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 people have applied for the Improving Farming Productivity Grant; how many of those applications were successful; and how much has been paid out per (a) grant category and (b) round.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The total number of full applications received for Improving Farm Productivity to-date is 413. Of those appraised, 204 have been offered a grant to the value of over £23 million, 84 applications have been rejected or withdrawn, and 125 are currently in appraisal. A total of over £11 million has been paid out from the scheme to-date across both rounds; £9.4 million from Round 1 applications, and £1.6 million from Round 2. All applications in Round 1 were for robotic equipment, whereas in Round 2 £1.5 million has been paid out for solar projects, and £31,000 for robotic and automatic equipment. We do not currently categorise applications in any greater detail. Successful applicants can make up to three claims once they have a Grant Funding Agreement in place but can claim as soon as parts of a project are completed.
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 long on average successful applicants for the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund 2024 have waited for agreements to be activated.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All farmers, foresters, and land managers in England, including tenants, were eligible to form or join a Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Group in order to submit an application during the application window. Facilitators, who applied for the funding, were required to be an individual or organisation from the farming, forestry or other land management sector or service provider, with environmental land management experience and suitable facilitation skills. Members can be added to an existing group at any time throughout the lifetime of the agreement.
The application window for the 2024 round closed on the 15 January 2024. 24 applications were received. Of these, 18 secured an agreement, with all agreements starting on 1 June 2024.
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 estimate his Department has made of the number of land managers eligible for the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All farmers, foresters, and land managers in England, including tenants, were eligible to form or join a Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Group in order to submit an application during the application window. Facilitators, who applied for the funding, were required to be an individual or organisation from the farming, forestry or other land management sector or service provider, with environmental land management experience and suitable facilitation skills. Members can be added to an existing group at any time throughout the lifetime of the agreement.
The application window for the 2024 round closed on the 15 January 2024. 24 applications were received. Of these, 18 secured an agreement, with all agreements starting on 1 June 2024.
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 estimate his Department has made of the amount of land eligible for the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All farmers, foresters, and land managers in England, including tenants, were eligible to form or join a Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Group in order to submit an application during the application window. Facilitators, who applied for the funding, were required to be an individual or organisation from the farming, forestry or other land management sector or service provider, with environmental land management experience and suitable facilitation skills. Members can be added to an existing group at any time throughout the lifetime of the agreement.
The application window for the 2024 round closed on the 15 January 2024. 24 applications were received. Of these, 18 secured an agreement, with all agreements starting on 1 June 2024.
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 applicants there were for the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund 2024; and how many were successful.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All farmers, foresters, and land managers in England, including tenants, were eligible to form or join a Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Group in order to submit an application during the application window. Facilitators, who applied for the funding, were required to be an individual or organisation from the farming, forestry or other land management sector or service provider, with environmental land management experience and suitable facilitation skills. Members can be added to an existing group at any time throughout the lifetime of the agreement.
The application window for the 2024 round closed on the 15 January 2024. 24 applications were received. Of these, 18 secured an agreement, with all agreements starting on 1 June 2024.
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 assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the Mayor of London’s report entitled London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone One Year Report, published on 7 March 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Poor air quality continues to be the biggest environmental risk to human health. Whilst responsibility for air quality and transport is devolved in London, we welcome the progress made there to address air pollution and improve people’s health. Local and devolved authorities are best placed to determine the most effective route to improving air quality in their cities. We are committed to working with them to improve the air we breathe.
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 assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing the system for forecasting air pollution episodes.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the Air Quality Information System review an evaluation of the Daily Air Quality Index (DAQI), including the provision of the forecast, was carried out. This evaluation found that the forecast was accurate and provided precise representation of real-world air quality conditions at a UK regional level. Some areas for improvement were identified and Defra are discussing with the Met Office how to take these forward.
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 weather warnings were issued ahead of the high air pollution episode expected in the South East on 10 March 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Pollution notifications were issued on Defra’s UK-Air website, via the Defra UK-Air X feed and through email alerts that individuals and organisations can subscribe to. The daily air quality forecast provided by the Met office also provided information on the expected air pollution levels for that day.
