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1130849

registered interest
date	10/06/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Trees: Diseases
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the threats from disease to hornbeam trees (Carpinus betulus) in England and Wales.
tabling member printed	Lord Patten
uin	HL16216
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2019 answer text <p>Details of pest and disease threats to hornbeam (<em>Carpinus betulus</em>), along with other plant and tree species, are included on the UK plant health risk register, which can be accessed here: <a href="https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/phiw/riskRegister/" target="_blank">https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/phiw/riskRegister/</a>. Of the 1,040 entries on the risk register, ten of these have hornbeam specifically listed as a major host species, although hornbeam may be a minor host in relation to certain other pests and diseases listed (e.g. those which are polyphagous in nature on broadleaved trees). The risk register includes information about current mitigations in place and priorities for future actions.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 14/06/2019 11:55:15 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	1137 label Biography information for Lord Patten

1130221

registered interest
date	05/06/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many tenant farmers in England are awaiting their (1) Environmental Stewardship (ES) payments, (2) Countryside Stewardship (CS) payments, for 2018; and whether all ES and CS payments for 2017 have been made.
tabling member printed	Baroness Byford
uin	HL16082
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2019 answer text <p>The Rural Payments Agency has paid all CS 2017 eligible claims bar those held for legal reasons such as probate. On CS 2018, 95% of eligible claimants received an advance payment by early April; 30% of eligible claims have received their final payment and we expect to pay 95% of eligible claims by August 2019.</p><p> </p><p>On ES, around 92% of 2017 eligible claims have now received a payment and we are on track to complete 95% by the end of July 2019. Just over 52% of 2018 eligible claimants have received their advance payment and just under 21% have received their final payment.</p><p> </p><p>Regrettably, we cannot confirm how many of these are tenant farmers as we do not record the agreement holders’ occupant status.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 14/06/2019 11:34:39 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	3343 label Biography information for Baroness Byford

1130259

registered interest
date	05/06/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the timescale of their plan for UK farming subsidies after Brexit.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL16120
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2019 answer text <p>The Health and Harmony Consultation closed on 8 May 2018. Over forty thousand responses were received from a wide range of people including farmers, environmental and food/farming related organisations and the general public. All responses have been analysed and are being used to inform our policies on future farm support.</p><p> </p><p>The Government published its policy response on 14 September setting out a future for food, farming and the environment in a green Brexit, together with reports on its analysis of the impacts of removing direct payments and economic rationales for future government intervention.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s assessment was to adopt a gradual transition from the current approach to the new, avoiding a cliff-edge for farm businesses - noting the negative experiences in New Zealand when rapid changes were adopted. Our proposals therefore outline a 7 year transition period.</p><p> </p><p>We are applying reductions to Direct Payments in a fair way, with higher reductions initially applied to amounts in higher payment bands. All farmers will see some reductions from the start of the transition. We plan to begin making these reductions in 2021, with the final year for Direct Payments being 2027. We believe that this approach balances the views of those who feel recipients of the highest payments should initially face higher reductions, with the strong calls for the reductions to be shared amongst all farmers from the start of the transition and in a way that prepares the industry for change. The transition period also needs to be long enough to give farmers sufficient time to adapt and prepare for the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, which starts in 2024.</p><p> </p><p>The ELM National Pilot, starting in late 2021, will assess the end to end operability and deliverability before the scheme is rolled out in 2024. This will allow us to identify and refine any issues or barriers that occur in practice. We are working closely with a range of agricultural and environmental stakeholders to collaboratively design the new scheme, and to test and trial new approaches and investigate innovative mechanisms for the delivery of environmental outcomes.</p><p> </p><p>Defra recognises the challenges around the uncertainty and outcome of the timing of leaving the EU. It is planning for every contingency to ensure a smooth departure from the EU, including detailed ’no deal’ plans.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 14/06/2019 11:32:45 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1129570

registered interest
date	04/06/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Air Pollution: Monitoring
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the Automatic Urban and Rural Network continuous monitoring stations that record air pollution have been closed down in each of the last three years.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL16055
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2019 answer text <p>The Automatic Urban and Rural Network has expanded over the last three years from 152 open stations at the end of 2016 to 164 open stations today.</p><p> </p><p>In 2019 one station closed and its relocation is in progress. In 2017, three stations closed, two of which were relocated and one of which was replaced. In 2016, five stations were closed, one of which was replaced, one of which was relocated, and three of which were not replaced or relocated.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 14/06/2019 11:30:54 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

