Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
A Bill to establish the right to breathe clean air; to require the Secretary of State to achieve and maintain clean air in England and Wales; to involve the UK Health Security Agency in setting and reviewing pollutants and their limits; to enhance the powers, duties and functions of various agencies and authorities in relation to air pollution; to establish the Citizens’ Commission for Clean Air with powers to institute or intervene in legal proceedings; to require the Secretary of State and the relevant national authorities to apply environmental principles in carrying out their duties under this Act and the clean air enactments; and for connected purposes
A Bill to make provision about elections to and membership of the House of Lords; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to regulate and limit the practice of bottom trawling in marine protected areas, and for connected purposes
A bill to establish the right to breathe clean air; to require the Secretary of State to achieve and maintain clean air in England and Wales; to involve Public Health England in setting and reviewing pollutants and their limits; to enhance the powers, duties and functions of the Environment Agency, the Committee on Climate Change, local authorities (including port authorities), the Civil Aviation Authority, Highways England, Historic England and Natural England in relation to air pollution; to establish the Citizens’ Commission for Clean Air with powers to institute or intervene in legal proceedings; to require the Secretary of State and the relevant national authorities to apply environmental principles in carrying out their duties under this Act and the clean air enactments; and for connected purposes
First reading took place on 9 September. This stage is a formality that signals the start of the Bill's journey through the Lords.Second reading - the general debate on all aspects of the Bill - is yet to be scheduled.The 2015/16 session of parliament has ended and this Bill will make no further progress. A bill to make provision for the setting of biodiversity and other targets; to establish aNatural Capital Committee; to require local authorities to maintain local ecologicalnetwork strategies; to identify species threatened with extinction; for access to qualitynatural green space; and to include education about the natural environment in thecurriculum for maintained schools.
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to commission a programme of research into the merits of replacing the council tax and non-domestic rates in England with an annual levy on the unimproved value of all land, including transitional arrangements; to report to Parliament within 12 months of completion of the research; and for connected purposes.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Delivery of the Glasgow Climate Pact is the top priority for the UK Presidency. Six months on from COP26, the UK and Egypt recently convened Ministers in Copenhagen to discuss progress and heard strong commitment to deliver. We reiterated the need for all countries to revisit and strengthen their NDCs as necessary, for donors to deliver on the $100bn goal and the commitment to double adaptation finance by 2025, and for increased support for Loss and Damage.
Since COP26, and following the call in the Glasgow Climate Pact, 5 Parties have submitted Long-Term Strategies and 11 have submitted updates to NDC. A further eight National Adaptation Plans have been published, meaning 2 billion people are now covered by adaptation plans globally. We recently held the 5th Energy Transition Council Meeting where countries reinforced their commitment to implement tailored solutions to decarbonise the power sector more rapidly. Since COP26, 20 new signatories including Greece have joined the Zero Emission Vehicles Declaration, and four new countries have declared their support for the Agriculture Breakthrough.
We will continue to provide strong UK leadership and engagement over our Presidency year to make sure promises are kept and delivered to the highest standards, working with all parties and civil society partners to keep momentum high.
The Glasgow Climate Pact succeeded in putting in place the Glasgow Dialogue to discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage, although it did not agree to the creation of a financial facility. The first dialogue will take place in June 2022, with further dialogues taking place every year to 2024, though these are not formal negotiations. The Glasgow Climate Pact also noted existing funding for climate, disaster reduction and response is relevant to loss and damage.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Rt Hon. the Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
26 May 2023
Dear Lady Jones,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made, if any, of the total monetary value of the benefits delivered by urban wetlands (HL8042).
The UK Natural Capital Accounts produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) provide monetary estimates for the goods and services provided by a range of eight broadly defined habitats.
“Wetlands” is not among these, but can be found in several other habitats such as “Freshwater” and “Mountains Moorlands and Heath”.
