Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 impact of ineligibility for the frequently flooded fund on communities which are frequently flooded.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In July 2022, the Government announced the creation of new ring-fenced £100 million Frequently Flooded Allowance (FFA) as part of the Government’s record £5.2 billion investment programme into flood and coastal erosion schemes.
In April 2023, the Government announced the first 53 communities in England to benefit from the FFA. These communities have been allocated a total of £48 million, better protecting more than 2,300 households and businesses across the country.
The allowance is designed to ensure funding is appropriately targeted, benefitting communities where 10 or more properties have flooded twice or more in the last 10 years. These communities are often smaller and can face barriers to access funding due to the relative complexity and cost of building flood defences.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 impact of lower potato production on food security.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are very aware of the recent turbulence in the potato market caused by recent wet weather. We are closely monitoring the market situation and continue to engage with the potato growing, manufacturing and processing sectors to supplement Government data with real-time intelligence.
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, with a high degree of food security built on strong domestic production and supply from diverse sources. While the weather has created a challenging growing and harvesting environment for potato crops this season, we are not anticipating any significant impacts to domestic supply.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of prices paid to potato growers by (a) supermarkets and (b) manufacturers of processed potato foods.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are very aware of the recent turbulence in the potato market caused by a combination of factors including the weather and increase in input costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We are closely monitoring the market situation.
On 14th December we published a new review into fairness in the fresh produce supply chain. This will explore the relationships between horticulture producers, including those who grow potatoes, and the companies they do business with. The consultation closes in February, and we will analyse the responses then publish a formal response providing a summary of the findings and setting out next steps.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 impact of the replacement of the basic farm payment with Environmental Land Management schemes on pre-existing nature restoration schemes.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Farming in England is now going through the biggest change in a generation. We are phasing out subsidies so that we can invest the money in policies that work for farm businesses, food production and the environment. We are improving our farming schemes to make them more effective, fair, flexible, accessible and workable for farmers.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive focuses on supporting farmers to undertake activities to grow food whilst improving the environment and animal health and welfare. The Landscape Recovery scheme allows landowners and managers to take a more large-scale, long-term approach to producing environmental and climate goods on their land. Alongside these new schemes, we have expanded and enhanced the existing Countryside Stewardship scheme. This has been simplified and improved this year to include wildlife, upland wood pasture, and lowland peat offers, more efficient administration and fairer controls. Around 30% of English farmers are already in the Countryside Stewardship or its predecessor scheme, Environmental Stewardship, covering 34% of agricultural land. We have 32,000 live Countryside Stewardship agreements: a 94% increase from January 2020.
We intend to continue to improve Countryside Stewardship by making it easier to apply; by expanding and refining the scope of the scheme; by improving access for tenant farmers; by increasing access to Higher Tier agreements; and by targeting our funding towards actions in places where they can have the biggest impacts, in ways that are joined up across larger areas, and are designed to deliver outstanding results.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 the potential impact of changes in the level of grant funding on the future of Shropshire’s canal network.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s specific grant funding for the Canal and River Trust is primarily to support the maintenance and safe operation of the waterways network infrastructure. Ministers do not have a role in operational matters such as restoration projects or maintenance, including allocation of funding for individual waterways. Restoration projects do receive funding from various sources. For example, the Montgomery Canal restoration project received £16 million in October 2021 from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, through a successful Powys County Council bid.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to restore and protect the Montgomery canal.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s specific grant funding for the Canal and River Trust is primarily to support the maintenance and safe operation of the waterways network infrastructure. Ministers do not have a role in operational matters such as restoration projects or maintenance, including allocation of funding for individual waterways. Restoration projects do receive funding from various sources. For example, the Montgomery Canal restoration project received £16 million in October 2021 from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, through a successful Powys County Council bid.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 the potential impact of not including eggs as a sensitive sector in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on the domestic egg farming sector.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There have been no imports of eggs from CPTPP members to the UK since 2015. Global trade flows on shell eggs remain minimal as it is not practical to trade shell eggs over long distances.
The full Impact Assessment for the UK's accession to CPTPP will be published by the Department for Business and Trade in due course.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of water efficiency technologies on (a) tackling water scarcity and (b) increasing capacity for new build homes.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working with Ofwat to ensure the sector can develop innovative technology for water efficiency through their Innovation fund. We wrote, this year, to all water companies encouraging a rapid increase of smart meter installations for household and non-household customers. The 2023 Plan for Water details our roadmap for water efficiency in new development and retrofits, including our commitment to develop guidance for development design to minimise the pressure they place on the water system, especially in water stressed areas. We are looking at a number of ways to improve water efficiency in homes, including reviewing standards in the building regulations for showers, taps, and toilets. We are also delivering a mandatory water efficiency label for water using products by 2025.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 she has had with the Welsh Government on flooding in rivers that cross the English-Welsh border.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular meetings with counterparts in the Devolved Administrations to discuss a range of issues.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 protect cross-border communities in England and Wales from flooding.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency works closely with Natural Resources Wales to ensure Flood Risk Management Plans in the border areas of England and Wales follow a river catchment-based approach. Together they have worked with partner agencies to develop the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme and a plan to increase resilience to English and Welsh communities across the Upper Severn catchment.
The Environment Agency, Defra, Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) work together, and have regular discussions, to deliver a joint programme of Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Research and Development. Much of the Environment Agency’s research relates to both England and Wales. In 2021 research into understanding effective flood and coastal erosion risk governance in England and Wales was published. This included reviewing the cross-border Severn Estuary Coastal Group.