Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farms in Mid Bedfordshire have accepted an offer of agreement for the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window and as of 07 March the RPA has received 44 applications of which 33 agreements have been offered and 26 accepted for the Mid Bedfordshire Constituency.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
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 (a) publish its opinion on farmed fish welfare and (b) announce its decision on whether to adopt the recommendations on farmed fish welfare made by the Animal Welfare Committee.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to part a) of the reply given to the hon. Member for Putney, Fleur Anderson, on 23 January 2024, UIN 9673.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2023 to Question 6369 on Rural Payments Agency: Digital Mapping, how many and what proportion of people have been waiting for more than (a) three and (b) six months in (i) Mid Bedfordshire constituency and (ii) the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are no farm businesses waiting for more than three or six months in England for field boundary changes. The average time to complete processing is 13 days recognising that some changes are straightforward, and some take more time depending on the extent of the changes requested.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 from Mid Bedforshire constituency have been (a) made and (b) approved.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window and as of 13 December the RPA had received 14 applications of which 8 agreements have been offered and 6 accepted for the Mid Bedfordshire Constituency.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people in (a) Mid Bedfordshire constituency and (b) England have outstanding field boundary correction cases with the Rural Payments Agency.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of 12 December 2023, there are 854 single business identifiers (individual farm business number) in England with customer notified land changes in our workstack. We do not break these figures down by constituency.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the resources available to beekeepers to tackle the impact of Asian Hornets on (a) honey bees and (b) other wild pollinators in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises that honey bees and wild pollinators are an essential part of our environment and play a crucial role in food production. All pollinators contribute the equivalent of more than £500 million a year to UK agriculture and food production, by improving crop quality and quantity. Pollinators are also beneficial to our wider, natural ecosystems.
Recognising the potential impact that Asian hornet would have on honey bees and wild pollinators, Defra, in collaboration with the Welsh Government, has developed the Asian hornet contingency plan which details the response to Asian hornet. The plan is regularly reviewed and was last updated in January 2023. The operational response is carried out by the National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Animal and Plant Health Agency.
In 2023 the NBU has located and destroyed 72 nests in 56 locations. The NBU has now fine-tuned its response and enhanced its preparedness, and it can frequently find a nest within a day of an initial sighting being reported.
The Defra funding for the NBU is to deliver the Bee Health Programme and other agreed actions including responding to Asian hornet. This includes ensuring that NBU inspectors’ expertise is maintained through training, and that they have the necessary equipment and support to work effectively.
NBU has the necessary skills and experience and is therefore best placed to deliver the operational response.
We appreciate the vital role that beekeepers take in the response through helping raise awareness of the threat of Asian hornet, educating people in identifying these insects, encouraging them to report any suspected sightings and monitoring traps. Accurate and timely reporting is critical to the response and helps the NBU to continue to respond quickly and effectively to any potential nests.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what is the average length of time taken for a field boundary change submission to be processed by the Rural Payments Agency.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Over the last nine months we have received just under 15,900 land change requests, through the RLE1 form, and the average time to complete processing is 13 days recognising that some changes are straightforward, and some take more time depending on the extent of the changes requested. The introduction of the RLE1 online service will streamline land change requests moving forward.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment Ofwat has made of the affordability of water bills for pensioners living in poverty.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Affordability of water bills is an important area of focus for Ofwat as customers are at the heart of its regulatory activity. Water companies are tasked with providing support to customers that are financially struggling and Ofwat is continuing to push companies to provide prompt, accessible support to the customers that need it most.
Ofwat also monitors the experiences of bill payers through its cost-of-living survey, including how customers respond to changes in water bills. This includes information on older people without private pensions, and those struggling to pay bills.
Ofwat expect water companies to do everything they can to support all customers who are vulnerable, in debt or struggling to pay. In so doing, it will continue to work closely with the Consumer Council for Water who also have an important role in the provision of affordability support for consumers, including having regard to the interests of individuals of pensionable age.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for the sustainable farming initiative have been started but not completed by farms in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window and as of 05 December there are currently 20 farm businesses who have started an application but not submitted yet for the Mid Bedfordshire Constituency.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help prevent off-road vehicles used for recreational purposes causing damage to (a) farmland and (b) the wider countryside in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In our response to the Landscapes Review we launched a public consultation on the future of green lanes, using it as an opportunity to listen to the views of all those affected. We recognise that these unsealed routes often provide essential vehicular access for local residents and businesses without causing damage or disturbance. We have convened a multi-user stakeholder working group to consider further the vulnerability to damage of all green lanes.
It is the responsibility of local authorities to issue Traffic Regulations Orders to protect sensitive areas where necessary.