“Urban” is one of these eight habitats, and captures a range of other ecosystems in and around dense population areas. We will be updating our approach in our upcoming Urban habitat account release this summer. In this, we plan to include data on the total area of sub-habitats that can be found within “urban” areas, including estimates of the total area of “urban-wetlands”. We would be very happy to discuss these results with you once they are available.
While the natural capital accounts are primarily national, in our 2022 Natural Capital Accounts Roadmap [1] we committed to increasing their spatial granularity. This will help us to more readily address questions requiring lower geographical levels.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/naturalcapitalaccountsroadmap/2022
I would refer the noble Lady to PQ114640, answered by the Prime Minister on 31 January:
The Civil Service Code governs the overarching conduct of civil servants. This includes the requirement to “always act in a way that is professional”.
The Government has accepted the Second Permanent Secretary’s general findings in full. As the published update states, steps must be taken “to ensure that every Government Department has a clear and robust policy in place covering the consumption of alcohol in the workplace.”
No 10 Downing Street is a Crown property. Regulations under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 which relate to the activities of people, apply regardless of whether those activities took place on Crown property or not.
The Government fully cooperated with the National Audit Office’s investigation into Government procurement during the pandemic and provided all information requested.
The NAO report sets out the NAO's investigative approach and the evidence drawn on as part of the investigation.
The Government fully cooperated with the National Audit Office’s investigation into Government procurement during the pandemic and provided all information requested.
Democracy should not be cancelled because of covid. As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 8 February 2021 (HLWS766), the Government has confirmed that the set of council, mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner elections scheduled for May will go ahead, and made a firm commitment that the Government will support the sector to deliver them.
On 22 February, the Prime Minister announced the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown and we have since then published guidance on campaigning reflecting the updated COVID restrictions effective from 8 March. In developing this guidance, the Government consulted a number of groups, including the Parliamentary Parties Panel and the Local Government Association; we are committed to ensuring we take into consideration the views of independent candidates as effectively as possible.
From 8 March, individual activists will be able to campaign outdoors in a COVID-secure way. The rules will allow for individual campaigners to deliver leaflets and to engage with electors on their doorsteps - but they should always be socially distanced and not enter inside people’s homes.
Democracy should not be cancelled because of covid. As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 8 February 2021 (HLWS766), the Government has confirmed that the set of council, mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner elections scheduled for May will go ahead, and made a firm commitment that the Government will support the sector to deliver them.
On 22 February, the Prime Minister announced the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown and we have since then published guidance on campaigning reflecting the updated COVID restrictions effective from 8 March. In developing this guidance, the Government consulted a number of groups, including the Parliamentary Parties Panel and the Local Government Association; we are committed to ensuring we take into consideration the views of independent candidates as effectively as possible.
From 8 March, individual activists will be able to campaign outdoors in a COVID-secure way. The rules will allow for individual campaigners to deliver leaflets and to engage with electors on their doorsteps - but they should always be socially distanced and not enter inside people’s homes.
Democracy should not be cancelled because of covid. As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 8 February 2021 (HLWS766), the Government has confirmed that the set of council, mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner elections scheduled for May will go ahead, and made a firm commitment that the Government will support the sector to deliver them.
On 22 February, the Prime Minister announced the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown and we have since then published guidance on campaigning reflecting the updated COVID restrictions effective from 8 March. In developing this guidance, the Government consulted a number of groups, including the Parliamentary Parties Panel and the Local Government Association; we are committed to ensuring we take into consideration the views of independent candidates as effectively as possible.
From 8 March, individual activists will be able to campaign outdoors in a COVID-secure way. The rules will allow for individual campaigners to deliver leaflets and to engage with electors on their doorsteps - but they should always be socially distanced and not enter inside people’s homes.
Democracy should not be cancelled because of covid. As outlined in my Written Ministerial Statement of 8 February 2021 (HLWS766), the Government has confirmed that the set of council, mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner elections scheduled for May will go ahead, and made a firm commitment that the Government will support the sector to deliver them.
The Government has published a Delivery Plan for the May elections, setting out how the Government will support local elections teams to deliver effective polls that are covid-secure for voters and staff. The Government has committed to further engage with political parties through the Parliamentary Parties Panel.
