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  • Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much Forestry Commission England spent on replanting in each year since 2000.

    Rory Stewart

    The area felled in any one year on the public forest estate in England is not recorded separately, but the total area that has been felled and which is in the process of being either restocked, or being converted to another land use, such as open habitats for landscape or conservation reasons, is recorded. This is given in the table below, along with the area restocked each year and the expenditure on restocking operations.

    Year ending 31 March

    Total felled area 1 (thousand hectares)

    Restocked area 2 (thousand hectares)

    Expenditure associated with restocking 3 (£ ,000s)

    2001

    7.9

    2.1

    5,181

    2002

    8.4

    2.3

    5,779

    2003

    7.9

    2.3

    5,979

    2004

    8.1

    2.2

    5,735

    2005

    8.1

    1.9

    5,635

    2006

    7.5

    2.5

    6,356

    2007

    8.2

    1.9

    6,562

    2008

    8.3

    2.1

    5,915

    2009

    8.7

    1.8

    5,924

    2010

    9.2

    1.5

    5,880

    2011

    8.1

    2.5

    7,340

    2012

    8.2

    2.2

    7,384

    2013

    8.6

    2.2

    6,448

    2014

    8.7

    2.1

    7,399

    2015

    8.6

    2.3

    7,884

    1 ‘Felled area’ is the area of the public forest estate that is recorded as felled on the sub-compartment database, the Forestry Commission’s electronic record of current land use. Because there is generally a two to four year gap between felling and restocking, or the reclassification as another land use, the total area classified as ‘felled’ is significantly greater than that which is felled in any one year.

    2 ‘Restocked area’ is the area of the public forest estate that has previously been felled and which is recorded as having been restocked in the previous 12 months, including by natural regeneration and replanting.

    3 Expenditure associated with restocking is all money spent on activities directly attributed to restocking after felling, including preparation of the site and maintenance during the initial establishment phase.

  • Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what organisations provide Flood Defence Partnership Funding; and how much each such organisation has invested.

    Rory Stewart

    We are investing £2.3 billion in 1,500 flood defence improvement schemes over the next six years – which is a record capital settlement for government. This will provide better protection to at least 300,000 households.

    In addition to this, we have identified £600 million of additional partnership funding. Six months into a six-year programme, £250 million has been secured and potential funding contributions to cover the remaining £350 million have been identified.

    Of the £250 million secured contributions, £61 million comes from the private sector and £189 million comes from Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and other public bodies.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to introduce compulsory microchipping of owned cats.

    George Eustice

    The Government encourages owners to microchip their cats. However, we do not consider that it is necessary to introduce compulsory microchipping of cats because the risks associated with stray cats are not as high as those associated with stray or displaced dogs.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of the application in the UK of elements of best practice in regulation of commercial cat breeding in other EU member states.

    George Eustice

    There are no proposals to change legislation on cat breeding in this country. However, the welfare code is currently being updated so that modern standards are clear for anyone keeping cats.

  • Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of trees have been (a) felled and (b) replanted on Forestry Commission land in England in each year since 2000.

    Rory Stewart

    The area felled in any one year on the public forest estate in England is not recorded separately, but the total area that has been felled and which is in the process of being either restocked, or being converted to another land use, such as open habitats for landscape or conservation reasons, is recorded. This is given in the table below, along with the area restocked each year and the expenditure on restocking operations.

    Year ending 31 March

    Total felled area 1 (thousand hectares)

    Restocked area 2 (thousand hectares)

    Expenditure associated with restocking 3 (£ ,000s)

    2001

    7.9

    2.1

    5,181

    2002

    8.4

    2.3

    5,779

    2003

    7.9

    2.3

    5,979

    2004

    8.1

    2.2

    5,735

    2005

    8.1

    1.9

    5,635

    2006

    7.5

    2.5

    6,356

    2007

    8.2

    1.9

    6,562

    2008

    8.3

    2.1

    5,915

    2009

    8.7

    1.8

    5,924

    2010

    9.2

    1.5

    5,880

    2011

    8.1

    2.5

    7,340

    2012

    8.2

    2.2

    7,384

    2013

    8.6

    2.2

    6,448

    2014

    8.7

    2.1

    7,399

    2015

    8.6

    2.3

    7,884

    1 ‘Felled area’ is the area of the public forest estate that is recorded as felled on the sub-compartment database, the Forestry Commission’s electronic record of current land use. Because there is generally a two to four year gap between felling and restocking, or the reclassification as another land use, the total area classified as ‘felled’ is significantly greater than that which is felled in any one year.

