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1719977

registered interest
date	22/05/2024
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	Salmon: Rivers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the declining numbers of salmon in national rivers, especially the River Ure.
tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
uin	HL4855
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p>The assessment of salmon stocks in rivers at a national scale is undertaken by the Environment Agency through a combination of rod catches, automated fish counters and juvenile monitoring programmes.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The focus for salmon stock assessment is focused on the 42 designated principal salmon rivers in England, many of which have significant salmon fisheries still in existence. The River Ure and wider River Ouse catchments are considered to be recovering salmon rivers and consequently assessment of their salmon stock status is primarily based upon angler declared rod catches that provide a useful measure of the improving status of salmon.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 24/05/2024 10:31:34 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

1719978

registered interest
date	22/05/2024
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	Salmon: River Ure
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they or the Environment Agency are taking steps to support the Yorkshire Dales Salmon Group in stocking the River Ure with salmon; and if not, why.
tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
uin	HL4856
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p>The Environment Agency wishes to work constructively with both River Ure salmon fishing interests and other interested collaborative partner organisations in developing a well thought out salmon restoration plan for the River Ure that takes account of the need for habitat restoration in combination with a suitably approved hatchery scheme to support salmon population recovery. This is despite there being no conclusive scientific evidence to suggest that the previous Ure salmon stocking programme has had a significant influence on River Ure salmon stock performance.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 24/05/2024 10:31:14 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

1719979

registered interest
date	22/05/2024
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	Salmon: River Ure
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Environment Agency approved proposals by the Yorkshire Dales Salmon Group to stock the River Ure with young salmon in 2012; if so, whether it still supports that initiative; and if not, on the basis of what evidence.
tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
uin	HL4857
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p>The Environment Agency (EA) gave a time limited approval to the development of a River Ure salmon stocking programme in 2012. Subsequently, the EA reviewed the international scientific evidence on the risks of salmon stocking and revised its guidance for stocking schemes. This revised guidance should be followed to minimise the risks associated with salmon stocking.</p><p> </p><p>The EA is currently working with the Yorkshire Dales Salmon Group to improve its approach to support the continuation of the River Ure salmon stocking programme.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 24/05/2024 10:30:49 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

1719562

registered interest
date	21/05/2024
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	Bamboos: Weed 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, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to restrict the planting of monopodial bamboo.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	27300
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The “bamboo” family is a collection of more than 1500 species, some of which are considered invasive.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is aware that, if left uncontrolled, bamboo can in some cases become challenging to manage. It is advised that a physical barrier is used to prevent the uncontrolled spread of bamboo. Where the growth of bamboo poses an issue, the Government recommends that this is addressed by cooperation between owners and affected parties.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst the Government recognises that many bamboo species are vigorous and fast-growing, they are not currently thought to pose a significant threat to wildlife or to socio-economic interests nationally. Defra utilises horizon scanning exercises to identify potentially invasive species. As a result, a risk assessment of Black Bamboo (<em>Phyllostachys nigra</em>) was recently undertaken, however this showed the species to be of low risk to the country and therefore no further action was taken.</p><p> </p><p>Although the Government are not currently considering changing the legal status of one, or any, of the species of bamboo currently found in Great Britain, we keep matters such as these under review and continue to carry out horizon scanning and risk assessments for potential threats.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer grouped question UIN 26974 question first answered 23/05/2024 09:35:28 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1719577

registered interest
date	21/05/2024
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	Waste: Crime
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 steps he has taken to help tackle waste crime in rural areas.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	27267
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government is committed to tackling waste crime, and we are preparing significant reforms to continue to increase the pressure on illegal waste operators. Reform of the waste exemptions regime will close loopholes and prevent exemptions from being misused to permit risky and illegal activity. Our planned electronic waste tracking reforms will make it harder than ever to mis-identify waste or dispose of it inappropriately. Planned changes to the Carriers, Brokers and Dealers licensing regime will modernise licensing and make it harder still for rogue operators to escape detection. These will come in addition to measures in the Environment Act 2021 which gives agencies stronger powers of entry and access to evidence in prosecuting waste crime as well as providing the Environment Agency with the ability to recover costs of investigation, intervention and enforcement at illegal or non-compliant waste sites.</p><p> </p><p>The Government also launched the Joint Unit for Waste Crime (JUWC). It brings together the Environment Agency, HM Revenue &amp; Customs, the National Crime Agency, the police, waste regulators from across the UK and other operational partners to share intelligence and tasking to disrupt and prevent serious organised waste crime. Since its launch the JUWC has worked with 131 partner organisations and engaged in 253 multi-agency days of action, which have resulted in 180 associated arrests by other agencies.</p><p> </p><p>Alongside this we are working with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, to share good practice including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land. We are also currently funding a post within the National Rural Crime Unit to explore how the police’s role in tacking fly-tipping can be optimised, with a focus on rural areas.</p><p> </p><p>Across three rounds of our fly-tipping grant scheme we have now awarded nearly £2.2 million to help more than 50 councils tackle fly-tipping at known hot-spots, including in rural areas, such as by installing CCTV and raising awareness of the household waste duty of care. Case studies from completed projects have been published so that others can learn from successful interventions.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 23/05/2024 14:26:52 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1719589