In relation to the current national lockdown restrictions and the delivery of leaflets by volunteers, I refer the Noble Lord to the Dear Colleague letter from the Minister for Constitution and Devolution, which I have placed in the Library. The letter reflects the broader guidance and law on the national lockdown, based on advice from the Chief Scientific and Medical Officers.
Democracy should not be cancelled because of covid. As outlined in my Written Ministerial Statement of 8 February 2021 (HLWS766), the Government has confirmed that the set of council, mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner elections scheduled for May will go ahead, and made a firm commitment that the Government will support the sector to deliver them.
The Government has published a Delivery Plan for the May elections, setting out how the Government will support local elections teams to deliver effective polls that are covid-secure for voters and staff. The Government has committed to further engage with political parties through the Parliamentary Parties Panel.
In relation to the current national lockdown restrictions and the delivery of leaflets by volunteers, I refer the Noble Lord to the Dear Colleague letter from the Minister for Constitution and Devolution, which I have placed in the Library. The letter reflects the broader guidance and law on the national lockdown, based on advice from the Chief Scientific and Medical Officers.
Democracy should not be cancelled because of covid. As outlined in my Written Ministerial Statement of 8 February 2021 (HLWS766), the Government has confirmed that the set of council, mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner elections scheduled for May will go ahead, and made a firm commitment that the Government will support the sector to deliver them.
The Government has published a Delivery Plan for the May elections, setting out how the Government will support local elections teams to deliver effective polls that are covid-secure for voters and staff. The Government has committed to further engage with political parties through the Parliamentary Parties Panel.
In relation to the current national lockdown restrictions and the delivery of leaflets by volunteers, I refer the Noble Lord to the Dear Colleague letter from the Minister for Constitution and Devolution, which I have placed in the Library. The letter reflects the broader guidance and law on the national lockdown, based on advice from the Chief Scientific and Medical Officers.
Democracy should not be cancelled because of covid. As outlined in my Written Ministerial Statement of 8 February 2021 (HLWS766), the Government has confirmed that the set of council, mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner elections scheduled for May will go ahead, and made a firm commitment that the Government will support the sector to deliver them.
The Government has published a Delivery Plan for the May elections, setting out how the Government will support local elections teams to deliver effective polls that are covid-secure for voters and staff. The Government has committed to further engage with political parties through the Parliamentary Parties Panel.
In relation to the current national lockdown restrictions and the delivery of leaflets by volunteers, I refer the Noble Lord to the Dear Colleague letter from the Minister for Constitution and Devolution, which I have placed in the Library. The letter reflects the broader guidance and law on the national lockdown, based on advice from the Chief Scientific and Medical Officers.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Dear Baroness Jones,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of the total number of deaths, from any cause, in the UK in 2020 (HL4131).
The table below contains the registered deaths of UK residents in the first 20 weeks of the year. Data has been sourced from the Office for National Statistics, National Records Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency weekly death publications.
Table 1: Provisional number of deaths registered in the first 20 weeks of 2020, broken down by country[1][2][3][4][5]
UK | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | |
Total deaths registered: week 1-20 | 952,133 | 901,066 | 15,990 | 27,850 | 7,227 |
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
[1]Figures are based on deaths registered up to 1 May 2020
[2]Weekly deaths for Scotland are produced by NRS: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/covid19stats
[3]Weekly deaths for Northern Ireland are produced by NISRA: https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/weekly-deaths
[4]England, Wales and Northern Ireland weekly deaths run from Saturday to Friday, Scotland deaths run from Monday to Sunday
[5]Northern Ireland week allocation differs from other countries. For example, week 1 is week ending 10-Jan. This has been adjusted for the purpose of aggregating the data
The Government is reducing demand for oil and gas but will still need it for years to come. The independent Climate Change Committee has recognised this transition cannot happen overnight. The Government implemented the Climate Compatibility Checkpoint to assess whether new domestic hydrocarbon licensing is compatible with the UK’s climate targets. New licenses do not involve any slowing of the UK’s transition to net zero.
