The Church Commissioners undertake rolling assessments of environmental improvements being made to the farmland portfolio by tenants, which is used to update the baseline study undertaken five years ago. Data has so far been provided on over 25,000 acres of Commissioners\u2019 land holdings and contains details of environmental changes, such as transitioning to regenerative agricultural practices. The Commissioners are pleased to announce a partnership with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), which will further develop this work.<\/p>
The Church Commissioners\u2019 rural estates team continues to engage with our new and existing agricultural tenants through regular individual farm visits, the sharing of ground-sourced data, including carbon audits, and the gathering of information from third parties. On recent assessment revealed that on a single Commissioners\u2019 farm in Kent, over 45 species of bird were recorded during a single visit in December 2023.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1453", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrew Selous"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South West Bedfordshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrew Selous"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-04-12", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-04-12T13:24:49.397Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "9"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-03-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Church of England: Land Use"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether a recent assessment has been made of the environmental improvements being advanced through the church's holding of agricultural land.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4006", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hendon"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Dr Matthew Offord"} ], "uin" : "19602"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1541078", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1541078/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Church Commissioners encourage existing farm tenants to adopt environmentally friendly farming practices across all their agricultural land. Throughout the year the Commissioners\u2019 asset managers and agents have conducted meetings with their existing agricultural tenants to discuss various environmental opportunities, including hedgerow improvements, benefits of cover crops and other regenerative farming practices.<\/p>
When re-letting farmland on the open market the Church Commissioners emphasise their net-zero ambitions and seek out tenants who adopt nature-friendly farming methods, via a vigorous tender process, farm letting particulars and updated farm business tenancies. The new tenancies include soil improvement clauses and requirements for landlord and tenant to work collaboratively on conducting carbon audits and environmental improvements such as hedgerow planting.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1453", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrew Selous"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South West Bedfordshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrew Selous"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-12-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-12-01T13:04:35.813Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "9"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-11-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Church of England: Land Use"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to use environmentally=friendly farming methods in its agricultural land.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4131", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jim Shannon"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Strangford"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Jim Shannon"} ], "uin" : "83623"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1540519", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1540519/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Church Commissioners are currently promoting land for approximately 30,000 new homes across England. Approximately 30% of these new homes will be classed as affordable. The Commissioners aim is to deliver high-quality new homes and employment opportunities within sustainable communities which support and enhance their local surroundings.<\/p>
The Commissioners have recently appointed an Affordable Housing Asset Manager to increase the delivery of affordable housing across the portfolio, and have recently collaborated with a Housing Association to deliver ten affordable homes and three bungalows in a rural community known as Shepherdswell, near Dover in Kent.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1453", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrew Selous"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South West Bedfordshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrew Selous"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-12-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-12-01T13:06:44.413Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "9"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-11-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Church of England: Land Use"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the church has taken recent steps to provide affordable and sustainable housing on its land.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4131", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jim Shannon"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Strangford"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Jim Shannon"} ], "uin" : "82302"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }