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Written Question
Agriculture and horticulture: Subsidies
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the number of full time equivalent personnel employed by DEFRA to administer farming and horticultural grants and subsidies in England on the latest date for which figures are available.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

Defra’s Grants Hub data does not hold a ‘Farming & Horticulture’ flag so it would not be possible to quickly pull together a list of schemes in scope of this question.

Manually reviewing the schemes and deciding if they fit or not, without a standard definition of what counts as ‘Farming & Horticulture’, would require a degree of personal judgement and therefore yield some inaccuracy. It would then be necessary to validate the list with teams to ensure they are ‘Farming & Horticulture’ grants.

From experience of similar requests, this would push the cost to disproportionate (ie greater than the HMT-set limit of £850 for a PQ answer).


Written Question
Agriculture: Employment
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the number of (1) farmers, and (2) their direct employees, for the latest date for which figures are available.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Farmers are defined here as full time and part time principal farmers, business partners, directors and spouses. All other agricultural workers are defined here as regular employees, salaried managers and casual workers who were working on the holding on 1 June 2023.

Agricultural workforce in England in 2023

2023

Farmers

178,696

All other agricultural workers

113,705

Total agricultural workforce

292,401

Notes

(a) Commercial holdings are those registered with the Rural Payments Agency for payments or livestock purposes and with significant levels of farming activity (as recorded in responses to the Defra June Survey of Agriculture or the Cattle Tracing System). Holdings are only included if they have more than five hectares of agricultural land, one hectare of orchards, 0.5 hectares of vegetables or 0.1 hectares of protected crops, or more than 10 cows, 50 pigs, 20 sheep, 20 goats or 1,000 poultry.

Full data series for agricultural workforce are published here for England. A copy is attached to this answer.

Similar figures for the UK are available at gov.uk.


Written Question
Public Footpaths: Rights of Way
Friday 4th February 2022

Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - 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 negative consequences for the existing public rights of way network arising from ending the cross-compliance requirement that recipients of Direct Payments keep paths open and accessible.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Clear arrangements are already in place through the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to allow for the establishment, recording and appeal of rights of way to agreed standards, and local authorities have responsibility for their maintenance. Local authorities will continue to receive funding through the Revenue Support Grant for their various rights of way duties.

We will continue to pay for access and engagement through our existing environmental land management schemes and we will consider how to maintain investment in these areas as part of future schemes. Our ongoing commitment is visible through other funds and activities including through the Nature for Climate Fund, the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, our Farming in Protected Landscapes scheme and through Countryside Stewardship.

Alongside this ongoing support, as we continue to develop our new schemes throughout the transition and into the future, contact is being maintained with a range of stakeholders that represent a variety of interests including access, as well as with end users to determine the specific land management actions that will be paid for under our new schemes.


Written Question
Rights of Way
Thursday 3rd February 2022

Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will set a date for the commencement of the provisions of the Deregulation Act 2015 which relate to public rights of way.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As set out in my answer of 27 July 2021 the Government intends to lay legislation as soon as reasonably practicable including the relevant provisions in the Deregulation Act 2015. Deferring the 2026 cut-off date for registration of historic rights of way is still under consideration.


Written Question
Public Footpaths: Rights of Way
Thursday 3rd February 2022

Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 27 July 2021 (HL1956), what progress has been made by officials in reviewing the deferral of the cut-off date for the registration of historic rights of way.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As set out in my answer of 27 July 2021 the Government intends to lay legislation as soon as reasonably practicable including the relevant provisions in the Deregulation Act 2015. Deferring the 2026 cut-off date for registration of historic rights of way is still under consideration.


Written Question
Lighting: Pollution Control
Wednesday 20th January 2021

Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of excess CO2 created as a result of light pollution.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The Government has not made an assessment specifically of the amount of excess CO2 created as a result of light pollution. Artificial light is a complex issue that falls across a number of central Government departments, the devolved administrations and, on a local level, local authorities and highways authorities. However, the Government is committed to cutting the UK's emissions to net zero by 2050 and has put a wide range of policies in place to achieve this.


