Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021

Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville Excerpts

Thursday 18th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (LD)]

My Lords, this is a very emotive subject and one that often generates contradictions. The subject of the SI is the licensing of heather burning on moors which are within an SSSI, an SAC or an SPA area.

Arguments have suggested that allowing heather and grass burning on a rotational basis leads to increased flooding and wildfires. I am not convinced by these arguments. I live close to the Somerset Levels, where the peat does not catch fire but does flood on a regular basis. Those of us living in the south-west saw extensive television coverage in February of an intense wildfire on Dartmoor which burned out of control overnight. Fire crews attended from a large area over the south-west. At the same time, there was a fire on Bodmin Moor. I cannot speak for the wildfire on Bodmin, but the fire on Dartmoor was started deliberately. Dartmoor is a site of a blanket peat bog.

Many noble Lords, including the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, have referred to the effect of wildfires. Of the wildfires in the Devon and Somerset fire authority region since 2016, 36 have been accidental, started by sparks from bonfires, chimneys, discarded cigarette ends, barbecues et cetera—the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, referred to this. Some 32 fires were started deliberately on others’ property, four were started deliberately on the owner’s property and 19 were started deliberately where the owner was unknown. This is a total of 91, or an average of 15 per year. However, there was only one wildfire in 2016 but a peak of 30 in 2019. There have been three so far this year; only one was accidental.

The fire that raged on Saddleworth Moor in 2018 burnt for 10 days. It was started deliberately, involved fire crews from seven counties and destroyed four square miles of moorland in an area covered by a no-burn policy. Management of the moorland is a very delicate balance between protecting the wildlife, regrowth of the heather and sphagnum moss and protection of the peat bog. It would seem to me that having well-organised and regulated cool burning is far better than leaving the heather to become old and dry and suspectable to largescale wildfires which could ignite the underlying peat, causing far more damage.

In 2019, 153 fires took place in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service area, only four were in areas of moorland managed for grouse and none happened during the burning season. All were due to accident or arson. The issue of licencing for burning is obviously not likely to reduce the risk of wildfires.

I sit on the Secondary Legislation and Scrutiny Committee and have been involved in discussions there. The Explanatory Memorandum accompanying the SI is confusing, with inconsistencies in figures for just how much of the moorland is affected by the instrument and how much of the peatbog is covered.

However confusing the SI is, one thing is clear: blanket bog is a valuable resource for carbon storage and sequestration. As referred to by the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, the UK’s blanket bog represents 13% of the world’s resource and therefore needs protecting. There are currently consents to burn over 142,000 hectares, which is 90% of the SSSI designated deep peat and 40% of upland deep peat. Licences to burn cover peat only to a depth of 40 centimetres. This is not deep peat. This is a cool burn. Since 2017, 47% of consents have been removed. Of those that remain, 50% are in perpetuity. Can the Minister tell the House, in numbers not percentages, just how many consents to burn have been granted in perpetuity and how the Government plan to deal with these licences?

Defra has not helped itself with its answers to the Secondary Legislation and Scrutiny Committee questions. There was an element of arrogance that has not moved the arguments forward, in particular in relation to the blurring between what constitutes guidance and what is legislation. Today the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments published its report; it also had difficulty in getting elucidation from Defra on access to the map referred to in the instrument. I regret that I found the comments by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, unnecessarily offensive.

I am concerned that the peat strategy, first trailed in the 25-year environment plan, has yet to be published, and we are dealing with these important environmental issues on an ad hoc basis. It was expected that the peat strategy would be published in early 2021. We are a quarter of the way through the year—I would describe that as early, but there is no sign of this document. Will the Government continue to deal with peat on a piecemeal basis? A proper overarching strategy is needed —and it is needed now.

My noble friend Lord Bradshaw referred to peat for horticultural use. Given the debate, the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie of Downpatrick, and the concerns of the Secondary Legislation and Scrutiny Committee and the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, I strongly suggest to the Minister that he withdraw this SI, publish the peat strategy without delay, and encourage Defra to rewrite this SI to reflect that strategy.