Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 considered developing an invasive American signal crayfish eradication strategy in (a) England and (b) Norfolk.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
American signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) are listed as Species of Special Concern and actions such as their commercial use, release into the environment and transport are banned under the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019.
Signal crayfish are also subject to management measures aimed at containing and controlling their populations where possible. This means that in England this species is more closely regulated through a system of Exclusion and Containment zones to prevent further spread.
Crayfish trapping in the ‘exclusion zones’ is only allowed for conservation, scientific, or fisheries management purposes, and no commercial use of any kind is permitted.
Trapping of signal crayfish is allowed in the containment zones (where an authorisation has been granted), but sale of live Signal crayfish is not permitted. Crayfish must be dispatched at the place of capture or taken to a licensed processing facility. Facilities are not licensed to obtain or receive crayfish taken from exclusion zones. To reduce the threat of this species being spread further, there is a total ban on the movement of live crayfish outside of licenced activity.
More information about the public consultation which led to this policy can be found here.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 an assessment of the potential merits of introducing penalties to local government for delays in implementing food waste collections due to (a) market congestion for vehicles and (b) other external factors.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working closely with local authorities and other key stakeholders across the waste sector to support implementation of food waste collections under Simpler Recycling in England. We are aware of concerns about delivery timelines, pressure on supply chains for vehicles and containers, and the need to upgrade waste and recycling infrastructure. Defra is working with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) on interventions to address bottlenecks in supply chains, including recently published guidance by WRAP to support local authorities procuring food waste services: Weekly food waste implementation supplementary procurement guidance | WRAP.
Public authorities (such as waste collection authorities) are expected to comply with their statutory duties. If they do not comply, they are at risk of judicial review. Local authorities are independent bodies and are accountable to their electorate rather than to Ministers or Government departments.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 plans to take to support communities affected by coastal erosion through the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is committed to supporting coastal communities and providing a strategic plan to manage flood and coastal erosion risks including the use of Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs).
The new £360 million Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund will provide investment in our coastal communities to help revitalise communities and support tourism. We will be engaging with local authorities, coastal community groups and local industry associations to understand how we can best target this funding to where it matters most.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects the mandatory housing order for poultry in Norfolk to be lifted.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Mandatory Housing combined with stringent biosecurity measures provides greater risk reduction and together these measures have been key in mitigating the risk of spread of avian influenza and keeping the case rate down in the face of extensive wild bird infection during the recent higher risk winter periods.
The need for Avian Influenza Prevention Zones (AIPZ) is kept under regular review as part of the government’s work to monitor and manage the risks of avian influenza. Any decisions on introduction or amendment of AIPZs, including on addition or removal of mandatory housing measures, are based on risk assessments that take full account of the latest scientific and ornithological evidence and veterinary advice.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 introduce a re-insurance scheme for properties at risk due to coastal erosion.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The £36 million coastal transition accelerator programme is supporting communities and businesses at risk of coastal erosion to transition and adapt to a changing coast.
This includes working with the finance and property sectors to explore innovative finance or funding mechanisms to help move communities away from rapidly eroding areas, for instance schemes to incentivise the relocation of at-risk infrastructure for businesses and homeowners.
The Environment Agency administers the Coastal Erosion Assistance Grant on behalf of Defra. The grant provides £6,000 per property to assist local authorities with the demolition and removal costs associated with homes at imminent risk from coastal erosion.
There are currently no plans to extend the scope of the Flood Re scheme, however Defra regularly reviews all policies, including eligibility for Flood Re.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to make an assessment of the potential (a) cultural and (b) historic merits of protecting areas from flooding and coastal erosion in a future review of the flooding formula.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will launch a consultation in the coming months which will include a review of the existing flood funding formula to ensure that the challenges facing businesses and rural and coastal communities are adequately taken into account when delivering flood protection. Feedback will be sought on the advantages and disadvantages of potential reforms to the flood funding formula.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 open the consultation on the flooding funding formula; and how long the consultation will last.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will launch a consultation in the coming months which will include a review of the existing flood funding formula to ensure that the challenges facing businesses and rural and coastal communities are adequately taken into account when delivering flood protection. Feedback will be sought on the advantages and disadvantages of potential reforms to the flood funding formula.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 trends in levels of costs for statutory external audit fees levied on National Park authorities on those authorities; and if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the (a) levels of those fees and (b) breadth of those statutory requirements.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra acknowledges that rising costs, including to fees required to fulfil statutory obligations, increase the funding pressures on National Park authorities.
Public Sector Audit Appointments Limited (PSAA) independently sets fees for eligible bodies defined in the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, including National Park authorities. PSAA is responsible for setting the scales of fees for the audit of accounts of authorities who have opted into its services. PSAA consults on and publishes its fee scales - 99% of eligible local bodies opted into its national scheme for the appointing period 2023/24 to 2027/28, including all National Park authorities in England.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government launched a strategy in December to overhaul the local audit system in England. The strategy commits to a series of measures to fix the broken system and consults on several specific proposals.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 adequacy of (a) progress towards risk-reflective pricing for insurance in areas of high flood risk and (b) market readiness for the scheduled exit of Flood Re in 2039.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Flood Re have a statutory purpose to manage the transition to risk-reflective pricing of flood insurance for household premises between 2016 and 2039. Flood Re published their most recent Transition Plan in July 2023, outlining its progress and action on moving to affordable risk-reflective pricing by 2039. Flood Re’s next Transition plan (Transition Plan 4) will be published in summer 2028.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 trends in the level of swallowtail butterfly numbers in (a) North Norfolk constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The swallowtail is a nationally rare butterfly and is restricted as a breeding species to the Norfolk Broads. The species was categorised as Vulnerable in the 2022 International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Regional Red List for Great Britian, moving from the near threatened category in 2010. This was due to a substantial population reduction in England of more than 30% in the previous 10 years. We have no separate trend data for the North Norfolk constituency.