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  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2016 to Question 26199, on flooding insurance, how much of the funding provided to support businesses has been allocated to (a) Lancashire and (b) Burnley and Padiham.

    James Wharton

    To support local authorities impacted by Storms Desmond and Eva, the Department has provided Lancashire County Council with £4.3 million to date under the Community and Business Recovery Scheme. The Scheme has been designed to support local authorities across the country, such as Burnley, to develop and deliver their own locally tailored support packages for impacted businesses and communities. Burnley Borough Council has also received a further £56,070 for Business Rates relief to support flooded businesses.

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of expanding the Marine Conservation Zone from Bideford to Foreland Point to include the Greencliff site.

    George Eustice

    This extension was proposed in a response to the consultation on the designation of this Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ). Boundary issues were examined where new relevant information or data were presented which had not previously been considered. Natural England analysed evidence submitted with the extension proposal and advised that it would increase the area of intertidal rock and seabed sediment habitats protected, but these were already protected elsewhere within the MCZ, and in the wider network. Any proposed changes to the boundary cannot be made without further consultation with other stakeholders who may be affected by the change.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to ensure the UK meets (a) the EU target to 50 per cent of municipal waste by 2020 and (b) the proposed EU target to recycle 65 per cent of such waste by 2030.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK recycling rate has increased from 11% at the turn of the century, to 44.9% now. This progress is thanks in large part to the hard work of Local Authorities and householders.

    The Government is committed to meeting the 2020 EU recycling target of 50% of household waste.

    Local Authorities are best placed to determine the most appropriate waste collection and recycling services in their areas and we work with them and the Waste and Recycling Action Programme (WRAP) to promote best practice.

    I have asked WRAP to look at what further measures can be taken to improve recycling rates and, in particular the benefits and opportunities there are from having greater consistency in the materials collected and collection systems to enable Local Authorities to recycle more, and to make it easier for householders to put the right materials in the right bin.

    The UK is still assessing the implications of the proposed recycling targets for 2030.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 27122, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Christchurch Beach Replenishment Scheme; and what assessment has been made of the quantity of material used to re-establish coast protection which is still in place.

    Rory Stewart

    Christchurch Borough Council are the Risk Management Authority responsible for this section of coast and commissioned the Christchurch Beach Replenishment Scheme in early summer 2015. They conduct monthly visual inspections of beach condition. Regular surveys are also carried out on behalf of all Coastal Authorities to assess volume changes through the South-East Region Coastal Monitoring Programme.

    The quantity of material used to restore the beach was recorded by contractors and independently confirmed by pre and post works survey to be 25,000m3 which exceeded the design quantity.

    Christchurch Borough Council reports that the re-nourished beach has shown a normal response to winter storm events, with material moving between groyne embayments, and expected losses occurring from the top of the beach to the nearshore area. Reports also conclude that the beach nourishment work undertaken reduced the vulnerability of the sea wall foundations and promenades to collapse.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent changes the Government has made to the Basic Payment Scheme claims process; and what assessment the Government has made of the effect of those changes on the performance of that scheme.

    George Eustice

    The new Common Agricultural Policy has widely been acknowledged as being more complex and the Rural Payments Agency has had to implement new systems and processes. In the first year of the Basic Payment Scheme, as of 23 February, 70,880 farmers, just over 81% of all eligible claims, have received their 2015 payments, bringing the total paid out for the scheme to £1.11 billion.

    The Rural Payments Agency has already indicated that for 2016 there will be an online Basic Payment Scheme application process supported by online land and entitlement transfers. There will also be a paper application form for those that need it. The agency will work with farmers and agents to support them to submit their applications by the deadline of midnight on Monday 16 May.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what date she plans to announce the Basic Payment Scheme claims process for 2016.

    George Eustice

    The Rural Payments Agency is launching the 2016 claim period at the beginning of March and will work with farmers and agents to support them to submit their applications by the deadline of midnight on Monday 16 May.

    The Rural Payments Agency has already indicated that for 2016 there will be an online Basic Payment Scheme application process supported by online land and entitlement transfers. There will be a paper application form for those that need it.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure (a) people who have not received payments from the Basic Payment Scheme for 2015 will receive those payments by the end of March 2016 and (b) all claimants of that scheme will receive information on how payments have been calculated.

    George Eustice

    The Rural Payments Agency is working to pay the remainder of farmers their Basic Payment Scheme claims as promptly as possible and is aiming to make almost all payments by the end of March. The Secretary of State and I have regular conversations with the CEO of the agency about progress. The agency has been communicating with farmers who have not yet received their payments. Going forward the agency will keep them updated about the likely timing of their payment until they are paid.

    The Rural Payments Agency will support every payment with a paper explanatory claim statement and guidance on how payments have been calculated. These statements started to be issued in February and will continue to go out throughout March.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2016 to Question 26816, what the job titles are of those people in receipt of travel expenses or paid car allowances.

    George Eustice

    All those within the Rural Payments Agency who receive paid car allowances have the job title of ‘RDT (Rural Development Team) Manager’.

    Job titles for the staff in the other bodies listed in Question 26816 are not held centrally or stored alongside the allowance data and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of her Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by (a) private companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been completed on time in the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of the (i) number and (ii) value of contracts between her Department and private companies are held by SMEs.

    George Eustice

    Core Defra’s prompt payment reports do not distinguish between invoices from private companies and invoices from small and medium-sized enterprises.

    Information on Defra’s prompt payment performance in respect of all supplier payments in 2015-16 is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defra-prompt-payment-performance-report.

    The latest information on the expenditure Defra bodies have with SMEs is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482524/Central_Government_Direct_and_Indirect_Spend_with_SMEs.csv/preview.

    The information on the number of contracts core Defra has with SMEs could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    “

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans and funding her Department has for projects to prevent flooding of the River Lune in the Lancaster and Morecambe area.

    Rory Stewart

    In Morecambe, Lancaster City Council will soon complete a £10 million Government funded scheme, which will reduce the coastal flood risk to more than 8,000 properties.

    Lancaster City Council, Lancashire County Council and the Environment Agency are currently developing a business case which will investigate the potential of a new scheme to reduce flood risk within the city of Lancaster.