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.
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 what plans they have to ensure that imports of (1) meat, (2) dairy, and (3) eggs meet animal welfare standards.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government shares the public’s high regard for the UK’s environmental protections, food standards and animal welfare. We will promote robust standards nationally and internationally and will always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage.
All agri-food products must comply with our import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market. This includes ensuring imported meat products have been slaughtered to animal welfare standards equivalent to our domestic standards.
The Government recognises farmers’ concerns about imports produced using methods not permitted in the UK. We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to support economic growth and promote the highest standards of food production.
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 what assessment they have made of the advantages of implementing the recommendations set out in The London Climate Resilience Review, published in July 2024, for other parts of the UK.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The London Climate Resilience Review which reported to the Mayor of London is a clear example of the importance of local assessments of climate resilience, making 50 recommendations for how London can be better prepared for our changing climate.
Nationally, we are conducting a pilot of the Adaptation Reporting Power with a number of local authority partners across the country to explore the value of extending adaptation reporting and planning to the local authority sector and the learning from this pilot will inform our approach to the next ARP strategy.
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 whether they intend to retain goals to improve access to and engagement with nature as part of the rapid review of the current Environmental Improvement Plan, announced on 30 July; and whether they intend to engage with stakeholders representing public access and recreation.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to enhancing public access to nature, as evidenced by our manifesto commitment to create nine new national river walks and three new national forests. We are currently considering how best to continue to drive forward our goals in this area and we will be engaging with stakeholders as we do so.
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 what plans they have for the delivery of nine new river walks, how these will be selected, and what is the timetable for delivery.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is progressing plans to designate nine new National River Walks across England, one in each region, to enhance access to nature. This is a priority for the department and we are currently considering several delivery options, as well as reviewing where existing river walks are in place. Further details will be provided in due course.
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 whether they still intend to ensure that the King Charles III England Coast Path is fully walkable by the end of 2024 and, if not, whether they have a revised timetable for delivery.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Unfortunately, the King Charles III England Coast Path (KCIIIECP) will not be fully walkable by the end of 2024. However, by the end of December 2024 up to 62% of the KCIIIECP will be completed, along with the wider coastal access rights between the path and mean low water (coastal margin), and provision to roll back the trail with an eroding coast and reduced occupiers’ liability towards the public that the KCIIIECP provides.
This will result in 95% of the English coast being walkable through a combination of completed KCIIIECP / coastal access rights (as above), public rights of way and de facto access.
Work continues on the KCIIIECP, with another 57 miles opening this week in Lincolnshire and more commencements planned this year. 1251 miles are now open and available for public use, with works taking place on another 1144 miles. Less than 300 miles are yet to be approved.
We are working at pace to ensure completion as soon as possible. We will develop a revised timetable with Natural England for 2025/2026 to determine when all 2700 miles of the KCIIIECP will be complete and open to public access.
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 whether they intend to retain the public access offer within Environmental Land Management schemes so that more people can benefit from improved access to the countryside.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Presently Countryside Stewardship scheme supports land managers to offer educational access visits to school age children and care farming groups and also offers a supplement to support access to woodlands. In protected landscapes, the Farming in a Protected Landscape programme offers permissive access.
We are fully committed to the Environmental Land Management schemes. The government will optimise Environmental Land Management schemes over time, so they produce the right outcomes for all farmers - such as small, grassland, upland and tenanted farms - while delivering food security and nature recovery in a just and equitable way. This will also consider improved access to the countryside.