Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 take steps to improve the resilience of drainage systems.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of having a robust drainage and wastewater system both now and for future demand and expects water companies to plan their infrastructure appropriately to meet new growth.
As part of the Environment Act 2021, water companies in England are required to produce Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs). DWMPs set out how a water company intends to improve their drainage and wastewater systems over the next 25 years, accounting for factors including growing population and changing environmental circumstances. These plans will help sewerage companies to fully assess the capacity of the drainage and wastewater network and develop collaborative solutions to current problems and future issues.
Taking a strategic approach to drainage and wastewater management, will help to identify and mitigate issues related to insufficient network capacity or damaged infrastructure.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 make an assessment of the (a) adequacy of flood warnings and (b) potential merits of steps to ensure they are as (i) timely and (ii) accurate as possible.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are 1.6 million users in England signed up to the free flood warning service by the Environment Agency (EA) which sends a message directly by voice message, text or email when a flood warning is issued. In November and December 2024, the EA issued over 1,500 Flood Warnings (977 Flood Alerts, 543 Flood Warnings and two Severe Flood Warnings), two million messages were sent directly to the public via email, phone and text. The EA is developing the next flood warning system, ready for launch by the end of 2025. This will deliver a new flood warning capability that is more resilient.
The EA issues Flood Warnings ahead of flooding so that the public can take action to protect their safety and their livelihoods. The EA undertakes reviews on Flood Warnings issued and makes appropriate improvements to the service, this includes improvements to the forecasts and processes to ensure Flood Warnings are as accurate and timely as possible. As a resilience measure the EA has developed an automated warning system to make sure that communities receive Flood Warnings at all times, even for example when there is significant flood risk across the country.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 make an assessment of the number of additional homes in (a) Runcorn and Helsby constituency and (b) the North West at risk of flooding by 2050.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 17 December 2024 the Environment Agency published the ‘National assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024’ report on GOV.UK which provides a picture of current and future flood and coastal erosion risk across England.
On 28 January 2025 they will publish the new NaFRA data on check your long term flood risk and on data.gov.uk which will cover all of England, including Runcorn and Helsby constituency. This will include the latest UK Climate Projections and the potential impact of climate change on flood risk in areas across England.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 prevent flooding in rural communities in Runcorn and Helsby constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In just five months in Government, we have introduced a series of measures to better protect Runcorn & Helsby from flooding including:
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of pregnant dogs illegally smuggled into the UK in the last three years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
By its very nature, robust data on the full extent of illegal pet smuggling is not readily available. Therefore, the number of pregnant dogs illegally smuggled into the UK is difficult to quantify accurately.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential flood risks to (a) Runcorn and Helsby constituency and (b) the North West.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Flood and coastal risk management investment takes place where the risk is highest, wherever it is across the country.
The Environment Agency (EA) publishes the National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA), an assessment of flood risk from rivers and the sea for all areas of England and Wales, produced using local data and expertise. It shows the probability of flooding from rivers and the sea, considering flood defences and the condition they are in. This information is presented in flood risk likelihood categories.
The northwest of England (the Environment Agency areas of Cumbria and Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire) benefited from £97 million of investment between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 from the current Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) programme, resulting in 3270 properties being better protected from the risk of flooding.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 encourage (a) young people and (b) new entrants into farming.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Attracting bright new talent into land-based careers and having a skilled workforce in place is vital for the future of UK food and farming.
Defra works closely with The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH) which is encouraging young people and new entrants into farming in its capacity as an industry led professional body for the farming industry. This includes leading a cross-industry initiative to address common negative misconceptions about the sector and providing free TIAH membership for students. TIAH is also developing online capabilities to support matching mentees with mentors, and those looking for land with those who wish to provide access to land.
Furthermore, the Government has launched Skills England to ensure there is a comprehensive suite of apprenticeships, training and technical qualifications for individuals and employers to access, which are aligned with skills gaps and what employers need. It will work with its partners to ensure that regional and national skills needs are met.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 make an assessment of the quality of water in river ways in Runcorn and Helsby constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The watercourses of the River Weaver, River Gowy, Peckmill Brook and Keckwick Brook and their tributaries, together with the Mersey Estuary, were classified in 2019 and 2022. They are mainly at ‘Moderate’ ecological status. The Environment Agency publishes data on the classifications of rivers in England at England | Catchment Data Explorer.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has he made of the impact of incinerators on air quality (a) in Halton and (b) nationally.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) are responsible for issuing permits to allow new incinerators (also known as energy from waste or EfW plants) to operate in England. When the EA receives a permit application for a new EfW plant, or to change the operation of an existing plant in a way which could affect its emissions, they carry out a comprehensive air quality impact assessment.
The EA will only grant a permit for an EfW plant, or a variation to an existing permit, if they are satisfied that the proposal would not give rise to any significant pollution of the environment or harm to human health, including via impacts on air quality. This has been done for the Runcorn EfW plant in the Borough of Halton. A copy of the latest air quality impact assessment for Runcorn can be found in Section 1 of the document at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c8faadee5274a4c32a1597d/Application_Variation_-_Decision_Document.pdf
The EA also consult the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) for their views on every new permit application they receive. The UKHSA’s position is that modern, well-run and regulated municipal waste incinerators are not a significant risk to public health. This view is based on detailed assessments of the effects of air pollutants on health and on the fact that these incinerators make only a very small contribution to local and national concentrations of air pollutants.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 he has had with United Utilities on the level of sewage released into the River Severn.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with representatives of the water industry to discuss a range of issues, including reducing sewage discharges. This Government will continue to take bold action to tackle sewage pollution and hold all water companies, including United Utilities, to account for delivery.
The Government is clear that the volume of sewage being discharged into our waters is unacceptable. This is why we launched the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, setting stringent targets to reduce discharges from storm overflows. This Plan will drive the largest infrastructure programme in water company history - £60 billion capital investment over 25 years.
The River Severn is not a catchment in which United Utilities operates.