Asked by: Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton)
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 estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of the Environment Agency (a) relocating and (b) removing the 116 alleged unregistered vessels moored on Environment Agency-owned land in Elmbridge Borough on 30 July 2023 using powers under Article 16 of the Environment Agency (Inland Waterways) Order 2010.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
During the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021 there were significant periods of time during lockdown when the Environment Agency eased mooring restrictions and we were not enforcing. The Environment Agency was successful in an enforcement matter in 2019 for a boat owner overstaying on their moorings and had costs awarded for their costs of £20k Kingston boater fined for illegal moorings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Environment Agency have been told there are allegedly 116 unregistered boats moored to their land in Elmbridge but cannot confirm the details of that data. The matter of the use of Article16 of the Inland Waterways Order 2010 has been subject to public consultation on its use. Until the consultation has been reviewed and a response has been published the Environment Agency has not concluded on how the use of Article 16 will be enforced across the country.
Asked by: Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much from the public purse the Environment Agency has spent on enforcement against illegal river moorings in Elmbridge Borough in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Environment Agency cannot quantify our cost of enforcement of illegal moorings in Elmbridge as the work is river wide. In 2022 the Environment Agency carried out a project to remove wrecks and abandoned boats, but not limited to the River Thames in Elmbridge, at a cost of £280K for the removal and disposal of 41 wrecks. Each and every vessel, if removed from the River Thames will have its own cost for removal.
Asked by: Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton)
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 has made of the effectiveness of the Environment Agency’s enforcement of illegal moorings in the non-tidal Thames.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Operational matters on inland waterways are the responsibility of the relevant navigation authority, such as in this case the Environment Agency’s enforcement of illegal moorings on the non-tidal Thames.
The Environment Agency waterways department as part of Defra is aware of all mooring issues or potential reported issues on its land. The intelligence is captured and collated in the Environment Agency navigation enforcement team’s Tactical Assessment (Thames). The document includes mooring and trespass issues on Environment Agency land only and helps prioritise and deliver outcomes. Trespass and mooring issues not relating to the Environment Agency fall under riparian landowners’ or other navigation authorities’ responsibilities.
The Tactical Assessment is a classified document and deemed as sensitive and would not be shared with the public. The Thames Enforcement Plan for the Environment Agency Non-Tidal Thames, which gives an overview of enforcement actions and priorities for 2023/2024, can be viewed here: Non-Tidal River Thames Regulation and Enforcement Plan 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency shares data on the enforcement of illegal moorings in the non-tidal Thames with her Department; and if her Department will publish that data by local authority area.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Environment Agency works with partner agencies to improve compliance on the non-tidal Thames, sharing outcomes with local authority areas and stakeholders alike. However, intelligence and ongoing enforcement actions are not shared with the public due to legal privilege and GDPR rules and regulations. More information relating to enforcement on the non-tidal Thames can be viewed on the Non-Tidal River Thames Regulation and Enforcement Plan 2023/2024: Non-Tidal River Thames Regulation and Enforcement Plan 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton)
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 strengthen resilience against flooding.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Defra launched a £4million Flood Resilience Community Pathfinder Scheme in 2013 to understand local resilience better and to contribute to our policy making. The scheme will close in March 2015 and - following an evaluation – we intend to share the lessons learnt with local authorities and community organisations.
The Environment Agency’s local teams work on a daily basis with at-risk communities across the country to build resilience.
Asked by: Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of (a) the comparative rate of food price inflation in (i) the UK, (ii) France and (iii) Germany between 2003 and 2015 and (b) the reasons for differences between those inflation rates in that period.
Answered by George Eustice
According to Eurostat, between 2003 and 2014 food prices rose by 47% in the UK, 17% in France and 23% in Germany. This reflects how the key drivers (commodity prices, exchange rates and oil prices) impact on each market. Over the period the euro appreciated relative to the pound, lowering food inflation for Eurozone countries relative to the UK. In addition, the UK’s competitive domestic market transmits more of the changes in the key drivers to consumers, which can lead to higher inflation when commodity prices and oil prices rise, but keeps prices lower overall.
Recent reductions in global commodity prices have been more fully transmitted into retail prices in the UK, at the same time as an appreciation of the pound relative to the euro. Food prices fell by 1.7% in the UK in 2014 compared to 0.6% and 0.8% in France and Germany respectively.
Despite higher inflation in the UK over the period, according to Eurostat food prices in the UK in 2013 (in purchasing power parities) were 7% lower than both France and Germany.
Asked by: Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton)
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 the provision of adequate flood protections.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
We are investing £3.2 billion on flood management in this parliament; a real term increase and half a billion pounds more than in the previous parliament. Going forward we are making a record level £2.3 billion capital commitment, investing in more than 1,400 schemes to improving defences; a further 9% real terms average increase. We estimate this will provide more than £30 billion of economic benefit and provide better protection for 300,000 households.
Asked by: Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish its response to the consultation it launched on 22 July 2014 regarding the secondary legislation for the flood reinsurance (Flood Re) scheme.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
We are currently considering responses to the consultation, which closed on 16 September. We will publish our response shortly.
Asked by: Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to promote flood defences.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
We are spending more than £3.2 billion over period of this parliament, compared to £2.7 billion in the previous five years. By March 2015, we will have improved the level of protection to more than 165,000 households.
We have also improved the funding approach to encourage others to invest in flood defences, so even more schemes can be delivered.