The environmental impact of offshore developments is subject to rigorous regulatory assessment by the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning, including a full environmental impact assessment and consultation with statutory nature protection bodies and the public.
The Government is committed to delivering net zero emissions by 2050. This is consistent with the Paris Agreement goal to limit global warming to well below 2°C and pursue efforts towards 1.5°C.
The Environment Act 2021 commits the Government to halting the decline in species in England by 2030, in addition to setting at least one long term target for biodiversity. The Environment Act’s package of new policies, alongside other measures including the Nature for Climate Fund and new Environmental Land Management schemes, will help the Government to reach its targets and tackle climate change and biodiversity loss.
Renewable generators signed up to the Contracts for Difference scheme make payments to energy suppliers, rather than directly to consumers.
The total CfD payments made to suppliers relating to the last two quarters was:
£258,813,576.63.
The regulator Ofgem is responsible for auditing the sustainability of biomass used by biomass electricity generators which receive support under the Renewables Obligation and has a process in place for this. As is routine, Ofgem is establishing whether the biomass sustainability criteria have been met by the generator. These criteria ensure that only sustainable biomass is used to produce renewable electricity. Sustainability information is publicly available on Ofgem’s website.
To receive support generators must follow sustainable management practices that require the maintenance and replanting of the forest, demonstration that deforestation is not occurring where they source material from, and that biodiversity, soil and water are protected, among other requirements.
Funding for the Energy Bills Support Scheme is provided by HM Treasury. It is not provided by the Contracts for Difference scheme, which is the Government’s primary method for supporting new low-carbon electricity generation projects in Great Britain.
The Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC), which administers Contracts for Difference (CfD), carries out a financial reconciliation of the scheme’s accounts at the end of each fiscal quarter. In April of this year, the LCCC returned £108.3m to British suppliers in respect of repayments made by generators since last autumn. Repayments to suppliers should ultimately be reflected in the tariffs they offer their customers. This is a commercial decision for each supplier.
The Smart Export Guarantee came into force on 1 January 2020 and requires most electricity suppliers to offer a tariff to buy electricity exported by small low-carbon generators, including small hydro. Licensed suppliers with more than 150,000 customers are required to offer at least one SEG tariff to small-scale, low-carbon generators.
As set out in the Spring Statement 2022, the green plant and machinery exemption applies from April 2022. The Valuation Office Agency will implement this exemption. There will be no need for renewable energy generators or storage providers to apply.
Data on biomass sourcing is publicly available on Ofgem’s website and information for the latest available year can be accessed there.
The UK only supports sustainable biomass and generators only receive subsidies for biomass that complies with strict sustainability criteria.
UK forests are protected by forestry and Environmental Impact legislation in the four administrations of the UK together with the requirements of the UK Forestry Standard, while we have committed to increase annual UK planting rates to 30,000 hectares by the end of this Parliament.
The Government acknowledges the valuable contribution of hydropower to the UK energy mix over many decades. However, economic and environmental constraints mean that in practice the viable remaining resource is less than 1% of total generation capacity, hence it will likely not be a significant contributor to our future generation plans.
The Smart Export Guarantee puts a requirement on most electricity suppliers to offer to buy electricity that is exported to the grid by small-scale generators, and as announced by my Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Autumn 2021 Budget and recent Spring Statement, business rates will include an exemption for eligible plant and machinery used in the generation and storage of renewable energy from 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2035.
Contracts remain a commercial matter for businesses. Where businesses seek to sever contracts with Russian entities, we recommend seeking independent legal advice. The Department for International Trade have expanded its Export Support Service (ESS) to act as a single point of enquiry for businesses and traders with questions relating to the situation in Ukraine and Russia. Any business that has question about trading with Ukraine or Russia can ask the export support team by visiting the GOV.UK website, or call our helpline using the number 0300 303 8955.
