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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of dredging rivers and waterways while balancing environmental and habitat considerations; and, in particular, what assessment they have made of how effective this would be for the River Trent.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency undertakes dredging (for more information see the Environment Agency Blog on GOV.UK) to manage flood risk where it is technically effective, does not significantly increase flood risk for others downstream, and is environmentally acceptable. The effectiveness of such work in managing flood risk varies substantially from site to site. The Environment Agency makes a local assessment working in close consultation with local communities.

Historical records and modelling show that in some locations dredging can increase erosion and flood risk for communities downstream and damage wildlife and ecosystems. The Water Environment Regulations 2017 requires Risk Management Authorities to consider the impact of dredging on the ecological health of rivers but does not prevent dredging where it effectively protects people and property.

Along the River Trent, dredging is not cost effective as it would only provide a temporary and minimal increase in capacity as natural processes would cause silt to return and accumulate quickly. Additionally, there is the potential for negative impacts on the ecosystem if dredging is carried out. Many communities along the river Trent are well protected through other means such as flood defenses and other river maintenance activities which are more viable and cost effective in the long term.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to limiting the size of solar plants in areas of best and most versatile agricultural land.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Planning policy and associated guidance set out that the effective use of land should be prioritised by directing large scale solar projects to locate on previously developed and non-greenfield land.

If a developer proposes to use any land falling under Natural England’s ‘best and most versatile agricultural land’, they are required to justify using such land and design their projects to avoid, mitigate and where necessary, compensate for any impacts.

The planning system also sets out how decision-makers should consider the impact of cumulative impacts, for example where a number of solar projects are deployed in close proximity.

Further detail can be found in the National Policy Statement (EN-3), National Planning Policy Framework, and associated planning practice guidance for renewable and low carbon energy.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Barran on 19 December 2023, what consideration they have given to expediting the introduction of a statutory register of children schooled at home and online, given the rise in those numbers, in order to identify children (1) who are at risk, or (2) who have unmet needs.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to a statutory system of registration for children not in school and intends to legislate for that at the next suitable opportunity. My honourable Friend, the Member for Meon Valley introduced a Private Member’s Bill on 11 December with the aim of creating legal duties on local authorities to maintain such registers. The department welcomes her long and ongoing support for those measures, which the department had previously introduced as part of the Schools Bill.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to permitting farmers transitioning from Basic Payments to Delinked Payments to discount one or more of the years in the reference period as a result of (1) events outside their control, or (2) a mistake; and whether they intend to review and amend the Agriculture (Delinked Payments and Consequential Provisions) (England) Regulations 2023 in this regard.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Delinked payments will be based on the average Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payment made to the farmer during the 2020 to 2022 reference period. The Government considers that using an average over three years is fair as any anomalies will be evened out. This takes account of responses to our 2021 consultation on delinked payments.

In addition, where a farmer suffered exceptional circumstances which affected their ability to meet the BPS rules in the reference period, they were able to apply at the time under the BPS force majeure rules. In such cases, the Rural Payments Agency may not have applied a reduction to the BPS payment for non-compliance with the rules.