1129581

registered interest
date	04/06/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Supply
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to whether there will continue to be sufficient supplies of water for all purposes, including domestic purposes, if climate change continues as expected.
tabling member printed	Lord Trefgarne
uin	HL16066
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government is working closely with other water regulators and the water industry to improve the resilience of water supplies. The Government recognises continued action is required and it is committed to a ‘twin track approach’ of reducing demand for water and increasing supply in parallel.</p><p> </p><p>Water companies have a statutory duty to provide clean and reliable water to customers under the Water Industry Act 1991. To fulfil this duty, there is a statutory requirement to maintain water resources management plans, which balance water supply and demand at least twenty-five years into the future.</p><p> </p><p>The Government, Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat issued guidance to water companies in 2016 on how they should be planning to be resilient to foreseeable risks, including taking appropriate action to respond to climate projections. Water companies are currently revising their plans.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is taking steps to improve water resources planning to ensure that there is better collaboration between water companies and other water using sectors on their water supply resilience. This includes the EA developing a National Framework for water resources, which will identify high priority water users who are unable to meet their demand or are likely to need to expand and set expectations on collaboration at a regional scale. The Government has also consulted on legislative improvements to ensure that water companies’ plans are informed by effective collaboration.</p><p> </p><p>The EA is also implementing the abstraction plan published in 2017. This includes work to bring together the EA, abstractors and catchment groups to develop local solutions to existing pressures and to prepare for the future.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 14/06/2019 11:34:16 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	1813 label Biography information for Lord Trefgarne

1129587

registered interest
date	04/06/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Tree Planting
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many trees they estimate were planted in each of the last six quarters for which figures are available in (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, and (4) Northern Ireland; whether this is in line with their commitment to plant 11 million trees in this Parliament; and if not, what steps they will take to meet that target.
tabling member printed	Baroness Young of Old Scone
uin	HL16072
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.</p><p> </p><p>The Government remains committed to planting 11 million trees in this Parliament, 2017 to 2022. Woodland creation is a key activity of our 25 Year Environment Plan.</p><p> </p><p>The Forestry Commission routinely publish statistics on planting rates as part of their Corporate Performance Indicators.</p><p> </p><p>The published figures which report on new planting of woodland in England supported by the Countryside Stewardship, part of the Rural Development programme for England, are based on the area of grant claims approved for payment and are reproduced in the table below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Period (Quarter)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Woodland Area (hectares)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Tree Numbers</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan - Mar 2019</p></td><td><p>69</p></td><td><p>113,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct – Dec 2018</p></td><td><p>227</p></td><td><p>366,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July - Sept 2018</p></td><td><p>477</p></td><td><p>748,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April – June 2018</p></td><td><p>245</p></td><td><p>380,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan – March 2018</p></td><td><p>99</p></td><td><p>159,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct – Dec 2017</p></td><td><p>105</p></td><td><p>181,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Government’s support for this woodland creation has predominantly been from the Countryside Stewardship scheme. Further Government support has been through the Environment Agency and National Forest Company.</p><p> </p><p>In the Autumn Budget the Government announced an additional £60 million for tree planting initiatives, comprising £10 million to fund urban tree planting and £50 million for a Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme. This will add to other new planting in the pipeline, supported by the High Speed 2 Woodland Fund, the Woodland Carbon Fund and Government’s kick start investment in the Northern Forest.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 18/06/2019 16:34:37 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	1755 label Biography information for Baroness Young of Old Scone

1128132

registered interest
date	23/05/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Inland Waterways: Access
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the omission from the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 of provision on open access to inland water.
tabling member printed	Lord Addington
uin	HL15946
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government has made no assessment of legislating for open access to inland water.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 04/06/2019 14:26:32 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	3453 label Biography information for Lord Addington

1128133

registered interest
date	23/05/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Inland Waterways: National Parks
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the length of the unmanaged waterways in National Parks to which access is uncontested and which are open to the public for recreation.
tabling member printed	Lord Addington
uin	HL15947
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government has not undertaken a specific assessment of what length of unmanaged waterways has a public right of navigation. Of the canal and major river navigation network in England and Wales approximately a quarter has either public navigation rights or are available for licensed navigation as managed by a navigation authority.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 04/06/2019 14:26:15 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	3453 label Biography information for Lord Addington

1128063

registered interest
date	22/05/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Beaches: Sewage
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent the leaking of sewage onto beaches at (1) Sunderland, and (2) Whitburn.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville
uin	HL15912
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2019 answer text <p>Continuous improvements have been made to the sewerage system in the area, with the latest being the completion of a scheme to reduce storm sewage discharges from the Whitburn long sea outfall in December 2017. This has reduced the frequency in discharges from the system by around 40% compared to the average from the old system.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 04/06/2019 14:24:56 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	4285 label Biography information for Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville

1127992

registered interest
date	21/05/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Animal Welfare: Grants
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what grants were made by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to animal welfare groups in each of the last five years; to which groups they were made; and how much was provided in each grant.
tabling member printed	Lord Hanningfield
uin	HL15877
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p><p>As part of a government wide digital transparency self-service agenda, government grant data from the previous three years is available online through the Government Grants Information System (GGIS). Data for Defra is combined with data for Defra’s arms-length bodies. As we have no firm definition of what an animal welfare group is these grants would not be easily identifiable on the GGIS.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 05/06/2019 14:34:46 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	2650 label Biography information for Lord Hanningfield