Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department has issued on how the new regulations on hedge cutting apply to commercial hedgelaying.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the hedge-cutting rules in the Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024 will apply to commercial hedge-laying only where it takes place on agricultural land. The Rural Payments Agency as regulator will provide advice and guidance to all those who will need to comply with these new regulations. Full guidance will also be published on gov.uk.