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1697407

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Microplastics: Pollution
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent of the impact of the (a) design and (b) manufacture of textiles on microplastic pollution.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol East
	tabling member printed	Kerry McCarthy
	uin	19564
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2024 answer text <p>The Department has not made (actual) assessments of the impact of the design and manufacture of textiles on environmental microplastic pollution. Defra recently funded a project to develop and validate methods to detect, quantify and characterise microplastics and microplastic fibres from textiles used in clothing in rivers and their sediments. The techniques were tested on urban and rural rivers, and it was found higher levels of microplastics were present in the urban river.</p><p> </p><p>Defra provided grant funding of £860000 to WRAP's Textiles 2030, which began in 2021. The programme brings together brands &amp; retailers representing more than 62% of all clothing placed on the UK market to drive industry collaboration on circular design, circular business models, (resale, rental, subscription, repair, recycling) and closing the loop on materials (recycling).</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 25/03/2024 15:47:55 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
	tabling member	1491 label Biography information for Kerry McCarthy

1697492

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Flood Control: Costs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Seventh Report of the Committee of Public Accounts of Session 2023-24 on Resilience to flooding, HC 71, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the increase in construction costs on investment in flood defence maintenance; and what discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on any impact on its target of maintaining 98% of its high consequence flood defence assets at required condition.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
	tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
	uin	19692
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2024 answer text <p>At the last Spending Review the Government increased funding for maintenance of flood defences by £22 million per year. This funding ensures flood defences are kept in good working order. In 2023/24, the Government has gone even further, including switching £25 million from the capital programme to fund maintenance, so that the total allocation for this year is over £220 million.</p><p> </p><p>Defra and the Environment Agency (EA) are assessing the effects of inflation on the EA’s ability to maintain its flood and coastal risk management assets at the required condition. The effects of inflation and the recent winter storms have had an impact on flood defence condition.</p><p> </p><p>As of Q3, 97.2% of EA maintained assets in high consequence systems were at or above the required condition. Where assets are not in required condition, this identifies that work is required. It does not mean that there is a risk of asset failure or that performance in a flood is compromised.</p><p> </p><p>The EA are currently funded to maintain between 94-95% of high consequence EA assets at their target condition. The long-term target is to ensure 98% of all such assets are at required condition. Future flood defence maintenance budgets will be determined as part of the next Spending Review.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 09/04/2024 10:30:43 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
	tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1697493

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Housing: Flood Control
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Seventh Report of the Committee of Public Accounts of Session 2023-24 on Resilience to flooding, HC 71, what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) location of housing developments (i) allocated in local plans and (ii) given planning consent that will not take place due to the reduction in the number of properties to be protected by new flood defence projects.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
	tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
	uin	19693
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk, including floodplains. Where development needs to be in locations where there is a risk of flooding as alternative sites are not available, local planning authorities and developers should ensure development is appropriately flood resilient and resistant, safe for its users for the development’s lifetime, and will not increase flood risk overall.</p><p> </p><p>In March 2020, the Government doubled its investment in flood defences to a record £5.2 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. Since April 2021, over £1.5 billion has been invested in over 200 flood protection schemes, better protecting over 71,000 properties.</p><p> </p><p>Delivery is the Government’s key priority, and we are working with the Environment Agency to review the programme in light of the impacts of inflation and the pandemic. More information will be available in due course.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 02/04/2024 13:13:42 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
	tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1697495

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Zane Gbangbola
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of opening an independent public inquiry into the death of Zane Gbangbola during flooding in 2014.
	tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
	tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
	uin	19662
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2024 answer text <p>The Surrey Senior Coroner has already carried out a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Zane Gbangbola’s death, taking into account a considerable amount of evidence.  The Coroner, as an independent judicial office holder, drew his own conclusions based on this evidence.</p><p> </p><p>If there is a belief that the evidence was not considered properly during the original inquest, or that there is new evidence available, the correct process is for an application to be made to the Attorney General asking her to apply to the High Court to quash the inquest and order a fresh investigation. The High Court would take this course of action if it believed that it would be in the interests of justice.</p><p> </p><p>I believe that this remains the proper process to follow. An assessment of the merits of an inquiry should be made at the appropriate time if, and when, the legal processes have been exhausted.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 25/03/2024 16:25:23 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
	tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves

1697496

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Written Questions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to Questions 18568, 18569 and 18570 tabled by the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle for answer on 18 March 2024.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
	tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
	uin	19694
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2024 answer text <p>The Answer to Question 18568 was published on 20 March 2024.</p><p> </p><p>The Answers to Question 18569 and 18570 were published on 25 March 2024.</p><p> </p><p>I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 03/04/2024 15:25:18 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
	tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1697497

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Landfill: Safety
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency has made a recent assessment of the safety of historic landfill sites that are in close proximity to urban areas.
	tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
	tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
	uin	19663
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>Local Authorities have the statutory duty to inspect their Areas to identify contaminated land (including historic landfills and non-permitted sites) in accordance with a written inspection strategy which they must publish and maintain.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency has responsibility to require those responsible to remediate historic landfills and non-permitted sites if they have been determined as contaminated land and designated as a ‘special site’ by the local authority under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2000, 54 sites have been designated as special sites including 13 historic landfills <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.data.gov.uk%2Fdataset%2Fe3770885-fc05-4813-9e60-42b03ec411cf%2Fcontaminated-land-special-sites&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C54992b60b7134e38dfb508dc4a809abc%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638467163410647727%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Qslv7CQHLKI6p0%2BvvXg4Xg%2FzpwVaPz71zRcu3stJrgk%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Contaminated Land Special Sites - data.gov.uk</a></p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 26/03/2024 14:52:37 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
	tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves

1697526

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Marine Protected Areas: Fishing Vessels
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of bottom trawling on Marine Protected Areas.
	tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
	tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
	uin	19585
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Slough, on 6 July 2023, PQ UIN <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fquestions-statements.parliament.uk%2Fwritten-questions%2Fdetail%2F2023-07-03%2F192154&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Cdac54863fba24d48038208dc4a6be6c4%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638467074492201131%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=nbEwrdsKwNLFSHEQ4zuns6s8ls%2FfZj7qZFrJ%2BMKF46k%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">192154</a>.</p><p> </p><p>A byelaw restricting the use of bottom trawling in 13 Marine Protected Areas mentioned in that answer came into force on 22 March 2024.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 26/03/2024 13:17:54 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1697527

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Fishing Vessels: Regulation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to prohibit bottom trawling.
	tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
	tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
	uin	19586
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>Bottom trawls are used by all parts of the fishing fleet, from small day boats to large offshore vessels. In 2021, fishing with bottom towed gears in the UK Exclusive Economic Zone by the UK fleet represented approximately 30% of the total tonnage, by value this was 45%. The economic importance to coastal communities varies, but there are significant trawler fleets in the South West of England. There is currently no commercially viable replacement for bottom trawling to catch the high-value species targeted (e.g. cod, haddock, scallops). There is work underway to progressively address the environmental effects of bottom trawling, working alongside the fishing industry, academia, and other stakeholders including through Fisheries Management Plans, the first of which were published in December 2024. The issue needs to be approached carefully to ensure the environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainability are balanced.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 26/03/2024 13:29:08 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1697528

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Marine Protected Areas: Territorial Waters
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of classifying all territorial waters as Marine Protected Areas.
	tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
	tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
	uin	19587
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2024 answer text <p>The UK has signed up to the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 (30by30 target). Domestically, we have designated a comprehensive network of MPAs covering 40% of English waters, based on recommendations from our scientific advisors (Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee). Our priority is to ensure all sites are managed appropriately to meet our statutory MPA target.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 28/03/2024 12:58:39 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1697532

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Marine Protected Areas
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the effectiveness of regulations on the quality of Marine Protected Areas.
	tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
	tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
	uin	19588
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 23/04/2024 14:22:07 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma