Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department has allocated directly to (a) Keep Britain Tidy and (b) other anti-litter initiatives in each year since 2010.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The following table sets out the grant funding allocated to Keep Britain Tidy from 2010 to 2015:
Year | Grant |
2010-11 | £4.75 million |
2011-12 | £4 million |
2012-13 | £3.5 million |
2013-14 | £2.25 million |
2014-15 | £0.5 million |
After 2015, no funding was specifically allocated to Keep Britain Tidy, but it has successfully bid for a number of litter-related contracts:
Year | Project | Contract value |
2015-16 | Analysis of Local Environment Quality Survey for England data 2014-15 | £29,986 |
2017-18 | Survey of roadside litter on trunk roads other than motorways | £79,000 |
2018-19 | Economic valuation of the non-market benefits of dealing with specific types of litter that a Deposit Return Scheme in England would help to overcome | £41,525 |
Keep Britain Tidy was also awarded the following grant funding towards the delivery of national clear-up days in 2015-18:
Year | Grant |
2015 (Community Clear-Up Day) | £9,500 |
2016 (Clean for the Queen) | £9,500 |
2017 (Great British Spring Clean) | £10,000 |
In 2017, we also launched the £450,000 Litter Innovation Fund (jointly funded by Defra and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government), to pilot, implement and evaluate small scale local research projects that could be replicated more widely. The Fund was open to applications from councils, community groups, campaign groups and small/medium-sized enterprises. A total of £122,449 was awarded to 13 projects in the first round, including 4 awards to Keep Britain Tidy, totaling £39,717. Full details of all the first-round awards are available online at:
http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/litter-innovation-fund
Defra has spent the following amounts on the development of the national anti-littering campaign (none of this funding was paid to Keep Britain Tidy).
Year | Purpose | Amount |
2016-2017 | Initial scoping and research | £15,868 |
2017-2018 | Development of campaign and partnership strategy and stakeholder research, as well as testing and development of a campaign identify | £124,412 |
2018-2019 | Campaign branding, creative assets and launch. | £50,000 |
Since 2015, Defra has also provided £5,000 per year to the Marine Conservation Society to carry out beach cleaning at priority beaches.
No funding has been allocated to other anti-litter initiatives.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
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 grant farmers flexibility in allowing livestock to graze land which is not normally permitted for grazing because of the short supply of bedding and grazing.
Answered by George Eustice
Three variations or derogations from EU law have been granted or are under active discussion in Brussels in relation to grazing. First, some member states have secured permission to allow the grazing of Ecological Focus Area (EFA) Fallow Land. This derogation is not relevant in England as we already allow the grazing of such land after 1 July each year.
The UK was the first Member State to raise a concern with the European Commission over the difficulties farmers faced in establishing EFA catch crops by the required date of 20 August. Other Member States agreed with us and the Commission agreed that “force majeure” should apply in these circumstances, so we could waive any penalties for farmers for non-compliance with EU law.
The third possibility relates to the small areas of land that have been declared as EFA Winter Cover Crops for the purposes of the EU Greening requirements. This green cover must be present from 1 October to at least 15 January and ordinarily must not be grazed. Because of the extreme weather conditions, the EU is considering waiving that rule for 2018 in suitably justified areas, and we have asked that England be listed amongst those countries eligible for this derogation. The change that we expect to secure this week will allow for grass and other herbaceous forage to be grown in those areas, rather than the usual restrictive list of plant species, and for those areas to be grazed.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Irish Government on its plans to reintroduce a subsidy on the import of forage and bedding; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such a subsidy on the supply of forage and bedding within the UK.
Answered by George Eustice
Farmers in the UK, Ireland and across northern Europe have experienced a difficult time this year with the hot, dry weather. The impacts are likely to be most severely felt by the grazing livestock due to the shortage of grass.
It is clear that the main impact of the recent drought conditions is likely to be felt by livestock farmers facing a shortage of fodder and that the full extent of the impacts may not be realised until later in the year. We have prioritised practical solutions to help farmers increase access to fodder and bedding both now and in the coming months. These actions will help farmers to limit the impact of extra feed costs by allocating land to forage growth and grazing, but we will keep the situation under review.
Particular measures the Government has taken to help farmers are:
We have clarified that English farmers, unlike farmers in other EU countries where derogations have been sought, have been able to use fallow land for grazing since 1 July. That is because our legislation reflects what we consider to be the minimum EU requirement.
