Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 establish a Tenant Farming Commissioner for England.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government will introduce a new deal for farmers, including tenant farmers, to boost rural economic growth and strengthen Britain's food security. Defra recognises the importance of agricultural tenancies as a key route into farming for new entrants bringing new skills to the sector. Farm tenancies also provide a flexible way for progressive farmers to expand and adapt their businesses. The Government is carefully considering the role of a Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector and will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 help support farmers with reduced subsidy income to transition into diversification schemes.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For this Government, food security is national security, requiring a resilient and healthy food system that works with nature and supports British Farmers. The Government is supporting farmers in this through a range of measures. This includes capital grants, designed to help farmers and land managers cover the cost of items that deliver specific environmental benefits.
The Government is also supporting farmers through Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELM) schemes, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). As part of the rollout of the SFI offer in 2024, we have been accepting expressions of interest and the first SFI agreements for 2024 are now live.
The Government will not be redesigning ELM schemes from scratch. Record numbers of farmers are now in an ELM scheme, and the Government wants to maintain the momentum that built over recent months. Therefore, the Government will optimise them in an orderly way, over time. The Government will work with the sector to make sure schemes produce the right outcomes for all farmers, including small, grassland, upland and tenanted farms, supporting food security and nature’s recovery in a just and equitable way.
More broadly, the Government will support farmers with a new deal to boost rural economic growth and strengthen Britain's food security. This new deal will include the Government’s plans to tackle rising energy costs, the biggest challenge to food production, cutting farmers’ bills by introducing a public sector sustainable energy company - GB Energy. The Government will also use its own purchasing power to back British produce. The Government has an ambition to be able to supply half of all food into the public sector from local British producers or certified to higher environmental standards, whilst being in line with WTO and domestic procurement obligations. This Government will also protect farmers from being undercut in trade deals. It will cut red tape to get farm exports moving more effectively, and reduce the UK’s reliance on foreign imports, ensuring that seasonal, sustainable, healthy British food is on tables across the country.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how (a) much funding was provided to and (b) many people were employed at the National Bee Unit of the Animal and Plant Health Agency between 2019 and 2024.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The total funding provided to the National Bee Unit between 2019 and 2024 was £10,508,452 (this includes funding received from Devolved Administrations). The headcount has remained static over this period at between 54 and 64 per annum depending on vacant positions at any given time.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 22 June 2023 to Question 188226 on Water Companies, how many (a) cautions, (b) prosecutions and (c) legal instruments the Drinking Water Inspectorate brought against water companies in each year since 2021 by water company.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 2021, the Drinking Water Inspectorate brought against water companies in each year since 2021,
(a) two cautions, one against Thames (2023) and one against Southern Water (2023),
(b) three prosecutions, against Southern Water (2022) and one against South West and Bournemouth Water (2022) and one against Wessex Water in 2023, and
(c) 362 legal instruments.
These are shown by water company below and comprise drinking water quality Legal Instruments (Notices), Final Enforcement Orders, Regulation 15 Notices for new sources, Radioactivity notices (waivers), Network and Information Systems (NIS) notices, Security and Emergency Direction (SEMD) notices, and notices for Price Review 2024 for water quality, NIS and SEMD. (They include the PR24 schemes that have been served to date which are most of the lead reduction schemes but no PFAS as yet, as the process is ongoing).
Legal instruments | ||||
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 (inc PR24) | |
Affinity Water Ltd | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
Albion Water Ltd | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Albion Water Eco | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Anglian Water Services Ltd | 6 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
Bristol Water Plc | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water | 1 | 4 | 6 | 11 |
ESP Water | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Hafren Dyfrdwy | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
Icosa Water | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Independent Water Networks Ltd | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Leep Networks (Water) Ltd | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Northumbrian, Essex and Suffolk Water Ltd | 9 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
Portsmouth Water Ltd | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
SES Water | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
South East Water Ltd | 6 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
Southern Water Services Ltd | 3 | 4 | 11 | 12 |
South Staffordshire Water and Cambridge Water PLC | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
Severn Trent Water Ltd | 7 | 4 | 3 | 16 |
South West and Bournemouth Water Ltd (incl Isles of Scilly) | 15 | 10 | 5 | 13 |
Thames Water Utilities Ltd | 6 | 9 | 8 | 5 |
United Utilities Water PLC | 5 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
Veolia Water Projects Ltd | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Wessex Water Services Ltd | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Yorkshire Water Services Ltd | 1 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
362 | ||||
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 17 May 2024 to Question 25464, whether her Department has plans in place to move from a rapid response to a management phase for the Asian hornet, in the context of their growing presence in the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) is not currently considered established in the UK and therefore is still being addressed via rapid response measures. The Asian hornet contingency plan covers the action that will be taken against Asian hornets with the NBU responding to credible sightings to locate and destroy any nests.
For a species to be considered established, there should be evidence of a reproducing population having been present in the wild for a significant number of generations, that is considered viable in the long term without any human intervention. Whilst there has been presence of overwintered hornets produced from a nest found and destroyed late last year, it is not considered to be strong evidence of an established population.
Defra will continue to follow an eradication strategy against Asian hornets until this becomes unviable at which point a change in approach will be required.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many meetings Ministers in his Department have held on Asian hornets in the last 12 months.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Asian hornet is an invasive non-native species, and a current GB alert species, which means that systems are in place to detect and then implement contingency plans to rapidly eradicate them in order to prevent establishment.
It is regularly discussed as an item on the agenda of monthly Minister-led meetings reviewing biosecurity priorities. In addition, officials have provided one briefing meeting specifically on Asian hornets in the last 12 months.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inspections of shellfish waters his Department has conducted in each year since 2015.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is responsible for designating shellfish water protected areas. Investigations are carried out by other organisations that have a role in water quality in shellfish waters, such as the Environment Agency and water companies (if directed to do so by the Environment Agency). Defra does not oversee these investigations to provide a figure.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department has spent on tree planting in each year since 2015.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Data on tree-specific funding is only available from 2020, when the Nature for Climate Tree Programme was established. Since then, Defra has had a capital spend (CDEL) of £232 million on planting trees in England. The spending on tree planting in each year since 2020 is shown below:
| 20/21 | 21/22 | 22/23 | 23/24 | Total |
Total Spend (£m) | 17.215 | 33.569 | 59.446 | 122.045 | 232.275 |
Additionally, the planting of trees has also been funded by the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. Since 2016, £120 million has been claimed under the scheme for planting and managing trees and for managing and enhancing woodlands.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of trees have been planted in each year since 2015.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Chesterfield on 2 April 2024 to Question 19841.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications to have beavers introduced under the wildlife licensing scheme, CL50, have been (a) made and (b) accepted.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Class Licence CL50 allows for re-release of captured or rescued beavers back into existing wild-living beaver populations, and is intended to enable conflict management, rescue for welfare reasons, and research. CL50 cannot be used for introduction of beavers to river catchments where they do not already exist. There have been 12 applications made to Natural England to re-release beavers under CL50, all into the same river catchments that they were captured or rescued from. Of these, 9 were granted, and 3 were withdrawn or not granted.