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 he plans to ask the Independent Expert Panel which recently reported on the first year of the pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire to report on the second year of such culls.
George Eustice
I have no plans to ask the Independent Expert Panel to report on the second year of the pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire.
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 Council Tax Relief Fund for people whose homes have been flooded has been (a) allocated to local authorities and (b) received by residents to date.
Brandon Lewis
As at 2 June 2014, 4,031 households were in receipt of a council tax discount 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 council tax relief (in the same way, for example, as the Bellwin Scheme has always worked). Local authorities recently submitted the first round of claims for reimbursement. Subject to data checking, we expect reimbursement payments in the region of £1.8 million to be made shortly.
Further information on the available flood support schemes is available on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flood-support-package-for-homeowners-and-businesses
“
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 requests to leave the Environment Agency under the voluntary early release scheme are from staff in the operations and legal services departments.
Dan Rogerson
As of 1 April this year, the Environment Agency had received 956 requests within its operations and legal services departments to leave the organisation under its voluntary early release scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-02.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 595W, on flood control, what the extra sum allocated in Budget 2014 is for each of the devolved administrations for flood defence in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.
Danny Alexander
HM TREASURY
Maria Eagle MP
GARSTON & HALEWOOD
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 595W, on flood control, what the extra sum allocated in Budget 2014 is for each of the devolved administrations for Government funding for flood defence in 2014-15 and 2015-16. [194953]
DANNY ALEXANDER
The table below sets out the extra funding allocated to the devolved administrations through the Barnett formula which reflected new funding provided to UK government departments for flood defence measures at Budget 2014.
|
Scotland |
Wales |
Northern Ireland |
||||
|
2014-15 £m |
2015-16 £m |
2014-15 £m |
2015-16 £m |
2014-15 £m |
2015-16 £m |
|
|
Flood Maintenance (Resource) |
2.0 |
3.5 |
1.2 |
2.0 |
0.7 |
1.2 |
|
Flood Maintenance (Capital) |
6.0 |
2.5 |
3.5 |
1.4 |
2.0 |
0.8 |
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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, when he was informed that cage trapping and shooting of badgers had been implemented alongside the free shooting of badgers within two days of the beginning of the pilot badger cull in Somerset in 2013.
George Eustice
Both controlled shooting and cage trapping and shooting methods were always available to the cull companies. There was no compulsion on the contractors to use a defined proportion of cage trapping and controlled shooting. How they used these two methods was a decision for them to make. As the pilot culls progressed, cull companies decided to use more cage trapping, as this technique was found to work well under certain circumstances. Ministers were kept informed of progress during the pilot culls from an early stage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the Tourism Industry Fund for businesses in flood-affected parts of England has been (a) allocated to local authorities and (b) received by businesses to date.
Mrs Helen Grant
The Government’s tourism package on flood support was not grant based but, alongside a marketing programme, was funded business support offered via local workshops and drop in clinics to tourism and tourism related businesses. These sessions were organised locally by Destination Organisations on behalf of VisitEngland. They were accessed by over 700 businesses. Money was only allocated to local authorities where they were the accountable body for the Destination Organisations. This totalled £83,798 but not all Destination Organisations have local authorities as their accountable body.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-03-31.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 31W, on the Environment Agency, whether the review of existing workloads against enforcement priorities and available budgets each area of the Environment Agency is conducting has a minimum percentage cut of workload and expenditure against which it is being assessed.
Dan Rogerson
The Environment Agency was reviewing its baseline total enforcement and legal casework to match them to its budget. The planning assumption had been that baseline funding would reduce from £24m in 2013/14 to £20.5m in 2014/15. As part of this, the Environment Agency was reviewing the current portfolio of enforcement cases to understand the implications of a potential 25% reduction.
However, the announcement in the budget statement of an additional £5m for tackling waste crime means that the Environment Agency is reviewing its planning assumption and associated workload.
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 assessment he has made of the potential risks fracking pose to livestock; and if he will make a statement.
Dan Rogerson
Our regulatory framework is robust and provides stringent environmental safeguards which will protect both humans and animals.
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, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the ongoing monitoring of the pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire is independently scientifically evaluated.
George Eustice
Defra is currently working closely with Natural England and AHVLA to develop the detail of how the monitoring will be implemented, including auditing and evaluation procedures. The results and outcome of the monitoring of the pilot cull will be made publically available after they have been completed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the Flood Relief Fund for Sport announced to restore damaged pitches, sport centres and facilities has been (a) allocated to local authorities and (b) received by sports facilities to date.
Mrs Helen Grant
Sport England’s Flood Relief Fund has made a total of 225 awards to date, totalling £515,542, of which:
(a) Three awards totalling £6,560 have been made to Local Authorities.
(b) 222 awards totalling £508,982 have been made to sports clubs.
The fund will remain open for applications until Autumn.