Written Question
Lighting: Pollution Control
Wednesday 20th January 2021

Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - 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 impact of light pollution on wildlife and the environment.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

Defra has published or contributed to a range of assessments of the impact of artificial light on insects and wider biodiversity, as well as global and national assessments of the drivers of biodiversity loss more generally.

Following publication of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution’s report, ‘Artificial light in the environment’ in 2009, Defra has supported assessments of impacts of artificial light on insects and on other organisms such as bats. These are published on our science website. Defra has also funded or co-funded national and international assessments of drivers of change on insects and wider biodiversity such as the global IPBES Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production, which notes effects of light on nocturnal insects may be growing and identifies the need for further study.

There have been a number of externally funded studies which have highlighted potential impacts of artificial light pollution on insects, but based on the current available evidence, artificial light is not considered one of the main drivers of species decline. We are confident that we are focusing and taking action on the issues that will make a real difference to insect pollinators.

We recognise that there is ongoing research into the topic and together with our academic partners, we will keep this under review.


Written Question
Lighting: Pollution Control
Wednesday 20th January 2021

Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what policies exist to encourage local authorities and other public bodies to reduce light pollution levels.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

As the department responsible for protecting and enhancing our urban and natural environment, Defra plays a co-ordinating role across Government to ensure coherence in this area.

Other departments are responsible for specific policy areas including the Department for Transport for street lighting and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for lighting policy in the planning regime. This includes the National Planning Policy Framework which sets out that local planning policies and their decisions should limit the impact of light pollution from artificial light.

This Framework is supported by MHCLG planning guidance, which was revised in November 2019 and sets out how environmental and other impacts of light pollution should be considered in the planning system. Local planning authorities must take the Framework into account when preparing their plans and its policies, including those on light pollution.

Additionally, a local planning authority can attach conditions to the grant of planning permission, in order to enhance the quality and mitigate the adverse effects of a development, including, for example, noise, air, light and other forms of pollution. It is important to ensure that conditions are tailored to tackle specific problems, rather than standardised or used to impose broad unnecessary controls.

Local highway authorities have a duty under the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the public highways in their charge, and it is for them to decide what type of lighting they use to meet local needs.

Highways England, which manages our motorways and major roads, is also working actively to minimise light pollution.


Written Question
Lighting: Pollution Control
Wednesday 20th January 2021

Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to reduce levels of light pollution; and if so, how they intend to do so.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The Government recognises the problem of light pollution. The Government's 25-Year Environment Plan includes a commitment to cut all forms of pollution and ease the pressure on the environment, including ensuring that light pollution is managed effectively.

Current measures include Defra working with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government in the development of their Planning Policy Guidance on Light Pollution, which outlines factors which may be relevant when considering where, when and how much lights emanates from new developments together with possible human and ecological impacts.

The Department for Transport encourages all local authorities to replace their street lighting with low-impact LED lighting wherever economically feasible.

Additionally, Highways England is responsible for the strategic road network in England and is obliged to minimise the environmental impacts (including of road lighting) across the network. A full appraisal is carried out before any lighting project is commissioned, including in-depth analysis of the environmental impact and economic benefits of the scheme. All lighting on the network is designed according to current British standards which emphasise the importance of limiting light pollution, and older forms of lantern are in the process of being replaced with environmentally sensitive lighting when they become due for renewal.


Written Question
Forestry Commission
Tuesday 3rd July 2018

Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to arrange for the publication of copies of the 2006 Framework Agreements between the Forestry Commission and (1) Forest Holidays, and (2) the Camping and Caravanning Club; and whether they will place copies of such minutes in the library of the House.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

A copy of the 2006 Framework Agreement between the Forestry Commission and Forest Holidays has been placed in the library.