The Government has invited contributions on the design of the climate compatibility checkpoint through the launch of a public consultation on 20 December 2021, closing on 28 February 2022. The consultation seeks views on the application of this checkpoint to potential future onshore licensing.
The projections used by Her Majesty’s Government for additional greenhouse gas emissions arising from permafrost thaw between now and 2100 are those provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and amount to 76 [range of 14-177] gigatonne carbon dioxide equivalent per degree of warming globally, by 2100. These estimates were included in the Panel’s Sixth Assessment Report, which was officially welcomed by the UNFCCC at COP26, and taken into account in the negotiations.
Our assessment of rising sea levels, derived from the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, includes modelling of the Arctic and Antarctic ice melt and takes accelerated rise in regional temperatures at the poles into account.
The projections of additional greenhouse gas emissions from the thawing of the Arctic permafrost that are used to inform government policy are taken from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report and take Arctic regional warming rates, including effects such as polar amplification, into account.
Local authorities have a combination of powers in housing, planning, transport, and environmental permitting which allow them to take action to achieve net zero and to improve air quality.
Through the Net Zero Strategy, published on 19 October, the Government set out its commitments to enable local areas to make progress towards net zero. The strategy includes the creation of a new Local Net Zero Forum to improve collaboration net zero policies by convening national and local government senior officials.
The Government is committed to improving air quality, including through reducing a diversity of pollutants that harm both human health and the environment. The Environment Act made improvements on the Local Air Quality Management framework to enable local authorities to take more effective, co-ordinated actions to improve air quality. It will also deliver improvements to public health by ensuring local authorities have more effective powers to tackle emissions from domestic burning.
The effects of climate change, including sea level rise, are considered and adapted to throughout the lifetime of nuclear power stations from design and construction, through operation and on to decommissioning.
The UK’s robust regulatory framework is designed to accommodate changes in science and expert guidance, whilst ensuring appropriate assessment of the specific operating lifetime of individual stations.
Whilst the National Policy Statement sets out the siting framework and criteria (including flood and coastal erosion risks), all stations will require planning permission and environmental permits from the Environment Agency and safety licensing from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (the ONR) throughout their lifetime. This will require strong evidence from licence holders to demonstrate that the effects of climate change have been thoroughly evaluated and can be managed over the lifetime of stations.
The Environment Agency and the ONR would not allow a site to be built or to operate if they judged that it was not safe to do so.
The Government has had no discussions with the EU on leaving the Energy Charter Treaty.
The UK supports the process to modernise the Energy Charter Treaty in a way that helps the global clean energy transition, such as the right for States to regulate to reach emissions reduction targets and a stronger focus on climate security issues. We are currently in discussions with Treaty partners over proposals to phase out investment protection for fossil fuels.
We have already made significant progress towards meeting our net zero target. Between 1990 and 2018, our economy has grown by 75% while emissions have decreased by 43% - faster than any other G7 nation. Since 2000, we have decarbonised our economy faster than any other G20 country. We met our first and second carbon budgets that were established under the Climate Change Act 2008, and we are on track to overachieve on the third. Our forthcoming sector strategies, and wider plans to deliver a green economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, will contain further proposals to put us on track to meeting carbon budgets 4 and 5.
In 2018, waste management accounted for 4.6 per cent (20.7 MtCO2e) of total UK GHG emissions, showing significant achievement of a 69% decrease in emissions between 1990 and 2018. The government is seeking to make the UK a world leader in using resources efficiently and reducing the amount of waste we create as a society. Our Resources and Waste Strategy (2018) sets a clear longer-term policy direction in line with our 25 Year Environment Plan.
The detailed terms of waste incineration contracts are a matter for the contracting parties.
There are three categories in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory that include greenhouse gas emissions from incineration, all of which are calculated and reported as separate categories:
In line with international guidance, carbon dioxide emissions from the incineration of the biogenic fraction of waste material are estimated, but do not contribute to total emissions reported.
Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed at COP25 to hold a roundtable among Parties and non-Party stakeholders on pre-2020 implementation and ambition at COP26, which will take place in Glasgow.
