Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish their response to the Remote Electronic Monitoring call for evidence; and what steps they intend to take following this.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Defra ran a call for evidence between 19 October and 30 November 2020. The responses are currently being analysed and a response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential use of Remote Electronic Monitoring technology to monitor vessels using (1) bottom trawling, and (2) other fishing practices that may harm marine ecosystems, on England’s Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Defra has not conducted an assessment of this nature. Defra did run a call for evidence to collect a range of evidence on the use of Remote Electronic Monitoring between 19 October and 30 November 2020. The responses are currently being analysed and a response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the value of fish caught by Faroese registered vessels in the UK’s coastal waters and exclusive economic zone in (1) 2018, and (2) 2019; and what was the value of fish caught by UK vessels in Faroese waters in the same years.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
In 2019, Faroese vessels landed fish valued at an estimated £25.5 million from UK waters. £21million of these landings were of mackerel and £4.5 million were of blue whiting. In comparison, the UK landed fish valued at £1.2 million from Faroese waters in 2019, of which £1 million was cod and haddock.
In 2018, the Faroese figure was an estimated £30.4 million. Of this, £26 million was comprised of mackerel landings and £4.4 million of blue whiting. The UK’s landings from Faroese waters in 2018 were valued at £2.2 million of which cod and haddock accounted for £1.7 million.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the value of fish caught by Norwegian registered vessels in the UK’s coastal waters and exclusive economic zone in (1) 2018, and (2) 2019.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
In 2019, Norwegian vessels landed approximately £248.9 million worth of fish from UK waters. The majority of this was mackerel, which made up £153.1 million of the catch, followed by herring and blue whiting. In contrast, the UK landed £31.0 million worth of fish from Norwegian waters in 2019, the majority of which was demersal species, such as cod and haddock.
In 2018, Norwegian vessels landed approximately £271.5 million worth of fish from UK waters, again with the majority of this made up of mackerel (£166.0 million), herring and blue whiting, while the UK landed £32.4 million from Norwegian waters.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) advice they intend to provide to, and (2) advisory service they intend to set up for, those (a) people, (b) enterprises, and (c) organisations, eligible for funding under the Environmental Land Management Scheme; and how any such advice and services will be funded.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Evidence from Defra’s Environmental Land Management Tests and Trials and other sources shows that effective advice and guidance leads to better, more sustained environmental outcomes. For advice to be effective it needs to be trusted and based on expertise, credibility and local knowledge. This evidence has informed the approach to advice and guidance for the Environmental Land Management National Pilot, which will start in 2021 and run for three years.
The National Pilot will combine several elements of advice and guidance, working on the assumption that the scheme should, for the most part, be simple enough for a land manager to apply unassisted. Nevertheless, we assume many may still seek advice. We will use the National Pilot to learn from advisers and land managers what they require across all phases of the pilot, prior to full roll out of Environmental Land Management in 2024.
Firstly, there will be comprehensive guidance, developed by experts across Defra group, published on GOV.UK that covers how and why to apply and how best to deliver the environmental outcomes the scheme can pay for. Defra will improve guidance content and navigation using Tests and Trials and user feedback throughout the pilot.
Secondly, there will be a National Pilot Field Team to gather learning from land managers and advisers. This will be operated by Defra and advisers from its arm’s length bodies.
Thirdly, Defra’s arm’s length bodies will provide advice on statutory responsibilities and assisting regulatory permissions. They will also play a role in formally assessing outcomes and compliance, which will take a fairer more supportive and effective approach.
We also recognise the need to improve land managers’ skills and knowledge directly, to meet the challenges of agricultural transition and reduce reliance on advice. We will introduce learning and information sessions for participating land managers and will engage with agricultural training providers to explore how their courses can better support the industry for the future.
As announced in the Agricultural Transition Plan, the Government will contribute towards the establishment of a new professional body, the Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture, which will establish a professional framework, providing farmers with a recognised pathway for training.
We think land managers should pay for any additional on-farm advice when applying for the pilot and implementing their agreement, using either their existing trusted adviser or employing one from the advice market, and payment rates will need to allow for this cost.
The need to employ an adviser should be reduced if the scheme is demonstrably simpler and less risky than previous schemes and if published guidance is accessible and effective. This means when an adviser is employed they can be focused where they add most value.
As with land manager training, we will help advisers to upskill so that they can provide a high-quality service to land managers during transition. We are identifying the key skills and knowledge required for advisers to support applicants effectively. We will work with existing certification providers rather than launching a scheme-specific certification.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to trial a protocol-type Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) advisory service as a part of the piloting of ELMS.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We are developing our Environmental Land Management offer in partnership with farmers and other stakeholders, including representatives from some leading farm and land management advice providers. We are doing this through a series of tests and trials, 71 to date with more in preparation, which are already underway, and through a National Pilot which will start in 2021. Forty-three tests and trials have been providing findings on the role of and need for trusted, technically competent advisers with local knowledge, which have been and continue to be fed into the development of our approach. The National Pilot will be available for up to 5,500 farmers who want to be involved in helping us to learn and co-design the full ambition of our new schemes.
