§ Mr. BellinghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much and what percentage of revenue received from aggregate dredging has been(a) put back into the coastal defence budget and (b) made available for coastal defence compensation in each of the last five years. [163573]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Crown Estate receives revenue from dredging companies for all the marine aggregates that they extract from the seabed that the Crown Estate owns or over which it has mineral rights. All surplus revenue raised by The Crown Estate is passed directly to the Exchequer for the benefit of all UK taxpayers.
There is no direct link between surplus revenues and the Government's budget for coastal defence. Defra does not allocate funds to be spent on coastal damage compensation.
In addition, all producers of aggregates, both onshore and offshore are liable to the aggregates levy. A proportion of this levy is disposed to the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, which finances research to improve the sustainability of aggregate production, including a substantial programme of marine environmental studies to reduce the impacts of dredging.