Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much DEFRA spent in total in the past financial year to create new opportunities for the public to access nature, or to improve existing public access, excluding engagement programmes.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed both to creating new opportunities for the public to access nature, and to improving existing public access. For instance, in FY24/25 we spent £5.5 million on progressing delivery of the King Charles III England Coast Path and £5.6 million on progressing delivery of the Coast to Coast National Trail. We also spent £5.8 million on our Access for All programme to increase accessibility of the countryside. This excludes funding for engagement programmes such as Generation Green and Green Social Prescribing, and funding for access casework, maintenance, monitoring, and staff costs.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much financial assistance DEFRA will provide in total to support the agriculture sector in the new Spending Review period.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are investing more than £2.7 billion a year in farming and nature recovery.
Funding for the Environmental Land Management Schemes paid to farmers will increase by 150% from £800 million in 2023/24 to £2 billion by 2028/29.
Overall farmers and land managers will benefit from an average of £2.3 billion a year through the Farming and Countryside Programme. And up to £400 million from additional nature schemes, including those for tree planting and peatland restoration.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much financial assistance DEFRA provided in total to support the agriculture sector in the past financial year.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In line with its obligations under the Agriculture Act 2020, Defra regularly publishes an annual report setting out commitments in the previous financial year. Defra intends to publish the annual report for the financial year 2024/25 later this year, which will set out how money was spent in that financial year.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much DEFRA plan to spend in the new Spending Review period to create new opportunities for the public to access nature, or to improve existing public access, excluding engagement programmes.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has already set out several ambitious manifesto commitments to expand opportunities for the public to enjoy the outdoors, including the creation of nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England. Our spending plans are dependent on business planning outcomes.