Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the construction of new reservoirs in England.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra recently published its Plan for Water which set out the importance of ensuring a clean and plentiful water supply. The Plan sets out our commitment to a twin track approach to improving water resilience, with action to reduce water company leaks alongside investing in new supply infrastructure including reservoirs. The Government also supports the Agricultural sector with its Water Management Grant, under the Farming Transformation Fund, for the construction of new on-farm reservoirs. We aim to launch a third round of the grant next year in 2024.
Regional water resources groups and water companies have consulted on their draft water resources plans. These statutory plans set out how each company will secure water supplies sustainably for at least the next 25 years. The draft water resources management plans contain proposals for multiple new schemes by 2050, including nine new reservoirs, as well as the expansion of some existing reservoirs.
Water companies are also using the £469 million made available by Ofwat in the period 2020-2025, to develop strategic water resources options required to improve the resilience water supplies. In April 2023, Ofwat announced that water companies are bringing forward £2.2bn for new water infrastructure, starting in the next two years, with £350 million worth of investment in water resilience schemes.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage (1) National Highways, (2) principal local authorities, (3) the Environment Agency, and (4) private landowners, to put in place measures to reduce littering and fly tipping on (a) roadsides, (b) slip roads, and (c) embankments adjacent to trunk roads, in England.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department for Transport (DfT) works closely with National Highways to ensure the Strategic Road Network is predominantly free from litter, without compromising safety. National Highways aims to influence littering behaviour, and improve operations, responsiveness to road user feedback and partnership-working with local authorities. National Highways performance is also reported to DfT and the Office of Rail and Road through a litter performance indicator.
Defra is supporting councils to tackle litter and fly-tipping such as by bolstering their enforcement powers (including where litter is thrown from a vehicle) and in recent years, providing grant funding for local interventions. These grants include nearly £1 million across 44 councils in 2021 to help them purchase litter bins and over £400,000 across 11 councils in 2022 to reduce fly-tipping using equipment such as CCTV. We have also committed to awarding a further £800,000 in grants in 2023 to help more councils tackle fly-tipping.
In 2022, Defra published a report on litter on the Strategic Road Network which highlighted good practice. Next steps on tackling the issue were outlined in our most recent Litter Strategy Annual Report, including how to ensure better collaboration between National Highways and local authorities.
Defra continues to chair the National Fly-tipping Prevention Group, made up a wide range of interested bodies including the Environment Agency, organisations representing private landowners and local authorities, to promote and disseminate good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping, including on private land.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the replacement of the Rural Development Programme for England's Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme will be announced; and when funding applications will be invited.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
We will provide further information before the end of December on the new scheme that we plan to open in 2015 to help farming and forestry businesses become more productive.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what appeals process is available for farmers who are subject to deductions from single farm payments for (a) cattle passport contraventions and (b) breaches of the conditions of the Rural Stewardship Scheme in (i) Cambridgeshire and (ii) England; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
Complaints against deductions made by the Rural Payments Agency to a farmer's payments under the Single Payment Scheme should be made to the Agency. Complaints are reviewed within the Agency. If a farmer disagrees with the Agency's final decision, they may ask for an independent review by the Independent Agricultural Appeals Panel, who will make a recommendation to me to make a final decision.
The Agency's full complaints procedure is set out online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/rural-payments-agency/about/complaints-procedure
Deductions from payments under the Single Payment Scheme are not made in respect of breaches of Environmental Stewardship scheme conditions alone. Where a breach of these conditions is found, an appropriate penalty would be applied in respect of the Environmental Stewardship payments received or due to be received. Natural England, which administers the scheme, has a formal appeals procedure described in section 5.7.4 of the Entry Level Stewardship Handbook, available online at:
http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/file/2781958
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to issue further guidance on ecological focus areas; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson, made a Statement to the House on 10 June covering a range of Common Agricultural Policy Reform implementation decisions. A number of subsequent decisions have to be made in relation to the greening Ecological Focus Area requirements, and we plan to issue further guidance to claimants within the next two months.