    2 ‘Restocked area’ is the area of the public forest estate that has previously been felled and which is recorded as having been restocked in the previous 12 months, including by natural regeneration and replanting.

    3 Expenditure associated with restocking is all money spent on activities directly attributed to restocking after felling, including preparation of the site and maintenance during the initial establishment phase.

  • Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on the Darwin Initiative in each year since 2010.

    Rory Stewart

    The Darwin Initiative has funded biodiversity projects in developing countries since 1992 and is managed by Defra. Since 2011 it has been co-funded by Defra and the Department for International Development (DFID). The total expenditure on Darwin Initiative projects and running costs since 2010 is as follows:

    2010/11 – £6.1 million

    2011/12 – £4.3 million

    2012/13 – £5.7 million

    2013/14 – £6 million

    2014/15 – £6.9 million

    Darwin Initiative funding from DFID can only be spent on projects which meet Official Development Assistance (ODA) criteria and this ODA expenditure (reported by calendar year) is as follows:

    2010 – Zero

    2011 – £2.4 million

    2012 – £2.4 million

    2013 – £3.1 million

    2014 – £5.3 million

    Defra additionally manages the Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund (also known as Darwin Plus) which is co-funded by Defra, DFID and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The total expenditure since it was established in 2012 is as follows:

    2013/14 – £720,000

    2014/15 – £1.8 million

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward amendments to regulations under the Pet Animals Act 1951 to include a ban on the sale of kittens in pet shops.

    George Eustice

    Under the Pet Animals Act 1951 local authorities can already apply conditions to individual pet shop licences. This includes, for example, restricting the species that can be sold. The power to apply conditions to an individual licence is in section 1(3) of the 1951 Act and is intended to help secure the welfare requirements set out in that section. We are currently reviewing animal establishment licensing which will include looking at the 1951 Act.

  • Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will apply for EU Solidarity Funding for the damage caused by recent flooding.

    Rory Stewart

    We will consider all forms of support for those affected by the recent floods.

    However, the EU Solidarity Fund would not compensate for private losses. It would take several months to receive the majority of the funds and only provides for a fraction of the total costs of assessed damage. The Government is not ruling this out, but we need to act quickly and our immediate priority is to deal with the urgent needs of those affected.

    This is why the Government has opened the Bellwin scheme for Local Authorities affected by floods, with 100% of eligible costs to be met by the Government.

    On top of this, the Government is providing nearly £200 million of additional aid to support those affected by the floods in England.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many households in (a) Birmingham, Northfield constituency, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK have prepayment meters; and what the change in the number of such meters has been in each of those areas over the last five years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Data on methods of payment for domestic energy consumers are published in Quarterly Energy Prices, tables 2.4.2 and 2.5.2.

    This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/quarterly-domestic-energy-price-stastics .

    The tables below show the proportion of customers within the region using pre-payment meters for each year since 2010. Data is only available at the Public Electricity Supply (PES) region level.

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    Electricity

    West Midlands

    15.3%

    15.8%

    16.3%

    16.6%

    17.0%

    UK

    15.0%

    15.4%

    15.8%

    16.3%

    16.7%

    Gas

    West Midlands

    13.4%

    14.0%

    14.8%

    15.3%

    15.7%

    GB

    12.6%

    13.2%

    14.0%

    14.5%

    15.1%

    Data above are produced from a sample survey (DECC’s domestic fuel inquiry).

    “

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what wholesale price and carbon price forecast scenarios her Department uses when forecasting total projected expenditure of the Levy Control Framework.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The assumptions on wholesale prices used in the LCF projections are consistent with the wholesale fossil fuel, electricity, and carbon prices scenarios published as part of the updated Energy and Emissions Projections in November this year, and are set out in Annex M available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/477625/Annex-m-price-growth-assumptions.xls

    “