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  • Chris Stephens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chris Stephens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings her Department has had with representatives of (a) the Taxpayers’ Alliance, (b) the Confederation of British Industry, (c) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (d) the Adam Smith Institute, (e) the Freedom Association, (f) the Politics and Economic Research Trust and (g) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 months.

    George Eustice

    Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations are published up to 31 March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-quarterly-transparency-information-january-to-march-2015

    Further publications of Ministerial meetings will be published in due course

    “

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Catherine McKinnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers are in (a) Entry Level and (b) Higher Level Stewardship agreements in the Countryside Stewardship scheme.

    George Eustice

    a) There are 40,589 live Environmental Stewardship scheme agreements of which 26,399 are Entry Level Stewardship agreements (including organic and uplands variants).

    b) There are 12,572 combined Entry Level Stewardship/Higher Level Stewardship agreements and 1,618 Higher Level Stewardship-only agreements (which do not have an underpinning Entry Level Stewardship agreement).

    Countryside Stewardship agreements do not start until 1 January 2016.

  • Seema Kennedy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Seema Kennedy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Kennedy on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she expects the Drinking Water Inspectorate to announce the findings of its investigations into the causes of the recent cryptosporidium water contamination.

    Rory Stewart

    The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) holds the statutory responsibility to investigate and report on drinking water quality incidents that affect public water supplies in England and Wales. It continues to carry out a detailed and thorough investigation into the recent cryptosporidium outbreak in Lancashire. Once the final report is completed, it will be made publicly available.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Zac Goldsmith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will revise its consultation paper on air quality draft plans, published on 12 September 2015, to take into account findings by the US Environmental Protection Agency of car manufacturers cheating in vehicle emissions tests.

    Rory Stewart

    The projections modelled in the draft plans were based on road transport emission factors from COPERT (Computer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport). These take into account the gap between real world emissions and those from testing.

  • Seema Kennedy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Seema Kennedy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Kennedy on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps (a) her Department and (b) the Drinking Water Inspectorate are taking to ensure that utility companies take all reasonable measures to resolve efficiently and effectively (i) water contamination issues and (ii) cryptosporidium contamination.

    Rory Stewart

    Water companies are required to provide safe supplies of drinking water to the public. Where contamination of a public water supply occurs, whether by cryptosporidium or by any other cause, the water company involved is expected to take all appropriate measures to ensure that the public remains safe, and that a safe supply of drinking water is restored. The DWI has a rigorous independent regulatory and inspection regime, and holds enforcement powers to ensure that the likelihood of such an event is minimised, and, when they do occur, that the measures taken to resolve any issues are in interests of the customer.

    Defra is the sponsor department for the water industry and is responsible for setting the legal and policy framework for the regulatory regime as applied by Ofwat (the economic regulator) and the DWI (the drinking water quality regulator). When the DWI produces its report on the recent cryptosporidium incident in Lancashire, Defra will consider, with other stakeholders, what wider lessons can be learnt about the effectiveness of the current regime.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Catherine McKinnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) Entry Level and (b) Higher Level Stewardship agreements in the Countryside Stewardship scheme (i) have expired and (ii) will expire in 2015.

    George Eustice

    Countryside Stewardship agreements do not start until 1 January 2016.

    a) As at 30 September, 7,824 Entry Level Stewardship agreements in the Environmental Stewardship scheme had expired in 2015, with a further 4,060 Entry Level Stewardship agreements due to expire by 31 December 2015.

    b) No Higher Level Stewardship agreements in the Environmental Stewardship scheme have expired or are due to expire in 2015.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Catherine McKinnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many expressions of interest have been received for the (a) Mid Tier and (b) Higher Tier of the new Countryside Stewardship scheme.

    George Eustice

    Expressions of interest were not invited for the Mid-Tier of the new Countryside Stewardship scheme, however:

    a) 5,640 requests for Mid-Tier application packs were received, resulting in 2,314 agreement applications; and

    b) 1,025 expressions of interest were received for the Higher Tier of the new Countryside Stewardship scheme, together with 257 applications for forestry agreements.

  • Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2015 to Question 8416, which Minister will be chairing the Inter-Ministerial Group on International Animal Welfare.

    George Eustice

    The membership of the Inter-Ministerial Group has yet to be finalised.

  • Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will implement proposals put forward by the World Wildlife Fund in its 2015 Forest Campaign to ensure that the UK timber market deals in 100 per cent sustainable timber by 2020.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra is committed to tackling the trade in illegal timber. We implement the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which makes it an offence to place illegally logged timber on the EU market for the first time, and the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation, which aims to combat illegal logging and improve the supply of legal timber to the EU. The EU FLEGT Regulation establishes Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) between the EU and timber producing countries. Once VPAs have been agreed, timber producing countries will issue exports with a ‘FLEGT licence’ which verifies the timber’s legality.

    The Government’s Timber Procurement Policy also requires Government Departments, Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies to procure timber and timber products that are both legal and sustainable.

    It is positive that UK companies and other bodies are making similar commitments to trade in both legal and sustainable timber by signing up to WWF’s Forest Campaign.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on introducing the Flood Re scheme.

    Rory Stewart

    Flood Re began its operational testing phase in July 2015. It will be a matter for the Flood Re Board itself, rather than the Secretary of State, to determine when the scheme is ready to accept policies once it is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority. We understand that Flood Re expects this to be in April 2016.

    Insurers have agreed to continue to abide by the Statement of Principles which ensures continued access to flood insurance until Flood Re is fully operational