The UK government will be involved in preparations as part of its role as incoming President for COP26.
The UK Government is also regularly engaging with Party and non-Party stakeholders, led by the COP26 President, the High Level Champion and the COP26 Envoy.
The independent Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) considers nuclear site licence applications and related regulatory matters on a case-by-case basis. In order to ensure the impact of climate change and the adequacy of project specific mitigations are fully and properly considered, the ONR does not prescribe thresholds in advance. The regulator requires appropriate safety margins and considers the latest official climate change predictions, prepared with the Meteorological Office and the Environment Agency.
Domestic, or household, waste is currently included within the fuel category “MSW” (Municipal Solid Waste) in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory. MSW refers to waste collected by municipalities or other local authorities and includes sources other than domestic waste.
The emissions per tonne of MSW processed in an energy from waste incinerator is calculated using the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines. Figures are provided for methane and nitrous oxide along with separate figures for carbon (fossil) emissions from biodegradable MSW and non-biodegradable MSW. The proportions of total MSW that is biodegradable and non-biodegradable is calculated using data from DUKES (the Digest of UK Energy Statistics). These four figures are combined to give total greenhouse gas emissions emitted per tonne of MSW processed in an energy from waste incinerator.
In 2017, an estimated 5.2 Mt (million tonnes) of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents) were emitted from incineration in the energy supply sector and 0.3 Mt of CO2e were emitted from incineration in the waste sector.
In 2018, an estimated 6.0 Mt of CO2e were emitted from incineration in the energy supply sector and 0.3 of CO2e were emitted from incineration in the waste sector.
Emissions from biogenic waste material are not included in these figures, consistent with domestic and international reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.
We are not currently able to provide equivalent statistics for 2019 as these are not yet available. The Final Statistics for UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990-2019 will be published in February 2021.
There are two categories in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory that include waste being processed in an energy from waste incinerator:
In 2012, an estimated 0.4 tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents) were emitted per tonne of waste processed in UK “Power Stations” and 0.8 tonnes of CO2e were emitted per tonne of waste processed in an energy from waste incinerator in UK “Miscellaneous industrial/commercial combustion”.
In 2018, an estimated 0.4 tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents) were emitted per tonne of waste processed in UK “Power Stations” and 0.6 tonnes of CO2e were emitted per tonne of waste processed in an energy from waste incinerator in UK “Miscellaneous industrial/commercial combustion”.
Emissions from biogenic waste material are not included in these figures, consistent with domestic and international reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.
National Highways conducted a comprehensive Heritage Impact Assessment in line with relevant guidance at the time that the Development Consent Order application was made, and this was considered to represent a thorough process by the delegates of the most recent UNESCO Advisory Mission. The Heritage Impact Assessment made an assessment of the proposed A303 scheme on all the known archaeological sites in Bow Tie field, whether they were designated (i.e. scheduled monuments including Stonehenge, the Avenue, and three barrows adjacent to the Avenue forming part of a round barrow cemetery on Countess Farm: NHLE 1010140) or non-designated, and assessed the effect of the proposals on the Outstanding Universal Value of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site. The answer to the parliamentary question submitted on 20 December 2022 contains further information, including about archaeological evaluation carried out to date.
The Avenue is protected as part of a Scheduled Monument. The A303 scheme has been designed not to have a direct impact on any Scheduled Monuments and to minimise adverse impacts on their setting. National Highways will work with the National Trust to minimise the impact to heritage (such as the archaeology and grassland) at Bow Tie Field which may be affected by future compulsory acquisition as part of implementation of the proposed A303 scheme. The scheme is currently with the Secretary of State for Transport for re-determination. Since this is a live planning application, the Department cannot comment further.
The National Trust negotiated to acquire the leasehold interest of an Agricultural Holdings Act tenancy of 151 hectares over land that the National Trust already owned, and a further 21 hectares of outright acquisition of freehold land known as Bow Tie Field. The National Heritage Memorial Fund grant was awarded to the National Trust to secure both areas of land.
