Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to designate bathing waters in Warwick and Leamington constituency by 2025.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are currently no sites in the Warwick and Leamington constituency under consideration to be designated as bathing waters. Anyone can apply to designate a site as a bathing water by following the application guidance available at: Designate a bathing water: guidance on how to apply - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
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 sewage overflows into rivers and waterways in Warwick and Leamington constituency on groups who use the water for recreational activities.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is clear that the volume of sewage being discharged into our waters in unacceptable. That is why our Plan for Water sets out more investment, stronger regulation, and tougher enforcement to tackle pollution and clean up our water.
Alongside this, our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan sets clear and specific targets for water companies to reduce sewage discharges, and will drive the largest infrastructure programme in water company history - £60 billion capital investment over 25 years
The rivers in the vicinity of Warwick and Leamington (River Avon and River Leam) are not designated Bathing Waters. Monitoring undertaken by the Environment Agency is primarily focussed on its statutory duties to monitor and report environmental quality.
We have increased the number of storm overflows monitored across the network: in 2010 only 7% were monitored, and now 100% are being monitored.
Nationally, the Environment Agency has directed water companies to make significant improvements through the PR19 Water Industry National Environment Plan and water company business plans, including upgrading over 8,000 storm overflows in successive price reviews since 1989. This has resulted in water companies investing £3.1 billion to improve storm overflows between 2020 and 2025.
Locally, Severn Trent Water, as part of their Green Recovery Programme, are carrying out a trial to improve a stretch of the River Leam near Warwick & Leamington Spa with the aim of making the river safer to swim in a location where bathing is known to occur. This trial includes river monitoring and improvements to some of Severn Trent’s sewer network, infrastructure and discharges.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many sewage discharges were made into the River Leam each year since 2010.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency collates discharge data from Water and Sewerage Companies for storm overflows and for 2020 and 2021 the data is published here. The 2022 data will be published at the end of March 2023.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
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 fresh water depletion from England’s aquifers (a) in 2022 and (b) the last ten years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) undertakes an assessment of groundwater resources as part of the six year cycle of River Basin Management Planning process. Groundwater bodies need to meet the four quantitative tests that aim to protect surface water flows, groundwater levels, spring discharges and water quality. The assessment also includes a groundwater balance with consideration to amount of recharge, how much is needed to support rivers and the impact from groundwater abstraction. The EA has been assessing groundwater bodies in this way since 2009 and the last reported assessment was carried out in 2019.
Assessment shows groundwater abstraction in 73% of groundwater bodies is sustainable and there is enough water to protect the environment, providing good support to fish and other aquatic life.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
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 impact of fireworks on (a) domestic animals, (b) wild animals and (c) vulnerable people.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has not made these assessments. However, the Government takes the issues associated with the sale and use of fireworks seriously. There is a comprehensive regulatory framework already in place for fireworks which aims to strike the right balance for people to enjoy fireworks, while aiming to reduce risks to animals and people.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
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 number of (a) sparrows, (b) robins, (c) blue tits, (d) gold finches and (e) green finches in the UK (i) as of 1 February 2023 and (ii) in 2012.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Annual population estimates do not exist for most UK bird species. The Avian Population Estimates Panel estimates of the for these species in 2020 and 2013 are as follows:
Species | UK population estimate in 2020 (number of breeding pairs) | UK population estimate in 2013 (number of breeding pairs) |
House sparrow | 5,300,000 | 5,100,000 |
Tree sparrow | 245,000 | 200,000 |
Robin | 7,350,000 | 6,700,000 |
Blue tit | 3,400,000 | 3,600,000 |
Goldfinch | 1,650,000 | 1,200,000 |
Greenfinch | 785,000 | 1,700,000 |
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many sewage discharges were made into the (a) River Leam and (b) River Avon within Warwick and Leamington constituency in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iii) the period between September and December (A) 2021 and (B) 2022.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency collates discharge data from Water and Sewerage Companies for storm overflows and for 2020 and 2021 the data is published here. The 2022 data will be published in March 2023.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many ducks have been culled since the outbreak of avian flu on 27 October 2021.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To date during the avian influenza outbreak (from 26 October 2021 to the 3 November 2022), 6 million poultry or other captive birds (including chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, and other kept birds) have died or are being culled and disposed for disease control purposes (2.8 million since Oct 2022; 3.2 million birds between October 2021 and September 2022). This is a small proportion (approximately 0.6%) of overall yearly poultry production (c.20m birds slaughtered for human consumption per week).
Of the total which have died or are being culled and disposed for disease control purposes during the outbreak, approximately 1,282,000 are turkeys, 679,200 ducks and 60,800 geese (equating to approximately 21%, 11% and 1% of the total birds culled respectively) (931,000 turkeys, 336,700 ducks, and 19,000 geese (equating to approximately 33%, 12% and 1% of the total birds culled respectively) since October 2022; 351,000 turkeys, 342,500 ducks and 41,800 geese (equating to approximately 11%, 11% and 1% of the total birds culled respectively) between October 2021 and September 2022).
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many geese have been culled since the outbreak of avian flu on 27 October 2021.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To date during the avian influenza outbreak (from 26 October 2021 to the 3 November 2022), 6 million poultry or other captive birds (including chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, and other kept birds) have died or are being culled and disposed for disease control purposes (2.8 million since Oct 2022; 3.2 million birds between October 2021 and September 2022). This is a small proportion (approximately 0.6%) of overall yearly poultry production (c.20m birds slaughtered for human consumption per week).
Of the total which have died or are being culled and disposed for disease control purposes during the outbreak, approximately 1,282,000 are turkeys, 679,200 ducks and 60,800 geese (equating to approximately 21%, 11% and 1% of the total birds culled respectively) (931,000 turkeys, 336,700 ducks, and 19,000 geese (equating to approximately 33%, 12% and 1% of the total birds culled respectively) since October 2022; 351,000 turkeys, 342,500 ducks and 41,800 geese (equating to approximately 11%, 11% and 1% of the total birds culled respectively) between October 2021 and September 2022).
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many turkeys have been culled since the outbreak of avian flu on 27 October 2021.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To date during the avian influenza outbreak (from 26 October 2021 to the 3 November 2022), 6 million poultry or other captive birds (including chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, and other kept birds) have died or are being culled and disposed for disease control purposes (2.8 million since Oct 2022; 3.2 million birds between October 2021 and September 2022). This is a small proportion (approximately 0.6%) of overall yearly poultry production (c.20m birds slaughtered for human consumption per week).
Of the total which have died or are being culled and disposed for disease control purposes during the outbreak, approximately 1,282,000 are turkeys, 679,200 ducks and 60,800 geese (equating to approximately 21%, 11% and 1% of the total birds culled respectively) (931,000 turkeys, 336,700 ducks, and 19,000 geese (equating to approximately 33%, 12% and 1% of the total birds culled respectively) since October 2022; 351,000 turkeys, 342,500 ducks and 41,800 geese (equating to approximately 11%, 11% and 1% of the total birds culled respectively) between October 2021 and September 2022).