Tag: Alex Cunningham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will provide financial support to village halls to ensure that they are able to continue to operate after the closure of the National Village Halls Forum.

Rory Stewart

Community and Village Halls play an important role in many communities. We continue to consider the best ways to help the people who run them have the skills and support they need. Defra provided ACRE with £2,312,000 for 2015-16 to distribute amongst Rural Community Councils, allowing them to continue their role in sustaining rural villages and communities, and in operating their network of village hall advisers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Pet Travel Scheme Regulations.

George Eustice

The pets checkers (carriers or agents) which carry out checks to ensure pets animals are compliant with Pet Travel Scheme rules are audited by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the results show that they are performing satisfactorily. In 2014, APHA audited close to 6,000 pets. Of these only 0.9% of the pets were found not to comply with the entry rules. These pets were either detained until their compliance could be established, re-exported or placed into quarantine.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 20011, on animal welfare: sentencing, what steps his Department has taken in response to the concerns expressed by Ministers of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Andrew Selous

The maximum penalty for any offence is set by Parliament and is designed to deal with the most serious case. The Ministry of Justice keeps under review maximum penalties for offences and considers proposals to increase penalties where there is evidence that the penalty available is insufficient for the courts to deal appropriately with the case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what criteria were used to determine who in South Lakeland was entitled to £500 flood compensation payments.

James Wharton

South Lakeland District Council are responsible for determining the criteria for distribution and entitlement to the £500 flood compensation payments.

The funding came from a central government funding scheme (the Communities and Business Recovery Scheme) for Cumbria and Lancashire flood affected households.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the financial penalties potentially faced by further education institutions resulting from triggering break clauses in the loan agreements they hold with banks resulting from his Department’s area reviews.

Nick Boles

The Area Reviews provide an opportunity for post-16 institutions to explore issues relevant to the provision in their area and consider recommendations for change. The cost of these changes will be considered in the steering group discussions. Additionally, officials are meeting regularly with the main lenders to the post-16 sector. The nature, likelihood and cost implications of break clauses in loan agreements are being explored in these discussions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her speech at the Oxford Farming Conference on 6 January 2016, how she plans to ensure that effective national strategies on flooding and flood defences are created and maintained.

Rory Stewart

The Environment Agency (EA) has a duty under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 to develop, maintain, apply and monitor a national flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy for England. The strategy was published in 2011. The Act also lays down that the EA must report to the Minister on flood and costal erosion risk management including the application of the national strategy. The EA publishes this report annually.

In addition Government is undertaking a National Flood Resilience Review which will assess how the country can be better protected from future flooding and increasingly extreme weather events. It will focus on four key areas: updating our climate modelling and stress-testing the nation’s resilience to flood risk; assessing the resilience of our important infrastructure like electricity substations; our temporary defences; and our future investment strategy. The Government launched a call for evidence on 2 February. The Review will align closely with Defra’s work on catchment-level management of the water cycle in the Government’s 25 year Environment Plan.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will review planning permissions granted to developments that are yet to be started on floodplains that have been affected by recent flooding.

Brandon Lewis

It is primarily the responsibility of local planning authorities to determine applications for planning permission. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that local planning authorities should avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding by directing development away from areas at highest risk, including floodplains. If there are better sites in terms of flood risk, or a proposed development cannot be made safe, it should not be permitted. Any new buildings that are permitted in flood risk areas should be appropriately flood resistant and resilient.

Local planning authorities and developers are best-placed to understand the details of the development proposed and the local circumstances and risks to determine if a review is needed. It is in the interest of both the local planning authority and the developer to review a planning permission that has yet to be implemented in an area affected by the recent flooding. This can lead to an entirely new planning application being submitted by the developer to deal with the flooding issues now known. If adjustments can be made to the development, an application to make a non-material amendment under section 96A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 may follow. This would allow the local planning authority to impose new conditions and remove or vary conditions attached to an existing planning permission, and may include a requirement to submit an updated flood risk assessment.

If needed, local planning authorities also have powers under section 97 of the 1990 Act to make an order revoking or modifying a planning permission, prior to completion of the development.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reason the report commissioned by his Department from Ecofys on international electricity prices has not yet been published; when the Government plans to publish that report; and whether that report found that electricity price increases for energy intensive industries as a result of climate policies will be larger in the UK than any other country.

Anna Soubry

The Department is currently reviewing the findings of the Ecofys international energy price comparisons report. We are considering publication options but the report found that the increase in electricity prices for energy intensive industries varies considerably by country depending on their climate change policy landscape.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what resources she plans to allocate to enforcing comprehensive management plans in current and future Marine Conservation Zones.

George Eustice

Under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, marine regulators are required to enforce, and ensure compliance with, any management measures put in place to protect Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs).

In December 2015, Defra confirmed it would continue to allocate £3 million New Burdens funding until 2020, which can be used for costs associated with MCZ designation including enforcement. In addition, allocations of funding to various activities are set out in an Action Plan for the Marine Management Organisation and the Annual Plans produced by the ten Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32147, whether his Department plans to bring forward proposals to enable police to issue fixed notices for people smoking in cars with children present.

Jane Ellison

The police use traffic offender reports to record information on a range of offences, including for smoking in private vehicles carrying children. Local authorities can then take appropriate enforcement action, including the issue fixed penalty notices, rather than the police.

Guidance on the use of traffic offender reports to share information with local authorities has been circulated to police forces.