Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government when the full details of the next round of the Sustainable Farming Incentive will be announced, and when that scheme will open to applications.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We will provide further details about the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive in summer 2025.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what quantitative estimate they have made, using the data they hold on Basic Payment Scheme payments now delinked, of the amount saved by the current reductions to delinked agricultural payments between now and the end of the period to which they apply, compared to the payments originally anticipated for the same period at the introduction of delinked payments.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

When delinked payments were introduced in 2024, no decision had been made about the reductions that were to apply to these payments for years after 2024.

We estimate that the reductions to be applied to delinked payments for 2025 will lead to a further £550 million reduction in these payments compared to 2024. This money is being re-invested in full into our other schemes for farmers and land managers in England, within an overall farming budget of £2.4 billion for 2025/26.

The reductions to delinked payments for future years have not been decided yet and will be announced in due course.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much of the savings from the reductions in delinked payments will be allocated to payments to farms participating in the new Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Reductions to delinked payments allowed this Government to unlock a record level of funding for Environmental Land Management schemes, as part of the £5 billion for farming secured over 24/25 and 25/26 financial years.

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. The annual report for financial year 2025/26 will be published next year and will include Farming and Countryside programme spend broken down by each scheme.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average environmental cost of producing and installing a power pylon within the range of 36 to 190 metres in height, including a breakdown of the costs of the materials for the bases required to support these pylons.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The Government does not hold data on the average monetary or environmental cost of producing and installing an electricity pylon. Such assessments are undertaken by the relevant planning applicant and considered as part of the decision-making process by the Secretary of State. A wide range of context specific, qualitative and quantitative factors determine said value.

The environmental impact of proposed pylon developments is assessed on a scheme-by-scheme basis with the method, content and scope of assessment dependent on the likely significance of the proposed scheme’s environmental impact based on its size, nature, location and the relevant legislative and policy frameworks.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of biodiversity in lowland areas; the impact of previous environmental incentives on that biodiversity; and the extent to which lowland areas are vulnerable to intensification of agriculture in the absence of sufficiently competitive environmental land use payments.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

More than 50,000 farm businesses and more than half of all farmed land is now being managed in Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, including over 38,000 multi-year live SFI agreements covering 4.3 million hectares of land. This means 800,000 hectares of arable land is being farmed without insecticides, reducing harm to pollinators and improving soil health. It means 300,000 hectares of low input grassland are managed sustainably, helping to protect biodiversity and improve water quality, and it means 75,000 kilometres of hedgerows are being protected and restored, providing essential habitats for wildlife, improving carbon storage and strengthening natural flood defences.

The Government is committed to ELM schemes. Defra will be working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future SFI offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding. This future SFI offer will build on what has made SFI effective so far. Further details about the reformed SFI offer will be announced following the spending review in summer 2025.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) biodiversity, and (2) the opportunities to intensify agricultural land use where other incentives are deemed uncompetitive, in upland areas relative to lowland areas.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The uplands are nationally and internationally important for biodiversity, and have significant agricultural, landscape, archaeological, recreational, cultural and natural resource value. We recognise the unique challenges that upland farmers face. In order to ensure we are giving farmers in the uplands the right support, we are engaging with a wide range of bodies through our Uplands Task and Finish Group. The group is looking at the particular challenges in the uplands and how they can be addressed.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to apply sanctions in relation to removal of children from Ukraine by Russia.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

Russia's forcible deportation of Ukrainian children is a despicable and systematic attempt to erase Ukrainian identity, and with it, Ukraine's future. We are playing our full part in international efforts to reunite these children with their families. In November 2024, we announced a third round of sanctions targeting those involved in forcibly deporting and indoctrinating Ukrainian children. We do not comment on any potential future designations as to do so could lessen their impact.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to their Russian counterparts regarding the numbers and current locations of the children removed by Russia from Ukraine.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

We have raised this issue with Russia on multiple occasions at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which meets at ambassador-level almost every week. On 29 May, our Ambassador reiterated the need for Russia to return forcibly deported children as critical to achieving a just and lasting peace. We have supported multiple invocations of the OSCE's fact-finding mission, the Moscow Mechanism, to examine Russian human rights abuses in Ukraine. Their May 2023 report focused on Ukrainian children. We have also raised this issue with Russia at the UN Security Council, most recently on 15 May and 8 April.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to support any cases going before any international courts relating to the removal of children from Ukraine by Russia.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued warrants of arrest for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for crimes linked to the deportation of children. It is an independent court and carries out its investigations impartially and without government interference. We are supporting the work of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the ICC to ensure allegations of war crimes in Ukraine are fully and fairly investigated by independent and robust legal mechanisms. We welcome progress made by the ICC in its active investigation, including the arrest warrants for individuals connected to the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.

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Wednesday 11th June 2025

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Fair Banking APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

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Media APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated) Mark Pritchard MP (Conservative) Lord Birt (Non-affiliated) Lord Cromwell

Fair Banking APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Attendees • William Wragg MP • Peter Dowd MP • Dame Margaret Hodge MP • Lord Waverly • Lord Cromwell

Media APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated) Mark Pritchard MP (Conservative) Lord Birt (Non-affiliated) Lord Cromwell

Media APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Baroness Bottomley (Con) Christine Jardine MP (SNP) Jamie Stone MP (LD) Owen Thompson MP (SNP) Lord Cromwell

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Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Mayhew MP, Acting Chair Marion Fellows MP Baroness Sater Peter Gibson MP Duncan Baker MP Lord Cromwell

Fair Banking APPG
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Media APPG
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Found: Christine Jardine MP (Liberal Democrat) Owen Thompson MP (SNP) Jamie Stone MP (Liberal Democrat) Lord Cromwell

Media APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Alun Cairns MP (Con) Christine Jardine MP (SNP) Jamie Stone MP (LD) Owen Thompson MP (SNP) Lord Cromwell

Media APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Alun Cairns MP, Vice-Chair Owen Thompson MP, Vice-Chair Mark Pritchard MP, Vice-ChairChair Lord Cromwell

Media APPG
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Found: Liberal Democrat) Owen Thompson MP (Scottish National Party) Jamie Stone MP (Liberal Democrat) Lord Cromwell

Media APPG
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Found: Taylor of Holbeach (Con) Christine Jardine MP (SNP) Jamie Stone MP (LD) Owen Thompson MP (SNP) Lord Cromwell