Tag: George Hollingbery

  • George Hollingbery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    George Hollingbery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Hollingbery on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the (a) time taken and (b) cost of dredging operations undertaken by the Environment Agency was in the (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14 financial years in each operational area; and what the expected benefits of such operations were.

    Dan Rogerson

    Dredging is not identified as a separate category within the Environment Agency’s budget allocations or work recording systems, as it is often carried out at the same time as other channel activities. It is included within the broader category of ‘conveyance’ on which the Environment Agency spent around £45 million and £32 million in total in 2012/13 and 2013/14 respectively. The Environment Agency carries out conveyance work, including dredging, where it cost effectively reduces flood risk to people and property. The Environment Agency estimate that, on average, conveyance work provides about £7 of reduced flood damages for every pound spent. Dredging can provide other benefits, such as land drainage and navigation.

    The funding spent on conveyance in each operational Environment Agency area was:

    2012/13

    2013/14

    Environment Agency Area

    Total Allocated (£M)

    Total Allocated (£M)

    Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire

    1.03

    0.56

    Cumbria and Lancashire

    3.77

    1.75

    Derbyshire Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire

    2.31

    2.27

    Devon and Cornwall

    2.77

    1.31

    Essex Norfolk and Suffolk

    3.96

    1.07

    Greater Manchester Merseyside and Cheshire

    4.41

    4.47

    Hertfordshire and North London

    4.48

    3.40

    Kent and South London

    3.95

    3.12

    Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire

    3.26

    2.86

    Northumberland Durham and Tees

    1.11

    1.73

    Shropshire Herefordshire Worcestershire and Gloucestershire

    1.07

    1.39

    Solent and South Downs

    2.01

    2.10

    Staffordshire Warwickshire and West Midlands

    1.27

    1.42

    Wessex

    2.01

    1.38

    West Thames

    4.12

    1.60

    Yorkshire

    3.43

    1.82

    Grand Total

    44.95

    32.27

    We do not hold information on the time it took for each of the dredging operations to be undertaken.

  • George Hollingbery – 2019 Comments on EU Free Trade Agreements

    Below is the text of the speech made by George Hollingbery in the House of Commons on 24 January 2019.

    As a member of the European Union, the UK currently participates in around 40 free trade agreements with more than 70 countries. These free trade agreements cover a wide variety of relationships, including economic partnership agreements with developing nations; association agreements, which cover broader economic and political co-operation; and trade agreements with countries that are closely aligned with the EU, such as Turkey and Switzerland. Of course, more conventional free trade agreements are also part of the package.

    Businesses in the UK, EU and partner countries are eligible for a range of preferential market-access opportunities under the terms of the free trade agreements. Those opportunities can include, but are not limited to, preferential duties for goods, including reductions in import tariff rates across a wide variety of products, quotas for reduced or nil payments of payable duties, and quotas for more relaxed rules-of-origin requirements; enhanced market access for service providers; access to public procurement opportunities across a range of sectors; and improved protections for intellectual property.

    For continuity and stability for businesses, consumers and investors, we are committed to ensuring that the benefits I have outlined are maintained, providing a smooth transition as we leave the EU. The Department for International Trade, the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development are working with partner countries to prepare to maintain existing trading relationships.