Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to replace the higher level stewardship provision to commoners in the New Forest.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We want to provide these Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement holders with some certainty and continuity until they can move into the new ELM offer and to provide support so they can continue delivering environmental outcomes on their land. We will provide more information on timelines for rolling out the new CSHT and the reformed SFI offer in due course.
Farmers with an HLS agreement that expired in 2024 were offered a two-year extension to their agreement. This will allow farmers to continue delivering land management practices in HLS agreements without interruption to the funding they receive.
Defra also announced that on the 24 February 2025, that agreement holders under the Environmental Stewardship Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) will see an increase to their payment rates in the near future.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information the Environment Agency has received from the Oceanographic School at Southampton University on hightide levels at Lymington harbour.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has used a range of information from the Channel Coastal Observatory (CCO) based at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, the majority of this information is freely available from the CCO website (https://coastalmonitoring.org/southeast/).
The information received includes water levels, tide gauge, wind and wave data, as well as land and sea-bed profiles and aerial photography.
The information from two historic storm events has also been received which provides details about the most powerful waves experienced in the area. Past events do not necessarily represent the upper limits of what may occur in the future. Therefore, the EA has also received further analysis from the CCO that adjusts historic events to show what storms of greater severity may be like in the future.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
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 (a) review and (b) update the Ministers mandate for the New Forest.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Minister’s Mandate, first introduced in 1971, is mainly concerned with the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the Crown lands of the New Forest. The Protected Landscapes Duty requires relevant authorities such as Forestry England to seek to further the statutory purposes of Protected Landscapes including the New Forest. Forestry England is also subject to a range of regulations, assurance schemes, procedures and other guidance to steer its activity in the New Forest, including the New Forest Acts 1877, 1949, 1964, and 1970, Ancient Monuments & Archaeological Areas Act 1979, Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, Environment Act 1995, and Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Forestry England continues to manage the Crown lands of the New Forest to achieve a proper balance between people, nature and a working commercial forest. For this reason, there is no plan to review the Minister’s Mandate at this time.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
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 support the development of new agricultural technologies.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of innovation and technologies in supporting farmers to drive productivity and profitability, boosting Britain’s food security and improving nature’s recovery.
The Government is supporting the development of agricultural technologies through a range of policies.
Defra has announced the Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) Fund which will launch in Spring 2025, enabling farmer-led trials to bridge the gap between new technologies and their real-world application.
Legislation to implement the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 will be introduced in Parliament before the end of March. When in force, this will enable farmers to grow crops with higher yields and that are more resistant to drought, pests and diseases.
Defra will collaborate closely with industry partners, such as The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture, a professional body established in 2021 that aims to drive greater uptake of professional skills, including in relation to new technologies, among farmers and growers for a more prosperous Sector.
Defra will continue to look carefully at how to position future investment and support to enable the benefits of new technologies to be fully realised and integrated into farming practices.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of temporarily closing the capital grants scheme for new applications on farmers.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have allocated the largest ever budget for sustainable food production through the farming budget. In the first week of December, we paid £343 million into the rural economy, benefiting more than 31,000 farmers. After unprecedented demand, parts of the Capital Grant have been temporarily closed. We are reviewing the offer and will provide a further update in early 2025.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
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 take steps to ensure that the pesticide Cruiser SB is properly assessed before being authorised for use.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Pesticides are strictly regulated based on the risks and benefits of use. The Government will always take decisions according to these legal requirements and with full consideration of the evidence.
This government recognises that nature is at a crisis point across Britain. We will therefore change existing policies to prevent the use of those neonicotinoid pesticides that threaten our vital pollinators.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
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 publish the deer management strategy.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Native wild deer are an important component of our landscape but if left unchecked, they can cause serious problems to agricultural crops, tree planting schemes, conservation and biodiversity.
In the England Trees Action Plan and Environmental Improvement Plan, we committed to addressing these pressures through developing a National Deer Management Strategy. This strategy will be published in due course.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the provisions in her Department's guidance for the appointment of Parish Councillors to National Park Authorities which exclude co-opted councillors are mandatory and enforceable by the National Park Authority.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
National Park Authorities do not appoint members to their boards. Parish members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs following an election among the eligible parishes. It is our policy that only democratically elected Parish Councillors are eligible. This is to ensure that those seats on the board provide the vital democratic legitimacy and accountability that Parish and Local Authority members bring to National Park Authority boards.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
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 take steps to prevent the export of seed potatoes to Russia.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The UK Government is delivering the largest package of sanctions in our history, cutting off funding to Putin's war machine.
I welcome commitments already made by several seed potato exporters to divest from Russian exports. I am urging firms to think very carefully about further investments in Russia; I am clear that there is no case for new investment in Russia.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help raise public awareness of the consequences for cattle of Neospora and its connection dog faeces.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Neospora is a parasite. Neospora caninum may cause abortions in cattle and paralysis in dogs. It is not considered to be infectious to humans. Clinical disease in dogs is rare and owners may not be aware of infection in their pet.
The Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs was presented to Parliament in December 2017. It makes clear that a dog’s handler has a legal obligation to clean up after it (Welfare of Dogs). Similarly, the statutory guidance within the Countryside Code: Advice for Countryside Visitors, updated 01 April 2021, (Countryside Code) highlights the risk of illness to people and livestock, and sets out that dog handlers must clean up after the dog.
Guidance and advice for cattle owners on preventative measures has been provided by the National Animal Disease Information Service NADIS - National Animal Disease Information Service.