Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the role of (a) UK agriculture and (b) farmers in (i) preventing and (ii) fighting wild fires.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In April 2021 Defra supported the development of a new training program, designed to consolidate knowledge, skills and understanding of vegetation fires including wildfire incidents.
To date, 794 Lantra Accredited prevention and response modules have been completed by public and private land managers. Between April 2021 and March 2025, Defra will have contributed a total of £105,000 towards the development and delivery of this training. We continue to work closely with a range of stakeholders including land managers, the Forestry Commission, NFU, environmental NGOs and the National Fire Chiefs Council to embed this training across England, and to identify and respond to further training requirements.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of wilding on (a) reducing the carbon footprint, (b) the area of productive land and (c) levels of (i) badger population and (ii) TB.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Wilding or rewilding is the restoration of ecosystems to the point where they are more regulated by natural processes.
The government is supporting a number of initiatives to create wilder landscapes across England, as part of a broader approach to nature recovery. However, rewilding is not appropriate in all situations, and we must balance priorities including food production.
We continue to assess how land use change, including the restoration of natural processes, can contribute to net-zero, food security and supporting the farming sector.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will provide additional funding to help tackle flooding in Shrewsbury.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Significant investment in flood risk mitigation is taking place in Shrewsbury and the wider Severn Valley. Flood defence schemes in the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency and wider surrounding areas are already benefitting from around £20 million of funding for several schemes, including the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme upstream of Shrewsbury. Across the English Severn and Wye region, around £170 million will be invested in flood and coastal erosion risk management from 2021 to 2027.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to reform the Badger Protection Act 1992 so that sets are tested for the presence of bovine tuberculosis to confirm the absence of infection.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are no current plans to amend the Protection of Badgers Act, or to test badger setts for bovine TB.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help the beef and dairy industry with the long-term costs of farms shut down due to bovine tuberculosis.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is acutely aware of the devastating personal impact of bTB on livestock owners and their families. Defra is working hard to support farmers whose herds experience a bTB breakdown and ensure that information and support is accessible.
Government funded statutory bTB testing is available to restore the bTB free status of affected herds, including supplementary TB blood testing that may be deployed to help speed up the resolution of persistent, recurrent, and other bTB breakdowns and reduce the risk of further breakdowns in such herds. Additionally, compensation payments are available to cattle farmers for all animals that need to be removed from their herds for bTB control purposes. Further details on funded TB testing and compensation can be found online at: TBhub.
Defra is committed to helping farmers and their families tackle the mental health and livelihood impacts of bTB and has provided grant funding to the Farming Community Network since 2010.
Defra are also working in partnership with the livestock sector and a wide range of academics, charities, and other experts to deliver the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, supporting continual improvement in farm animal health and welfare. That includes a programme of financial support for farmers in the pig, cattle, sheep, and poultry sectors, to help them continually improve animal health and welfare.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cows were slaughtered because of Bovine TB in Shropshire in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Shropshire | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Total number of cattle slaughtered | 2047 | 2099 | 1981 |
The total number of cattle slaughtered include:
- TB test positive animals: animals compulsorily slaughtered because they responded to the tuberculin skin test, interferon-gamma test, or antibody test in a way that was consistent with Mycobacterium bovis infection
- inconclusive reactor animals: compulsory slaughtered animals that showed positive reactions to bovine tuberculin that were not strong enough for the animals to be deemed reactors
- direct contacts of positive animals: animals that, although not test reactors, were considered to have been exposed to Mycobacterium bovis and compulsorily slaughtered
The information required is currently published at GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/tuberculosis-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain
Additional information is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/incidence-of-tuberculosis-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain/quarterly-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain-statistics-notice-december-2022: ‘total cattle slaughtered’ tab.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will delay the opening of the woodcock shooting season to 1 December.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Defra is committed to reviewing the protection we afford to wild birds listed on Schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which permits the hunting of a species listed on Part 1 outside of its close season.
This review will seek to establish the evidence underpinning the listing of species such as the woodcock, so we can ensure that recreational shooting is sustainable and does not undermine species recovery. This might include amending the close season for native species such as the woodcock.
Engagement with Natural England and the Devolved Administrations is already underway, and we anticipate meeting further with them and other key stakeholders to hear their views in the coming weeks. Once Natural England has completed its analysis, we will be considering if any changes ought to be made to Schedule 2.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2023 to Question 127717 on Flood Control: Shrewsbury, how much of the Government's £5.2 billion investment has been received by Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency’s 2021-27 Flood and Coastal Risk Management Programme is investing in the region of £43 million in the county of Shropshire. Of that figure, £20 million is being directly invested in both the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency and the wider surrounding areas, which will provide not only flood risk benefits for those communities, but also other environmental benefits such as carbon capturing and biodiversity net gain.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans her Department will complete the review of funding to prevent flooding by the River Severn.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the previous 6 year programme (2015 – 2021) the River Severn Catchment had over £50 million invested, reducing flood risk and improving community resilience to more than 3,000 homes. The estimate for the current 6 year programme (2021 – 2027) is that over £150 million will be invested, reducing flood risk and better protecting a further 3,000 homes and businesses across the River Severn Catchment.
In October 2022 Defra, the Environment Agency and partners from the River Severn Partnership (RSP) met with the Treasury to discuss the RSP’s holistic approach to mitigating flood risk across the Severn catchment. The investment Defra has made, and continues to make, is having positive, long-term benefits for many communities through reducing flood risk and improving community resilience.
Through the work of the English Severn & Wye Regional Flood & Coastal Committee (RFCC) and strategic partnerships, such as the RSP, a long-term holistic approach to deliver sustainable water management solutions is being progressed. These will bring flood risk management protection benefits while at the same time looking to provide sustainable growth and support environmental improvements.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect Castlefields in Shrewsbury constituency from flooding.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency is working with key partners, including Shropshire Council, to address flooding in areas of Shrewsbury. The River Severn Partnership, jointly chaired by the Environment Agency and Shropshire Council, is taking a holistic approach to the management of water across the Severn catchment. This work includes looking at areas upstream of Shrewsbury, through the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme, where changes to land use practices may provide benefit to areas downstream, such as Castlefields.
Several pilot projects are already well underway. The Environment Agency takes an agile approach, considering the potential for projects to reduce flood risk to people and property locally within its capital programme. Such projects will always follow partnership funding rules to ensure the benefits outweigh the costs. In 2021 Government committed to invest £5.2billion across the country to address flood and coastal erosion risk.