Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they currently monitor soil quality in the UK, including soil organic matter content, soil loss and the extent and severity of soil compaction; and if so, what data are available.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The 2007 Countryside Survey measured changes in soil organic matter content of soils in Great Britain. It also measured bulk density and a number of other physical and chemical characteristics of soil. A new baseline survey for soil carbon was carried out in 2009 as part of the EU Land Cover and Land Use Statistics (LUCAS) exercise. The 2015 LUCAS soil samples are currently being analysed.
Defra does not routinely monitor national rates of soil loss (erosion), but we are funding research to pilot a national soil erosion monitoring framework for monitoring soil erosion in England and Wales.
Defra also funded a survey of soil compaction levels in grasslands in England and Wales in 2011.
No formal assessment has been made of the sufficiency of the baseline data from which to measure changes in soil quality.
The Government recognises that soil is essential for underpinning a range of benefits, including food production, but also biodiversity, carbon storage and flood protection.
While the future direction of soils policy will be considered as part of the development of the 25 year plans for Food and Farming, and Environment, government is already taking action to improve soil quality.
This includes new rules underpinning cross compliance which anyone claiming Common Agricultural Policy payments must comply with. The rules require a minimum level of soil cover, prevention of erosion and measures to protect the organic matter levels of soil. The new rules take an outcome based approach, instead of the previous paper-based system, thereby focussing on environmental improvements while reducing burdens for farmers. The Government will continue to monitor the implementation of the new rules.
No single body or institution has responsibility for measuring and analysing soils in the UK. Soil testing is carried out by a mix of commercial laboratories and Public Analyst labs. Typically laboratories are accredited and adhere to British Standards on testing procedures. However, there are no regulations governing soil testing procedures themselves.
There are existing soil maps for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which use different soil classifications. There are currently no plans to produce a new UK soil map, and we have not explored options for private sector investment.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Land Use Policy Group published in June, <i>The role of agroecology in sustainable intensification</i>.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Defra officials have reviewed this report and contributed to its development. The report concluded that agroecological practices have the potential to benefit the sustainability of farming without adversely affecting productivity and profitability. It also found that agroecological approaches can particularly reduce the impact of farming on biodiversity, water quality, soils and greenhouse gas emissions. The report has informed further research, which is being undertaken through the Defra Sustainable Intensification Research Platform.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes they intend to make to evaluation metrics at both farm and regional and landscape levels to take account of natural capital in policy-making decisions.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government formally launched the development phase of its 25 year environment plan on 14 October 2015. This process will run through 2016 and capture all aspects of natural capital. We will draw on the Natural Capital Committee to help develop it. A key part of it will be to ensure we have the right tools to improve decision-making at all scales so that we can get the most from our resources in order to deliver on our goal of having the best environment possible.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to promote the Rural Development Programme vocational skills measures in order to enhance the knowledge and skills of food producers.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Vocational skills offers can be delivered under a number of Rural Development Programme schemes. These are either national or have offers tailored to the needs of the local area. Defra publicises its schemes in a variety of ways including through the GOV.UK website. Local organisations such as Local Enterprise Partnerships also promote relevant local offers to their areas.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have ratified the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October 2010; and, if not, when they expect to do so.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing is implemented in the European Union through a directly applicable EU Regulation, which was agreed in April 2014. The EU Regulation will come into force in full 12 months after the Nagoya Protocol to allow time for the necessary implementation by the EU Member States. With the Protocol entering into force in October 2014, the UK Government is currently considering responses to its consultation on implementation and also awaiting publication by the European Commission of draft Implementing Acts to provide further detail on the EU Regulation. UK measures will be put in place to implement the EU Regulation and the Implementing Acts via Statutory Instrument (SI). Finalisation of both the EU Implementing Acts and the UK SI is expected by October 2015. The UK will be able to ratify the Nagoya Protocol once the UK SI is in place.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the current wording of the European Union Plant Reproductive Material legislation will enable them to protect home gardeners and allotment holders as well as United Kingdom seed producers' interests and the United Kingdom's diverse seed heritage.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
The Government did not think that the European Commission’s original proposals made appropriate provisions to protect the interests of UK gardeners, allotment holders and seed producers, and negotiated accordingly in the Council Working Party. However, these proposals have since been rejected by the European Parliament and we await a Commission redraft.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what input they have had into the redrafting of the proposed European Union Plant Reproductive Material legislation.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
The UK was influential in the drafting of the Greek Presidency’s ‘state of play’ report, presented at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council of Ministers meeting on 16/17 June, which was intended to guide the Commission when revising its proposals.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of recent analysis from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Taskforce on Systemic Pesticides, which concluded that neonicotinoids and fipronil pose serious risks to a wide range of pollinating insects and other wildlife, they support the restoration of use of these products when the EU moratorium expires.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
The analysis has not yet been published in full, but a preliminary assessment by the Health and Safety Executive's Chemicals Regulation Directorate of the information which is available did not identify any new factors concerning the potential effects of those substances. The European Commission is expected to commence a review in 2015 of the current European Union restrictions on three neonicotinoid active substances and fipronil. We will determine our position in light of the relevant scientific information which is available at that time.