The National Heritage Memorial Fund recognised the positive impact of supporting the acquisition of this significant area of land containing internationally and nationally important ancient monuments which were at risk. The benefits of the National Trust taking ownership and management of this land, safeguarding nationally important monuments, was considered to justify the grant award.
As part of the application process for grant funding to the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the National Trust provided a condition survey which highlighted, among the 61 at-risk archaeological sites, that 15 scheduled monuments and 34 unscheduled monuments across both parcels of land were at imminent risk of loss. These included the Stonehenge Avenue, Conebury Henge, the Conebury Anomaly, Neolithic burials and occupation sites, and numerous Bronze Age round barrows. The report concluded that, unless arable cultivation ceased, it was likely that much, if not all, of what remained of these monuments could have been lost to the plough within a decade.
In assessing the application, the National Heritage Memorial Fund sought expert advice, which concluded that, if these important sites remained under arable cultivation, they would continue to be at risk and subject to denudation and ultimately loss, as there was no alternative strategy that could be readily agreed to secure the survival of these sites and features.
The National Heritage Memorial Fund’s grant to the National Trust was awarded to safeguard and protect a significant number of archaeological sites and monuments, and to enable extensive grassland restoration of approximately 168 hectares of land. It was clear at the time of the award that, if the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down scheme were to be consented to by the Secretary of State, approximately 4.54 hectares of land within Bow Tie Field would be subject to compulsory acquisition by National Highways. However, the positive impact of the grant benefits a much larger area of land containing internationally important monuments which were at risk. As a result of the National Trust taking ownership and management of this land all of these monuments have been safeguarded from destruction and, should the A303 scheme proceed, would remain unaffected.
National Highways will work with the National Trust to minimise impact to heritage (the archaeology and grassland) at Bow Tie Field which may be affected by future compulsory acquisition as part of implementation of the scheme. The scheme is currently with the Secretary of State for Transport for re-determination.
A comprehensive archaeological assessment has been undertaken on all areas affected by the scheme, including part of Bow Tie Field. An overview of the fieldwork can be found in Section 3 (from page 13) of the Detailed Archaeological Mitigation Strategy and further details of Eastern portal from 3.3.80 (page 28), which can be viewed here.
It was clear at the time of the grant award that, should the Development Consent Order be approved by the Secretary of State for Transport, approximately 4.54 hectares of the total 168 hectare area to be acquired would be the subject of permanent compulsory acquisition by National Highways. The National Heritage Memorial Fund’s grant was in response to a time-limited opportunity to secure multiple archaeological sites across this much larger area of land in the World Heritage Site. This included a substantial portion of Stonehenge Avenue. Without the National Heritage Memorial Fund’s grant the opportunity to safeguard and conserve a significant area of internationally important archaeology would have been lost.
The National Heritage Memorial Fund Board was aware of the potential for compulsory purchase and took the decision that, since the area to be affected by potential compulsory purchase was a very small proportion of the overall site, this did not outweigh the benefits of safeguarding a much larger area through the time-limited opportunity presented.
The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) has been awarding grants to safeguard the UK’s most important heritage since 1980. As a fund of last resort, NHMF has helped save thousands of the country’s most-loved treasures from being lost forever.
The grant of £800,000 to the National Trust for the acquisition of land at Stonehenge, including the land known as Bow Tie Field, was a time-limited opportunity to secure 168 hectares of land containing 61 archaeological sites, including a substantial part of the Stonehenge Avenue, all under extreme risk of loss due to ploughing. Expert advice to NHMF reflected that if the purchase did not go ahead Scheduled Monuments on the site would be lost completely within 10 years.
The acquisition by the National Trust will enable the restoration of chalk grassland, a priority lowland habitat, achieving significant biodiversity and nature conservation benefits. It will also enable permissive open access for the first time to this part of the Stonehenge landscape.
The £800,000 grant was awarded to the National Trust using the National Heritage Memorial Fund's standard terms of grant as set out on the NHMF's website.