Member News
ePolitix.com reports on Thursday's oral questions to ministers at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Hilary Benn (Lab, Leeds Central), the environment secretary, rejected claims that his department is unnecessarily stalling over the introduction of the draft Floods and Water Bill.
Nick Herbert (Con, Arundel and South Downs) said that almost two years after the floods of 2007 the draft bill was still to be presented, adding that the department was characteristically living up to its stereotype as the "department of delays".
Benn defended the government's performance and stated that, whilst new powers were yet to be enshrined on the management of flooding because of the legislative delay, this did not mean that work was not being conducted to enhance the country's flood defences. He stated that major investment was being made, within the existing legal framework.
Benn also expressed his intention that the draft Floods and Water Bill would be presented by the spring.
Herbert also referred to a National Audit Office report suggesting that Defra is responding "too slowly" to new proposals for reducing recycling rates.
Jane Kennedy (Lab, Liverpool Wavertree) cited statistics which show that in 1997 national recycling rates were at 7.5 per cent now whilst they are now at over 30 per cent. She commended the government's performance.
David Heath (Lib Dem, Somerton and Frome) called for a "step change" in the country's whole approach to flood management and suggested that greater emphasis needs to be placed on issues of drainage, empowering local communities to manage flood risk and addressing river catchment schemes.
Benn said that the Pitt report has already addressed these recommendations and concurred with the importance of a local focus; with communities becoming more empowered to address flood risks.
Tim Farron (Lib Dem, Westmorland and Lonsdale) referred the minister to a recent claim by the National Audit Office that the government will miss its latest targets on landfill. He suggested reinvigorating the landfill tax to ensure a greater encouragement of recycling and greater taxing of landfill.
Jane Kennedy stated that the landfill tax was in fact performing well, as was the government's Waste and Resource Action Program (Wrap) and that spending cuts called for by opposition parties would only undermine the country’s existing success in this area.
Nicholas Winterton (Con, Macclesfield) highlighted the anger of many of his constituents at the manner in which their local authority was dealing with waste management and refuse collection. He spoke of the disdain at the way in which the local council had reduced weekly refuse collection to a fortnightly basis as well as having reduced the size of refuse bins.
Lynne Jones (Lab, Birmingham Selly Oak) suggested that, in better managing local waste management schemes, greater emphasis should be placed by the government on advising local councils about the benefits of composting systems.
Kennedy advised Jones that there was already a central "organics recycling team" in operation which advised on anaerobic waste systems.
Natascha Engel (Lab, North East Derbyshire) suggested that locally organised campaigns were being mobilised against the potential environmental side-effects of new commercial composting plants and gasification units. She suggested that there should be a national framework for the planning and implementation of these units.
Kennedy assured the MP that the department was working to raise awareness on composting and to reassure people about its cleanness as a technology.
Michael Moore (Lib Dem, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) raised the issue of the common agricultural policy (Cap) and suggested that, in present economic conditions, hill farming communities in his constituency were suffering greatly. He called for a review into the Cap and urged that Britain obtain greater flexibility and independence for dealing with such communities.
David Taylor (Lab, North-West Leicestershire) attacked the Cap and said that there was an egregious disproportion between the amount European taxpayers spent on agriculture and the number of EU citizens actually engaged in that industry.
Benn reiterated the government's long-standing commitment to reform Cap, reminded members of its recent review or 'health check' and called for the shifting of EU resources from pillar one into pillar two. He also reminded MPs of various EU member states' obstinacy over this issue.
David Chaytor (Lab, Bury North) raised the issue of recycling used cooking oil as fuel. He queried why the Environment Agency was yet to make a ruling on the viability of this as an alternative fuel.
Lynne Jones questioned existing practice regarding glass recycling and stated that, as was the case in Birmingham, a perverse system of incentivisation existed which detracted from the meeting of environmentally-sound targets.
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