We were the first Member State to raise a concern with the Commission to establish Ecological Focus Area (EFA) catch crops by 20 August: Other Member States agreed with us and the Commission agreed that “force majeure” would apply in these circumstances, so we could waive penalties for farmers in this situation.
We are seeking a derogation from the requirement to sow only certain seed types which are unpalatable to livestock in EFA areas as catch crop. The derogation we expect to secure this week will allow for grass and herbaceous forage to be grown in those areas, and those areas to be grazed.
On Countryside Stewardship, Environmental Stewardship and forestry legacy agreements farmers are able to ask Natural England to agree a temporary variation to the agreement conditions, either as an Environmental Stewardship Derogation (to date, over 100 have been granted) or a Countryside Stewardship Minor and Temporary Adjustment (over 30 have so far been granted).
I will monitor whether the fodder import scheme that has been introduced in Ireland has an appreciable effect on supplies of fodder and bedding within the UK. We have also made the point to the European Commission that whilst the UK is committed to working to identify appropriate responses to this year’s weather impacts, these should not interfere with the normal functioning of the market or obscure the focus of farmers in mitigating weather impacts.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
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 plans as a result of extreme weather conditions to instruct the Rural Payments Agency to make advance payments or bridging loans to farmers who will not have received their 2018 BPS by 31 December 2018.
Answered by George Eustice
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is fully focussed on getting Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) 2018 payments issued promptly. Given the prescriptive EU requirements in making advance payments, RPA will concentrate on making payments from the opening of the payment window in December. In addition we are reviewing options, such as bringing forward bridging payments, for those BPS claimants who will not have received their BPS 2018 payments in December.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to contribute to the UK's Voluntary National Review of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals to be presented in 2019 at the High Level Political Forum of the United Nations.
Answered by George Eustice
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Secretary of State for International Development PQ 146233.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the UK food self-sufficiency was in (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013, (d) 2014, (e) 2015 and (f) 2016.
Answered by George Eustice
In the most recently published figures from Agriculture in the UK, production to supply ratio for all food is 61 per cent, and for indigenous food 76 per cent. These figures have been relatively constant over the previous 10 years.
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The next publication of Agriculture in the UK will be on 25 May 2017 and this will include the 2016 production to supply figures. |
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Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many payments under the Basic Payments Scheme 2015 had not been made to farmers in Stafford constituency by the Rural Payments Agency by 31 March 2016.
Answered by George Eustice
As of 31 March 2016, the Rural Payments Agency had paid 168 (80%) of the 211 eligible Basic Payment Scheme 2015 claims received in Stafford constituency. To date 191 had been paid and the agency has announced that those customers who do not receive a claim payment in April will be provided a bridging payment. Bridging payments will be around half of their claim value.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers in Stafford constituency who are eligible for payments under the Basic Payments Scheme 2015 had not been paid by 31 March 2016.
Answered by George Eustice
As of 31 March 2016, the Rural Payments Agency had paid 168 (80%) of the 211 eligible Basic Payment Scheme 2015 claims received in Stafford constituency. To date 191 had been paid and the agency has announced that those customers who do not receive a claim payment in April will be provided a bridging payment. Bridging payments will be around half of their claim value.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
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 to commence Section 154 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, on fixed penalty notices for leaving litter.
Answered by Rory Stewart
No timetable has been set for when Section 154 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 will be commenced.
Defra has announced plans for a new litter strategy and we are working with industry, experts and councils across England to improve the way we all tackle the scourge of litter. The litter strategy will promote affordable and replicable ways to influence littering behaviour and reduce littering. This will include work on ways to deal with littering from vehicles.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent changes the Government has made to the Basic Payment Scheme claims process; and what assessment the Government has made of the effect of those changes on the performance of that scheme.
Answered by George Eustice
The new Common Agricultural Policy has widely been acknowledged as being more complex and the Rural Payments Agency has had to implement new systems and processes. In the first year of the Basic Payment Scheme, as of 23 February, 70,880 farmers, just over 81% of all eligible claims, have received their 2015 payments, bringing the total paid out for the scheme to £1.11 billion.
The Rural Payments Agency has already indicated that for 2016 there will be an online Basic Payment Scheme application process supported by online land and entitlement transfers. There will also be a paper application form for those that need it. The agency will work with farmers and agents to support them to submit their applications by the deadline of midnight on Monday 16 May.