Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether Natural England plans to reintroduce beavers into the wild in 2025.
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 only.
Defra are continuing to work with Natural England to develop our approach to beaver reintroductions and management in England. Further information on this will be published in due course.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 to ensure the financial viability of National Landscapes.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to empowering Protected Landscapes to become greener, wilder, and more accessible to all. We understand the uncertainty around resourcing remains a challenge for Protected Landscapes bodies like National Landscapes. Defra business planning is ongoing and we will communicate the outcomes of this as soon as possible.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his timetable is for proposed reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra and the Welsh Government have concluded a six-week consultation on proposed reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013, which closed on 23 December. In this consultation, we asked for responses to three core reforms and nine technical amendments and called for evidence on two wider reforms for potential future development. We encouraged all parties to respond to the consultation to ensure a balanced and representative response. A Government response, outlining next steps, will be issued in due course following the analysis of responses.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 review the use of exemptions within the Hunting Act 2004 for stag hunting.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans in a generation to improve animal welfare and that is exactly what we will do. The Government has already committed to a ban on trail hunting which will provide significant protections to wild animals including foxes and hares. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and further announcements will be made in due course.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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) bring forward legislative proposals to (i) formally recognise, (ii) protect and (iii) otherwise support the management of Cornish hedges and (b) provide funding for such hedges in the form of (A)Sustainable Farming Incentives and (B) capital grants.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Certain hedgerows are protected from removal under the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 if they meet specific criteria. The Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024 introduced management rules into domestic legislation to protect hedgerows on land used for agriculture in England.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive was developed to recognise the large variety of locally and nationally important hedges and hedgerows we see across England. In 2023, the hedgerow offer was launched and expanded in 2024. This includes an offer to maintain earth banks or stone-faced hedge banks (BND2). Those with Cornish hedges will be eligible to apply for both offers to ensure their hedgerow is maintained. We will continue to review what additional policies may be required to protect and enhance the ecological and cultural value of hedges and hedgerows in England.
Grants have been made available to support Cornish hedges under the Capital Grants offer. In 2024 the scheme supported agreements to plant over 4,000 miles of new hedgerows across England, creating essential habitats for at-risk species of birds and mammals. In November, the Capital Grants scheme was closed to new agreements following unprecedented demand this Autumn. We are forecast to spend more on capital grants this year than ever before. We currently are reviewing the Capital Grants offer to ensure funding goes further to improve outcomes for food security and nature conservation and will provide an update in early 2025. We have allocated the largest ever budget for sustainable food production through the farming budget.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) hunting with hounds and (b) trail hunting on rural communities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter with regard to Scotland and Northern Ireland; hunting with dogs is a reserved matter with respect to Wales and therefore, the information provided relates to England and Wales only.
The Government is committed to banning trail hunting as part of a wider drive to introduce ambitious plans to improve animal welfare. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and, to date, no assessment has been made on either the impact of hunting with hounds or trail hunting on rural communities.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the Farming Resilience Fund beyond March 2025, in the context of phasing out the Basic Payment Scheme.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Farming Resilience Fund (FRF) was developed to help farmers through the early years of the Agricultural Transition, specifically to assist farm businesses to adapt to the initial reductions in the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) by providing specialist business advice. BPS was replaced in England with delinked payments in 2024. We plan to pay delinked payments each year from 2024 to 2027, and the amount received will decrease each year as we apply progressive reductions.
To date, over 25,000 farmers have received 1-2-1 support. The FRF will conclude March 2025. Farmers yet to receive any support are therefore encouraged to contact the organisations listed on gov.uk before the end of December 2024.
Defra has received feedback suggesting many participants have recognised the value of the advice provided and it is our hope that many of the relationships and connections built through the FRF will continue beyond the scheme's official end date.
In the Budget announced in October, the Government announced £5 billion for the farming budget over two years - the largest ever directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history. As we continue to optimise our schemes, Defra will carefully consider the findings from the FRF, alongside other advisory programs, to shape what any future support offer might look like.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to (a) reopen and (b) create new (i) Sustainable Farming Incentives and (ii) capital grants to replace previous ones for (A) herbal lays, (B) fencing and (C) hedgerows.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have not closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes, in fact there are over 60,000 live applications currently open. Due to an overwhelming demand for some capital items, applications for standalone capital grants were temporarily closed to new applications on 27 November. An update will be provided in early 2025.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding schemes to reintroduce beavers into the wild.
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 only.
Yes, assessments of the potential merits of beaver reintroductions in England have been made.
Most notably, beginning in 2015, a 5-year trial for beaver wild release took place on the River Otter in Devon. In 2020, Natural England published assessment results for the trial. The trial was found to be successful, having brought many benefits to local ecology and communities, including creating wetland habitat and reducing downstream flood risk for housing.
Following successful completion of the trial, the Government conducted a public consultation on the approach to beaver reintroduction and management in England. In 2022, the Government published its response to this consultation. Work with Natural England to develop our approach to beaver reintroductions in England is continuing, including on wild release.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 10 October 2024 to Question 7677 on Shellfish, what his planned timeline is for making this decision.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is currently reviewing Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA’s) proposal to increase the minimum landing size of native oysters under the Fal Fishery Order 2016. A decision will be made once the review is complete.