Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of privately-owned Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites have received public subsidies to restore them into good ecological condition in the last 2 years.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) scheme supports the restoration of Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS).
In 2023 there was around 1,100 ha that received subsidies for the restoration of Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) under the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme which increased to around 1,900 ha of land in 2024. It is not possible to differentiate between publicly and privately owned land within this figure.
To Note: The payment window for existing CSHT agreements opens on the 01 December and receive annual payments. Applicants with a New CSHT agreement will receive quarterly payments.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to tighten regulations on the transport and storage of nurdles in line with the EU, and what other measures they will take to reduce the environmental and human health threats of nurdles.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government currently has no plans to align nurdle transport and storage regulations with those of the EU.
The Government has supported industry-led initiatives such as Operation Clean Sweep, to promote good practice in pellet loss prevention.
As a Contracting Party to the OSPAR Convention, the UK has led work under the Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter, resulting in an OSPAR Recommendation on minimum standards for pellet loss certification schemes. The UK also supported development of a British Standards Institution Publicly Available Specification, published in July 2021, which sets out measures for businesses to reduce pellet loss and complies with the OSPAR Recommendation.
Pellet loss is a global issue, and the UK has called for specific provisions in the new international treaty on plastic pollution to address pellet loss throughout the supply chain. Additionally, the UK is working at the International Maritime Organization to introduce mandatory measures for the carriage of plastic pellets by sea in freight containers.
Published - Monday 1st December 2025
Department: Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsThese Regulations amend Schedule 1 to the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (c. 27) (“the 2020 Act”) to insert a further exclusion from the market access principles set out in Part 1 of the 2020 Act in respect of glue traps. The effect of the amendment is that the …
Dec. 01 2025
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