Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 trends in the level of households in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London that have fallen into arrears with their water bill payments in the last (a) six and (b) 12 months.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not track households that have fallen into arrears with their water bill payments; this would be undertaken by water companies. However, I am very mindful that consumers are concerned about their bills. All water companies offer WaterSure and social tariffs to help reduce bills for households who struggle to pay their bills in full. Water companies also offer a range of financial support measures to assist households to better manage their budgets and provide flexible payments including payment holidays, bill matching, benefit entitlement checks and money/debt advice referral arrangements. The Government expects water companies to continue to actively engage with households and inform them of support measures they offer.
I encourage customers to access the Consumer Council for Water’s Advice Hub, which has information and useful tools to help customers reduce their bills or access financial support.
To support people with the cost of living, the Government has put in place a substantial package of support. Further information can be found here: Cost of living support - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farms in Enfield North constituency are part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of 21 April 2023 there is one farm in Enfield North that has a Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farms in Enfield North constituency are part of Countryside Stewardship scheme.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of 21 April 2023 there are two farms in Enfield North that have Countryside Stewardship agreements.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 National Air Pollution Control Plan.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
A consultation on a revised National Air Pollution Control Plan was launched on 25th July 2022 and closed on the 4th September 2022. The responses to the consultation are currently being carefully considered.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 ensure an adequate food supply in the context of potential shortages.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain which is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. The recently published Government Food Strategy sets out a plan to transform our food system to ensure it is fit for the future. Responding to recent events, the Food Strategy puts food security at the heart of the Government's vision for the food sector. The strategy sets out ambitions to boost food production in key sectors with post-Brexit opportunities and create jobs, with a focus on skills and innovations to level-up across the country.
The UK's high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years. In addition, the UK has nearly 100% sufficiency in poultry, carrots and swedes. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
The UK Government has well established ways of working with the industry and with the Devolved Administrations to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains. The capability, levers and expertise to respond to disruption lie with industry. They have highly resilient supply chains, and this was proven in the initial COVID-19 response. The Government's role is to support and enable an industry-led response.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 his Department has taken to tackle nitrogen pollution.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has made ambitious commitments to improve the environment, including air and water quality. Addressing nitrogen pollution remains a priority for delivering these commitments and we are taking steps to achieve this.
We are taking action to address pollution from agriculture by utilising a suite of effective advice programmes, incentives, and regulations. Recent actions include but are not limited to a near doubling of funding for the Catchment Sensitive Farming Programme; providing financial support for positive action from farmers, such as through the Countryside Stewardship scheme and the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund; and promoting compliance with regulation by allocating £1.2 million to the Environment Agency to recruit an additional 50 inspectors. We continue to review and consider options to deliver our commitments in this area.
In addition, we are helping to tackle local nitrogen dioxide exceedances for air quality by providing £880 million to help local authorities develop and implement local air quality plans.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 implications for his policies of the findings of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds report entitled Mind the Gap, published in November 2021; and what steps he is taking to improve agricultural policy to protect hedgerows and wildlife in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
While no formal assessment of the report has been made, we agree about the value of hedgerows to our countryside. Hedgerows provide vital resources for mammals, birds and insect species, and they also act as wildlife corridors, allowing dispersal between isolated habitats. Many are also important historical and cultural landscape features.
Legal protection for hedgerows in England and Wales is provided by the Hedgerows Regulations 1997. These regulations prohibit the removal of most countryside hedgerows (or parts of them) without first seeking approval from the local planning authority. It decides whether a hedgerow is ‘important’ and should not be removed because of its wildlife, landscape, historical or archaeological value.
Alongside the Hedgerows Regulations, all wild birds, their eggs and their nests are protected, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, making it an offence to kill, injure or take wild birds or to take or damage their eggs and nests. This provides important protections for farmland birds.
Hedgerows are also protected by standards under cross compliance. As we move away from cross compliance, we have committed to maintaining our high environmental standards. Our new environmental land management schemes will continue to recognise the role and fund the management of hedgerows. The hedgerow standard, part of the new Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, will pay farmers to plant more hedgerows, leave them uncut or raise the cutting height, and buffer them from agricultural operations.
We will also continue to keep our domestic regulatory standards under review, raising standards sustainably and as needed over time, as new research and evidence emerge.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 he has taken to tackle drain blockages and fatbergs.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is considering a range of options to tackle drain blockages and fatbergs. My officials are working to assess the effects of wet wipes containing plastic on sewers and identify possible solutions. The incorrect disposal of wet wipes can be one of the main causes of sewer blockages. Wipes often then combine with fats, oil and grease, which are also often disposed of down sinks into drains, and combine to form fatbergs.
Defra also continues to encourage the water industry and wet wipe manufacturers to work together to raise consumer awareness about the appropriate disposal of wet wipes and other non-flushable products. This will be crucial for generating meaningful behavioural change with consumers and customers.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy on accurately labelling (a) sanitary and (b) toilet products in respect to whether they are flushable.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In line with our Resources and Waste Strategy for England, we are considering the best approach to minimising the environmental impact of a range of products, including absorbent hygiene products, taking on board the environmental and social impacts of the options available.
There are a number of policy measures available to us, including standards and consumer information, as well as encouraging voluntary action by business. We are seeking powers through the Environment Bill that will enable us to, where appropriate and subject to consultation, introduce eco-design and consumer information requirements including labelling schemes that provide accurate information to consumers, to drive the market towards more sustainable products. The water industry has developed their ‘Fine to Flush’ standard for wet wipe products and Defra is considering a range of policy options to tackle the issue.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 he has taken to prevent deterioration in river wildlife; and what resources he will provide to local authorities in England to protect and restore water habitats.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
River basin management plans (RBMPs) set out objectives and put in place measures to protect, enhance and manage our surface waters, including the conservation objectives for protected sites. The 2015 RBMPs confirmed £3 billion investment over the period to 2021. In England this has led to over 11,000km of surface water being enhanced since the 2015 plans were published. The next update of the plans has just been published for consultation by the Environment Agency (EA) and I encourage local authorities and all interested parties to engage in that process.
Many of our rivers are designated as protected sites, in whole or in part, in view of their national and/or international importance. These provisions provide a high level of protection but also rely on a broad range of complementary measures to secure their conservation, often at the catchment scale. These measures are an important part of river basin planning.
In addition, Defra and the EA are working together to tackle the main pressures affecting the water environment and freshwater habitats. We are tackling river and lake pollution from poor farming practice with regulation, financial incentives and educational schemes for farmers. Water company investment in environmental improvements has been scaled up to £7.1 billion over the period 2020-25. The storm overflow task force and new measures through the Environment Bill will focus effort on reducing harms from storm overflows and our new chemicals strategy will build on an already robust statutory regime to ensure chemicals are managed and handled safely. We will also be setting at least one new, legally binding target on water quality through the Environment Bill.