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Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 29 Jan 2020
Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Bill

"My Lords, I am very grateful to my noble friend for introducing the Second Reading of this small but important Bill, which, as has been said, enables the Government to continue paying the basic payment scheme allowances to farmers for 2020 alone. Like others, I declare my farming interests as …..."
Baroness Byford - View Speech

View all Baroness Byford (Con - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Bill
Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 23 Jan 2020
Fisheries: EU Landing Obligation (European Union Committee Report)

"My Lords, I thank and congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, his committee and members and staff who researched and produced these two reports. I was not a member of that committee but have, over many years, raised the challenges of discarding fish. I recognise that the industry has made …..."
Baroness Byford - View Speech

View all Baroness Byford (Con - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Fisheries: EU Landing Obligation (European Union Committee Report)
Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 17 Oct 2019
Queen’s Speech

"My Lords, it is a huge privilege and joy to follow my noble friend—if I may call her that, as we have worked together, as she has said, for many years in Leicester Cathedral.

Her journey through the Church of England has been remarkable. She originally came from the Wirral …..."
Baroness Byford - View Speech

View all Baroness Byford (Con - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Queen’s Speech
Speech in Grand Committee - Wed 16 Oct 2019
Agriculture (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

"My Lords, may I add a couple of comments? I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Jones, for his comments. My understanding of these statutory instruments is that they make no basic change to what there already is. Again, this relates EU law to UK law, so a lot …..."
Baroness Byford - View Speech

View all Baroness Byford (Con - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Agriculture (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
Written Question
Plastics: Compost
Thursday 1st August 2019

Asked by: Baroness Byford (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to replace biodegradable plastic with compostable plastic.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government published a call for evidence on standards for bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics. We want to gain a better understanding of the overall sustainability of these materials and whether product standards could provide reassurance of this. The call for evidence will run until 14 October and a Government response will be published taking the responses into account.

Written Question
Water: Pipelines
Thursday 1st August 2019

Asked by: Baroness Byford (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many water leaks have been recorded by each water company in each of the last five years.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Environment Agency’s records for water company leakage are in the table:

Total leakage Ml/d

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

Affinity Water

178.70

182.64

179.57

171.68

173.92

Anglian Water

192.72

192.00

182.65

184.72

182.66

Bristol Water

43.65

45.11

44.22

46.42

46.64

Cambridge Water

12.71

13.53

13.24

14.32

14.39

Essex & Suffolk Water

58.39

60.86

62.42

68.08

66.17

Northumbrian Water

134.04

136.79

134.66

133.82

137.05

Portsmouth Water

29.50

28.85

28.06

30.37

32.87

Bournemouth Water

20.67

20.56

19.63

19.11

19.11

Severn Trent Water

441.00

440.40

429.39

423.56

445.52

South East Water

92.56

92.43

88.11

88.63

87.69

South Staffordshire Water

66.88

69.22

69.88

69.85

72.41

South West Water

84.07

84.36

83.75

84.40

88.13

Southern Water

84.59

81.69

83.91

88.11

88.16

Sutton & East Surrey Water

23.93

24.16

24.17

24.30

24.16

Thames Water

648.14

657.39

645.90

667.84

685.38

United Utilities

451.90

453.89

451.96

439.34

453.76

Wessex Water

69.33

68.57

68.35

68.35

67.68

Yorkshire Water

282.29

288.32

285.11

295.17

300.28

England total

2916.19

2941.89

2896.35

2918.07

2986.47

Water company leakage records for the last three years are published on the Discover Water website. This will shortly include leakage records for 2018-19.

Written Question
Water Abstraction
Thursday 1st August 2019

Asked by: Baroness Byford (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a timetable has been set for the implementation of the water abstraction plan, published on 15 December 2017; and what progress has been made on that plan to date.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government’s report on the progress made in reforming the arrangements for managing water abstraction in England presented to Parliament in May 2019 included a timetable for completion of the water abstraction plan, which is progressing on schedule.

The report is published and is attached.

Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 25 Jun 2019
Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019

"My Lords, I thank my noble friend for introducing the statutory instrument, which follows on from the many discussions we have had over recent years about the whole question of the pet trade. I am grateful to him for explaining the campaign for Lucy’s law. We were all well aware …..."
Baroness Byford - View Speech

View all Baroness Byford (Con - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 19 Jun 2019
Wild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill

"My Lords, I am pleased to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Mallalieu. I totally agree with some of the things she said. There is a movement gathering pace against using livestock for entertainment in a way that has traditionally gone on in the countryside, and I accept that. There is …..."
Baroness Byford - View Speech

View all Baroness Byford (Con - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Wild Animals in Circuses (No. 2) Bill
Written Question
Agriculture: Subsidies
Friday 14th June 2019

Asked by: Baroness Byford (Conservative - Life peer)

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

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.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

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.

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.

Regrettably, we cannot confirm how many of these are tenant farmers as we do not record the agreement holders’ occupant status.