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Written Question

Question Link

Monday 25th November 2024

Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle hare coursing.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England and Wales only.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. That is exactly what we will do, and we will be outlining more detail in due course.

The previous Government made changes to address illegal hare coursing through a package of measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This broadened the circumstances in which police can investigate and bring charges for hare coursing related activity.

We plan to work with the police to ensure they can enforce the laws set out in the legislation.


Written Question
Rivers: Sewage
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)

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 make an assessment of the potential impact of septic tanks on the cleanliness of rivers; and if he will make it his policy to ban septic tanks (a) in the catchment areas of chalk streams and (b) near other watercourses.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Large numbers of properties in rural areas of England rely on on-site water treatment systems as they are not connected to mains sewerage systems. Septic tanks, the most common on-site sewage treatment systems in these areas, are regulated to ensure they are maintained properly and do not cause pollution. Through our long-term Plan for Water, the Government is committed to delivering a clean water environment for people and nature, including the impact of private sewerage systems on chalk streams. This aligns with our broader commitment to review private sewage discharges regulation to manage environmental risk.


Written Question
Environmental Land Management Schemes
Monday 22nd January 2024

Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, further to the Answer of 27 March 2023 to Question 170767, what plans he has to make available financial support for increasing public access to the countryside under Environmental Land Management schemes.

Answered by Mark Spencer

We are making further changes to our Environmental Land Management schemes in 2024 to increase support for farmers and foresters to put new permissive access in place. This gives more choice about how farmers and foresters provide access across their land and will help more people safely access the countryside. The new permissive access actions we are introducing are as follows:

Action:

Duration

Payment Rate

Summary Description

Open Access

5 years

£92 per hectare

Provide and maintain permissive open access to the public on areas of land

Footpath Access

5 years

£77 per 100m

Provide and maintain new permissive footpaths to the public

Bridleways and cycle path access

5 years

£158 per 100m

Provide and maintain new permissive bridleways and cycle paths

Access for people with reduced mobility

5 years

£221 per 100m

Provide and maintain new permissive access for people with reduced mobility

Upgrading Countryside and Rights of Way for cyclists and horse riders

5 years

£158 per 100m

Provide and maintain access alongside existing rights of way for cyclists and horse riders


Written Question
Deposit Return Schemes: Glass
Friday 7th July 2023

Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)

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 27 June 2023 to Question 190527 on Deposit Return Schemes: Glass, how many representations her Department received from businesses against the inclusion of glass in the deposit return scheme for England and Northern Ireland; and from whom.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

Businesses have been clear that adding glass to a deposit return scheme will add fundamental complexity for our pubs and restaurants, increase burdens on small businesses, whilst creating greater inconvenience for consumers.

Among other considerations, the UK Government took into account strong representations made by relevant businesses, including distillers and the hospitality sector.

Concerns raised included:

  • Handling costs and equipment complexity. Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) will need to be emptied more frequently and will carry additional safety risks associated with handling broken glass in retail environments.
  • For retailers offering a manual take-back service, glass bottles will require more space to be stored safely which could disproportionately impact on small retailers.
  • In addition, points were raised regarding, the weight of glass and the potential for breakages also posing increased inconvenience for consumers.

More broadly, the additional cost and complexity imposed on the scheme if glass were to be included.


Written Question
Environmental Land Management Schemes
Monday 27th March 2023

Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to (a) support and (b) require landowners to (i) undertake repairs to (A) footpaths, (B) stiles, (C) gates and (D) other rights of way and (ii) improve public access to the countryside under Environmental Land Management schemes.

Answered by Mark Spencer

The Government supports the health and wellbeing benefits that access to the countryside can bring, including improving physical and mental health and supporting local communities and economies.

Landowners have a statutory duty to keep public rights of way in good working order and therefore this is not covered by Environmental Land Management Schemes, unless they choose to upgrade to provide additional access, e.g. from a stile to a gate via under Countryside Stewardship (option AC1).

Under Countryside Stewardship, we currently pay for the following actions to help improve public access to the countryside:

  • Farmers hosting tours of their farms for school pupils and care farming visitors (ED1)
  • Providing access maps and signage, and preparing sites for access by providing toilet facilities, shelters, new footpaths, bridges and gates, with the objective of greater public accessibility of the countryside (AC1)
  • Accreditation for staff carrying out countryside educational access visits (AC2)
  • A supplement to enable permissive access across woodland, where access is currently limited (WS4)

Public access is also supported by our Landscape Recovery scheme, with projects being assessed for the benefits they will deliver for a wide range of objectives. Under the England Woodland Creation Offer, higher payments are available if woodland is located close to settlements within the 40% most deprived areas in England, or if it will provide new long-term permissive access for recreation.

Additionally, through our Farming in Protected Landscapes programme, we provide funding to support and improve Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Parks. We pay for projects providing opportunities for people to discover, enjoy and understand the landscape and its cultural heritage, including permissive access.

We do want to offer further support for access to our countryside, and so under our Environmental Land Management Schemes we are also now exploring how we can pay for:

  • New permissive access
  • Managing existing access pressures on land and water
  • Expanding educational access beyond groups of school pupils and care farming visitors