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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 many staff at the Environment Agency are working on the regulation of fracking in England and Wales; and what reductions in the budget of the Environment Agency have affected people working on that regulation.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency has set up a team of ten national officers working full time to develop the regulatory regime for oil and gas activities. This work covers conventional and unconventional oil and gas activities.

    This team is supported by additional technical resource from elsewhere in the organisation. The workload fluctuates and these specialists are not solely dedicated to regulating and permitting unconventional activities. It is therefore not possible to give an exact answer, but the Agency estimates that approximately 40 further members of staff are currently involved in this work across England.

    UK Government policy is to ensure the shale industry is able to develop in a safe, sustainable and environmentally responsible way within a well-regulated environment. Regulating the industry will remain a priority for the Environment Agency. Funding for setting up the regulatory regime comes from Defra grant-in-aid. Work to regulate individual sites is financed through the charges the Environment Agency raises for environmental permits and licences, supported where necessary by the grant-in-aid.

  • 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 the total number of projects was involved in Lot 1, Phase 1, of his Department’s Biodegradable Plastic Carrier Bags Solutions through Innovation research call; and how many of those projects met each of the five functions and characteristics outlined in the research call.

    Dan Rogerson

    Defra received six bids for Lot 1, Phase 1 of this research call.

    Two bids met the requirements outlined in the research call and are being funded by Defra.

  • 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 steps he plans to take to ensure that he receives independent scientific advice on the safety, effectiveness and humaneness of the second year of the badger cull pilots in Gloucestershire and Somerset.

    George Eustice

    Natural England, as the independent licensing authority, is the most appropriate organisation to continue carrying out the field monitoring of cage trapping and shooting to ensure that licence conditions and best practice guidance requirements are complied with. The outcome of this monitoring, together with the outcome of post-mortem examinations carried out by trained vets will be made publically available after the culls are completed, and will inform the decisions made about next steps.

  • 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 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings (a) the Prime Minister and (b) officials in his Office had with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) on the pilot badger culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset in 2013; what advice he has given to the NFU on communications with the media during the commencement of the culls; and if he will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Meetings were held with the National Farmers Union in the six months prior to the start of the pilot culls in 2013.

    There was no media blackout during the pilots. Defra and the National Farmers Union continued to make spokespeople available to talk to the media throughout the period in which culling was taking place.

    However, both the National Farmers Union and Defra were always clear that operational information that could compromise the effectiveness of the cull or the safety of those involved would not be disclosed during the operation.

  • 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.