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, when each (a) city, (b)(b) zone and (c) agglomeration in England which exceeded the nitrogen dioxide annual mean limit value in 2023 will comply with that limit.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra uses a combination of national-scale modelling and on the ground monitoring to assess nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations in England each year. Evidence shows that NO2 concentrations have reduced substantially in recent years, however a reporting zone is still considered to be exceeding the NO2 limit value if a single location remains above the limit value. The cities, agglomeration and non-agglomeration zones exceeding the NO2 limit value in 2023, and the predictions of when they will become compliant with the limit value, are based on data from Defra’s national modelling and monitoring networks, and additional local monitoring data gathered by cities and towns in England and held by the Joint Air Quality Unit.
13 cities in England exceeded the annual mean limit value for NO2 in 2023. These were:
Birmingham | London | Reading |
Bradford | Manchester | Sheffield |
Bristol | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | Stoke-on-Trent |
Coventry | Nottingham |
|
Liverpool | Portsmouth |
|
14 out of 31 reporting zones in England were non-compliant with the annual mean NO2 limit value in 2023. This included 1 of the 8 non-agglomeration zones (South East) and 13 of the 23 agglomeration zones. The 13 non-compliant agglomeration zones were:
Bristol Urban Area | Nottingham Urban Area | Tyneside |
Coventry/Bedworth | Portsmouth Urban Area | West Midlands Urban Area |
Greater London Urban Area | Reading/Wokingham Urban Area | West Yorkshire Urban Area |
Greater Manchester Urban Area | Sheffield Urban Area |
|
Liverpool Urban Area | The Potteries |
|
Predicting when locations that are currently exceeding will comply with the limit value is inherently uncertain. We don’t hold up-to-date detailed modelled projections to predict the impact of all current policies on future NO2 concentrations, however current indicative estimates suggest the majority of locations will become compliant with the limit value within the next four years. By 2029, we estimate all zones will be compliant except Bristol Urban Area, Sheffield Urban Area, The Potteries, West Midlands Urban Area and Tyneside. These correspond to Bristol, Sheffield, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham, all of which we estimate will become compliant by 2032, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. We expect Newcastle-upon-Tyne will be the last city to become compliant due to a localised hotspot. There is considerable uncertainty in current estimates for when this location will become compliant, but we estimate this will be by 2045, at the latest. As the road traffic fleet continues to transition to zero emission vehicles this date is likely to come forward.
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, which (a) cities, (b) zones and (c) agglomerations in England exceeded the nitrogen dioxide annual mean limit value in 2023.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra uses a combination of national-scale modelling and on the ground monitoring to assess nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations in England each year. Evidence shows that NO2 concentrations have reduced substantially in recent years, however a reporting zone is still considered to be exceeding the NO2 limit value if a single location remains above the limit value. The cities, agglomeration and non-agglomeration zones exceeding the NO2 limit value in 2023, and the predictions of when they will become compliant with the limit value, are based on data from Defra’s national modelling and monitoring networks, and additional local monitoring data gathered by cities and towns in England and held by the Joint Air Quality Unit.
13 cities in England exceeded the annual mean limit value for NO2 in 2023. These were:
Birmingham | London | Reading |
Bradford | Manchester | Sheffield |
Bristol | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | Stoke-on-Trent |
Coventry | Nottingham |
|
Liverpool | Portsmouth |
|
14 out of 31 reporting zones in England were non-compliant with the annual mean NO2 limit value in 2023. This included 1 of the 8 non-agglomeration zones (South East) and 13 of the 23 agglomeration zones. The 13 non-compliant agglomeration zones were:
Bristol Urban Area | Nottingham Urban Area | Tyneside |
Coventry/Bedworth | Portsmouth Urban Area | West Midlands Urban Area |
Greater London Urban Area | Reading/Wokingham Urban Area | West Yorkshire Urban Area |
Greater Manchester Urban Area | Sheffield Urban Area |
|
Liverpool Urban Area | The Potteries |
|
Predicting when locations that are currently exceeding will comply with the limit value is inherently uncertain. We don’t hold up-to-date detailed modelled projections to predict the impact of all current policies on future NO2 concentrations, however current indicative estimates suggest the majority of locations will become compliant with the limit value within the next four years. By 2029, we estimate all zones will be compliant except Bristol Urban Area, Sheffield Urban Area, The Potteries, West Midlands Urban Area and Tyneside. These correspond to Bristol, Sheffield, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham, all of which we estimate will become compliant by 2032, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. We expect Newcastle-upon-Tyne will be the last city to become compliant due to a localised hotspot. There is considerable uncertainty in current estimates for when this location will become compliant, but we estimate this will be by 2045, at the latest. As the road traffic fleet continues to transition to zero emission vehicles this date is likely to come forward.