registered interest
date	21/05/2024
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: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been allocated to each of the devolved institutions to help tackle flooding in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	27366
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>Flood defence spending is a devolved matter so questions about flood management spending and policy should be addressed directly to the devolved administrations.  Defra does not have information on devolved administration spending.</p><p> </p><p>The Barnett formula is applied in the normal way to any new funding provided to UK Government departments when the funding is allocated to those departments’ budgets. ‘Barnett’ funding to Devolved Administrations is not ring fenced.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 23/05/2024 12:43:48 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1719630

registered interest
date	21/05/2024
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	Hornets
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2024 to Question 25464, whether her Department has plans in place to move from a rapid response to a management phase for the Asian hornet, in the context of their growing presence in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	27314
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The Asian hornet (<em>Vespa velutina</em>) is not currently considered established in the UK and therefore is still being addressed via rapid response measures. The Asian hornet <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalbeeunit.com%2Fassets%2FPDFs%2F2_Diseases_and_Pests%2FAsian-Hornet%2F2023-01-03_Asian_hornet_contingency_plan_Public_version_English-AC.pdf&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Cc91427138ce5472f8db308dc7a47c122%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638519695828819352%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=rhuOR4NNosNv3Qhn3m4vTci7W9Vzl1TQlE%2FPtgF6jmM%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">contingency plan</a> covers the action that will be taken against Asian hornets with the NBU responding to credible sightings to locate and destroy any nests.</p><p> </p><p>For a species to be considered established, there should be evidence of a reproducing population having been present in the wild for a significant number of generations, that is considered viable in the long term without any human intervention. Whilst there has been presence of overwintered hornets produced from a nest found and destroyed late last year, it is not considered to be strong evidence of an established population.</p><p> </p><p>Defra will continue to follow an eradication strategy against Asian hornets until this becomes unviable at which point a change in approach will be required.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 23/05/2024 14:27:13 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

1719725

registered interest
date	21/05/2024
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	Plants: Weed 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 SB6 of the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (Rhododendron Control), how many agreements have been reached to date; how many hectares are covered by those agreements; and how many hectares has rhododendron successfully been removed from.
tabling member constituency	South West Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Andrew Selous
uin	27301
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p><em>Rhododendron ponticum</em> is one of the most damaging invasive plants in the UK; it prevents woodland regeneration and destroys the natural understorey which has consequent impacts on birds and invertebrates. Countryside Stewardship (CS) option SB6 supports the control of rhododendrons, reducing the negative effect this can have on a site.</p><p> </p><p>There are 487 CS agreements containing SB6, which cover a total of 2,615 hectares. SB6 is a CS capital item and can only be claimed once the work has been completed, to date 1,462 hectares of Rhododendrons have been removed.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to the existing SB6 capital item, we will be introducing a revenue item later this year to support continued control of rhododendron once initial control has been undertaken. Some further information can be found within <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fagricultural-transition-plan-2021-to-2024%2Ftechnical-annex-the-combined-environmental-land-management-offer&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C939cdd0de21d4f1ce48708dc7b29a670%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638520666026085447%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=toPYy9X0UcJY8xp4kgKUlH%2FitePEO3jyK%2FX8IJuTVSg%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Technical annex: The combined environmental land management offer - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 24/05/2024 09:56:32 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous

1719727

registered interest
date	21/05/2024
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	Plants: Weed 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, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the SB6 Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier grant for rhododendron control.
tabling member constituency	South West Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Andrew Selous
uin	27302
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p>We are committed to reviewing all actions in Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive, on a phased basis over time. As part of the reviews, we will take into account comments from farmers and stakeholders and ensure guidance is appropriate.</p><p> </p><p><em>Rhododendron ponticum</em> is one of the most damaging invasive plants in the UK; it prevents woodland regeneration and destroys the natural understorey which has consequent impacts on birds and invertebrates. In addition to the existing SB6 capital item, we will be introducing a revenue item later this year to support continued control of rhododendron once initial control has been undertaken.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 24/05/2024 09:52:54 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous

1719894

registered interest
date	21/05/2024
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	Thames Flood Barrier
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what is the life expectancy of the Thames Barrier; and whether there are any plans to alter the current pattern or frequency of use in order to manage its expected lifespan.
tabling member printed	Lord Lee of Trafford
uin	HL4817
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The Thames Barrier forms part of a complex system of assets along the Thames and its tributaries to manage the risk of flooding in London. The barrier is expected to provide the required standard of protection out to 2070 based on projected rates of sea levels rise and with significant investment to upgrade and improve the mechanical, electrical, forecasting and supporting systems.</p><p> </p><p>The Thames Barrier needs to be maintained to ensure its operational reliability. Closing it too frequently could reduce its reliability, because it would make it difficult to maintain to the required standards, as well as negatively impacting on shipping. As such the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan sets out a strategy to manage the frequency of closures and its lifespan. This includes implementing measures to manage non-tidal flooding (i.e., flooding driven by high river flows coming down the Thames) in west London without relying on the Thames Barrier by 2035, as well as raising defences upstream of the barrier by 2050 to allow higher tides upriver, thereby reducing the number of times the barrier needs to close.</p><p> </p><p>The Thames Estuary Plan takes an adaptation pathways approach, planning for a range of future climate scenarios with a light touch review every five years and a comprehensive review every 10 years. At present all end of century options for upgrading or replacing the Thames Barrier remain available, with a decision needed by 2040 so that an option can be in place by 2070.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 23/05/2024 15:04:36 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	1132 label Biography information for Lord Lee of Trafford