 2023; and for what reason those regulations were not brought forward for approval before their proposed commencement date.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Government remains committed to introducing a ban on the use of e-collars. We will pursue new regulations to deliver this commitment on a revised timeline.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data his Department holds on (a) the level of phosphorus in, (b) the nutrient budget calculation for phosphorus in, (c) the required reduction in phosphorus levels to meet water quality targets for and (d) the date by which that reduction must be achieved for the River Avon Special Area of Conservation; and what steps Natural England is taking to meet those targets.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England (NE) gather monitoring data to track levels of phosphorus in the River Avon Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Phosphorus concentrations in the headwaters of the River Avon are typically around 0.1 mg/L, and in some reaches are even higher, declining to around 0.065 mg/L in the lower reaches.
The River Avon Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) sets out further evidence and supporting information on phosphorus levels in the river. This includes information on the reductions in phosphorus loads from different sources that would be required to achieve the SAC water quality targets, and the measures that must be in place in order for these reductions to be achieved.
The Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England (NE) have also been reviewing the reduction targets and measures against the updated ‘polluter pays’ fair share targets and will update the NMP as needed following this review. The latest information indicates the annual average nutrient load passing through the Avon (nutrient budget) for the SAC is around 55 tonnes Ortho-phosphorus a year. Reductions to meet the SAC target potentially equate to around 47% from all sources.
Subject to Ofwat approval and expected advice from Defra on the implementation of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, necessary water company reductions are expected to be met over PR24 and PR29. The EA and NE will be looking for similar reductions from the agricultural sector over this time frame but details around this need to be finalised.
The EA and NE are working with a number of partners, stakeholders and landowners in the River Avon to ensure nutrient loads are managed and reduced effectively. This includes delivering advice schemes like Catchment Sensitive Farming to reduce diffuse pollution from agriculture, supporting innovative river restoration schemes that optimise phosphorus reduction, and providing sustainable development advice to developers. There will be further engagement with stakeholders as part of any NMP update.