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Tag: Maria Eagle

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the Environment Agency’s budget he proposes will be spent on its role as the regulator for fracking in England and Wales in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency does not record separately the regulatory costs of hydraulic fracturing in England. For 2014-15 the Environment Agency has allocated £2.6 million to its work on regulating onshore oil and gas. This is 0.39% of the Environment Agency’s total revenue budget.

    Budgets for 2015 -16 and 2016-17 have not yet been confirmed.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria a biodegradable plastic bag will need to fulfil for exemption from his single use plastic bag charging policy.

    Dan Rogerson

    We intend to exempt biodegradable bags that meet certain standards from the charge to give consumers an alternative to using single-use plastic bags when they do not take a reusable bag with them. The standards will be worked up in consultation with industry. They are likely to cover how the bag should behave during disposal or recycling (for example, having a short degradation time period), resource use, energy consumption during production and other elements across their lifecycle.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what arrangements he plans to put in place to ensure that monitoring data collected on the second year of the pilot badger culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset is made available for independent scientific evaluation and analysis; and if he will make it his policy to receive and consider the conclusions of that analysis prior to deciding whether the culls should be extended to other areas subsequently.

    George Eustice

    The outcome of the monitoring of the second year of culling will be made publically available when the culls have concluded and the analyses completed. This information will be taken into account in making decisions on rolling out culling in further areas.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what expertise the Environment Agency has on (a) onshore oil and gas exploration, (b) fracking, (c) the disposal of waste products including fugitive emissions resulting from onshore oil and gas exploration and (d) safety management of oil and gas drilling including well casing.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency has been regulating the existing onshore oil and gas industry for many years and has extensive experience and expertise in this area.

    The Environment Agency has been developing its approach to the regulation of the unconventional oil and gas sector for more than two years. It uses its extensive knowledge of regulating the existing onshore oil and gas industry, and environmental regulation more generally, to regulate this emerging industry. The Agency has undertaken a full assessment of the risks and learnt from experience in other countries.

    The Environment Agency regulates the management of waste, including fugitive emissions, under the Mining Waste Directive. Operators must develop and submit a Waste Management Plan with their permit application. They must set out how they will minimise waste and dispose of it safely. Environment Agency staff have extensive experience of regulating waste management activities at other sites, including the active management of landfill gas.

    The Health and Safety Executive regulates the health and safety risks to people from oil and gas drilling.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the additional £5 million for tackling waste crime announced in the budget statement will reduce in the planned workforce and associated workload in the enforcement and legal department of the Environment Agency.

    Dan Rogerson

    Defra and the Environment Agency have been working together to ensure that the additional funding is targeted effectively to tackle waste crime. A decision on how the additional £5 million will be spent is subject to Defra Ministerial approval.

    Depending on how the £5 million is to be spent, the Environment Agency will review its planning assumptions to determine the impact on its workforce and associated workload

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 18 March 2014, Official Report, columns 527-8W, on the Bellwin scheme, how much has been (a) allocated to and (b) received by each of the authorities which have registered for funding under the Bellwin scheme.

    Brandon Lewis

    Bellwin provides emergency financial assistance to local authorities to help them meet uninsurable costs they incur when responding to a major emergency in their area. The level of funding over time is causally linked to the scale of flooding or other emergency. As was the case under previous and current Administrations, it operates by local authorities retrospectively claiming spending back.

    As at 9 June, 110 local authorities have registered for the December 2013 to February 2014 severe weather events. They now have until 30 June 2014 to submit their formal claims. However, only 20 local authorities have submitted formal claims so far.

    A table deposited in the Library lists the reimbursement payments that have been made to date. In the remaining cases, the claims have literally just been received or we are waiting for the local authorities to provide supporting information. All valid claims will be paid quickly.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many legal and enforcement cases in each geographical area of the Environment Agency were (a) under investigation, (b) being considered for enforcement action, (c) being considered for legal action by the legal services department, (d) issued and proceeding through the courts and (e) completed on the final day of that accounting year for each of the years 2010 to 2013.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency is unable to provide a breakdown of legal and enforcement cases in each of its geographical areas which were (a) under investigation, (b) being considered for enforcement action, (c) being considered for legal action by the legal services department, (d) issued and proceeding through the courts and (e) completed on the final day of that accounting year for each of the years 2010 to 2013, due to disproportionate cost.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which chemicals are authorised for use in the fracking process in the UK; what assessment he has made of the potential risk posed to humans and the natural environment from those chemicals before their authorisation; and if he will make a statement.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency will require full disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.

    Operators will not be able to use chemicals for well stimulation unless the Agency considers them acceptable for use. The Environment Agency will assess the hazards presented by fracking fluid additives on a case-by-case basis.

    Allowing the use of a chemical at one site does not automatically mean the Agency will allow it to be used elsewhere. This is because the environmental risks may be different, for example, due to local geological conditions.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer 194164, how many civil servants in his Department of what grade spent some or all of their time working on the Hunting Act 2004 or matters relating to it in each year since 2010.

    George Eustice

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 61W.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much of the Government’s Business Rates Relief Fund for flooded businesses has been (a) allocated to local authorities and (b) received by businesses to date.

    Brandon Lewis

    As at 2 June 2014, 979 businesses were in receipt of a business rates relief from their local authority as a result of the impact of flooding. There are no set or advance allocations to councils. The fund works by councils retrospectively claiming back the cost of the business rate relief (in the same way, for example, as the Bellwin Scheme has always worked). 66 local authorities recently submitted claims for reimbursement; the deadline for applications was 26 May. Subject to data checking, we expect reimbursement payments in the region of £4 million to be made shortly.

    Further information on the available flood support schemes is available on the gov.uk website at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/flood-support-package-for-homeowners-and-businesses

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