In line with our policy for on-farm advice to come largely from the marketplace, we will use the National Pilot to build skills and capacity in that market through training and learning from advisers as they support their clients. To support them in this we will provide introductory information sessions for advisers from early 2021 (online at first), ahead of applications for Phase 1 of the National Pilot being invited. As well as offering a reminder of the context of agricultural transition, they will go into more detail on the mechanics of the Sustainable Farming Incentive component, related regulations and consents and permissions. We intend these to be made available to participating land managers too.
Training content and delivery will be continuously improved throughout the National Pilot, applying established training evaluation methodology to learn from previous phases. Training 'top-ups' will be put in place to update those who participated in earlier sessions as the later components of the Pilot (and wider future farming and countryside programme schemes) are rolled out.
Defra's arms-length bodies will also help, drawing on their expertise to develop scheme guidance and training products as well as the supporting assessment for essential consents, permits that may be required by participants in the National Pilot. They are also likely to provide compliance checks, which will themselves be more focused towards advice and support where possible rather than just penalties.
We will develop through the pilot a fuller adviser and land manager training package with a stronger element of quality assurance in a way that can be scaled up to meet demand as we approach full roll-out in 2024. This may include potential for commercial delivery or other market provider solutions.
We will use the National Pilot to learn from advisers and land managers what they require across all Phases of the National Pilot.
In sum, the National Pilot will enable us to build on the findings of a range of Tests and Trials to co-design, learn and refine how advice is best delivered when Environmental Land Management is fully rolled out in 2024. The approach at that point will reflect the learning obtained and may differ from what I have set out.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure the UK distant waters fishing fleet has access to fishing opportunities from the year 2021 in (1) the Norwegian exclusive economic zone (EEZ) north of 61 degrees latitude, (2) the Faeroe EEZ, (3) the Greenland EEZ, and (4) the seas around Svalbard.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
On the 31st December 2020, the UK will leave the Common Fisheries Policy. As we become an independent coastal state, we are committed to working closely with our coastal partners including the EU, Norway and Faroe Islands to manage shared stocks in a sustainable way and share fishing opportunities based on the scientific principle of zonal attachment.
As part of these preparations, the UK has concluded fisheries framework agreements with Norway and the Faroes, the first of which was signed on 30 September and has now been laid before Parliament. These framework agreements will provide the basis for annual negotiations on fishing opportunities and access to waters. In the forthcoming annual negotiations, the UK will seek to ensure the best possible outcomes for the whole of the UK fishing industry and our marine environment.
In addition, Defra officials are engaging regularly with their Greenlandic counterparts on opportunities for enhancing bilateral fisheries cooperation between the UK and Greenland. The UK’s rights under the 1920 Treaty of Paris with regards to fishing opportunities in Svalbard waters remain unchanged.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking (1) to improve, or (2) to restore, the UK’s former access after 31 December to fishing opportunities in Icelandic waters.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Defra officials are engaging regularly with their Icelandic counterparts across a wide variety of policy issues. Recent discussions have been very positive and have focused on enhancing bilateral fisheries cooperation between the UK and Iceland, building on the fisheries commitments within the UK-Iceland Joint Vision for 2030.
The discussions have also touched on other fisheries management matters within the North-East Atlantic. These have included the UK’s recent accession to Regional Fisheries Management Organisations such as the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC).
The UK’s relationship with Iceland is likely to evolve further as the UK goes forward as an independent coastal State.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will classify the Eurasian beaver as a native species that can breed and live freely in Great Britain; and if so, (1) when, and (2) under what circumstances, they will do so.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out this Government’s commitment to providing opportunities for the reintroduction of native species where the benefits for the environment, people and the economy are clear.
We recognise the range of benefits that beavers may provide with regard to flood management, biodiversity, water quality and resilience to climate change. On the 8th of August the Government announced that beavers on the River Otter, the only licensed wild population, would be allowed to remain there permanently and will be allowed to continue to expand their range naturally.
We plan to hold a public consultation early next year on our national approach for beaver reintroduction, and our strategy for the management of the potential negative impacts of this native species in the wild. Natural England, with support from EA, are continuing work to help inform the Government’s national approach to the management and release of beaver in England and have been engaging with key stakeholders.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will fund the reintroduction of beavers into appropriate catchment areas of the South West of England in order (1) to improve local flood resilience, and (2) to promote biodiversity.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out this Government’s commitment to providing opportunities for the reintroduction of native species where the benefits for the environment, people and the economy are clear.
We recognise the range of benefits that beavers may provide with regard to flood management, biodiversity, water quality and resilience to climate change. On the 8th of August the Government announced that beavers on the River Otter, the only licensed wild population, would be allowed to remain there permanently and will be allowed to continue to expand their range naturally.
We plan to hold a public consultation early next year on our national approach for beaver reintroduction, and our strategy for the management of the potential negative impacts of this native species in the wild. Natural England, with support from EA, are continuing work to help inform the Government’s national approach to the management and release of beaver in England and have been engaging with key stakeholders.