Blog

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many oil refinery workers have been killed as a result of UK airstrikes in Syria; and whether such workers are classed as civilian.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Oil workers operating oil production facilities in Daesh-controlled areas are treated as civilians, unless they directly participate in hostilities or otherwise can be shown to be members of Daesh. The UK takes appropriate measures to reduce the risk of collateral damage and we have a robust process in place to positively identify targets before we conduct airstrikes. To date there have been no reports of civilian casualties as a result of RAF airstrikes in Iraq or Syria.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings and communication Ministers and senior civil servants have had with Ruimte voor de Rivier regarding long-term flood prevention since June 2010.

    Rory Stewart

    Ministers and senior civil servants have not met or communicated with Ruimte voor de Rivier regarding long term flood prevention since June 2010.

    The Environment Agency has a good and highly valued relationship with the Dutch flood agency, Rijkswaterstaat, and has been actively engaging with them for many years on coastal, and asset management issues. This has been both bilaterally and through mutual networks. There is a strong exchange of knowledge between our organisations, supported by a non-legal Memorandum of Understanding. This also supports mutual cooperation during an incident, where appropriate.

    The Environment Agency was also grateful for the wider Dutch support offered during the 2013/14 flooding in the UK, with support from Dutch pumps and levee inspectors.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many jobs in (a) her Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent by 2020.

    George Eustice

    The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, its executive agencies non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies have no offices in Stoke-on-Trent, and therefore no jobs have been abolished since 2010 nor are any to be abolished or relocated by 2020.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of legal provision relating to rights to grant or withhold access to caves.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra has made no assessment of the effectiveness of legal provision relating to rights to grant or withhold access to caves. Cavers may use particular cave systems, where use has been traditional, or where the landowner allows or has given specific permission for cavers to do so.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of homes affected by flooding in winter 2015-16 that do not have insurance.

    Rory Stewart

    We have made no assessment on the number of uninsured homes affected by flooding this winter.

    To help those affected by the current flooding, including the uninsured, the Government has announced nearly £200m to support recovery efforts. This includes funding to make properties more resilient to future flooding. In addition, we are taking action to protect people at the highest flood risk by making sure that everyone can access affordable flood insurance, regardless of where they live. Flood Re has now been set-up and it is expected to begin in April.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of households affected by floods on 26 December 2015 in (a) Lancashire and (b) England.

    Rory Stewart

    Over 1,300 properties in Lancashire were affected by floods following Storm Eva with around 9,000 properties in England. These figures are subject to change and are based on local authority reporting.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to establish a commission to examine the issue of hunting foxes with dogs before bringing forward proposals for a vote in the House on that issue.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government has no plans to establish a commission to examine the issue of hunting foxes with dogs. However, the Government continues to stand by its manifesto commitment to give Parliament the opportunity to repeal the Hunting Act on a free vote, with a government bill in government time.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her ministerial colleagues on the Hunting Act 2004.

    Rory Stewart

    The Secretary of State regularly discusses all relevant polices with her ministerial colleagues as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of implementing the Natural England report, Vital Uplands, published in 2009, in respect of restoration of deep upland vegetation to control hillside water run-off and valley flooding.

    Rory Stewart

    The Vital Uplands report of 2009 was withdrawn by the previous Natural England Board and Management Team. Natural England, the Environment Agency, Defra and by academic institutions continue to closely monitor the complex science and evidence around upstream mitigation, through peatland, forestry and other natural measures. Some such measures have now been funded by the Government and piloted in schemes such as that in Pickering in Yorkshire. Natural upstream mitigation will be a key element of our planning at a catchment level, currently being taken forward through the Cumbrian Floods Partnership and our 25-year Environment Plan.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effect of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive 2000 on how floods have been controlled in the UK.

    Rory Stewart

    Implementation of the Water Framework Directive is devolved within the UK.

    Implementation of the Directive promotes, through river basin planning, an integrated approach to managing water and promotes local decisions in catchments to take account of the particular circumstances. Where parts of rivers are managed for certain uses (including flood protection), they are formally designated as ‘heavily modified’ and the management of those rivers must take account of those uses. In England, 1,105 of 3,767 rivers are designated as heavily modified; 781 of them because of their important role in providing flood protection.

    Many of the actions needed to protect and improve the quality of the water environment (for instance restoring peat land, wetland creation and sustainable management of soils) also help to reduce flooding. The Directive also promotes sustainable flood risk prevention and flood management schemes. Consideration of natural flood management measures to slow, store and filter flood water can deliver additional social and environmental benefits when used along with traditional hard defences, and can increase resilience of communities to extreme events, both floods and drought. The ‘Slowing the Flow’ project in Pickering is an example of this.