Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made on the level of funding available for the Northamptonshire Action with Communities in Rural England.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
No estimate has been made on the level of funding available for Northamptonshire Action with Communities in Rural England. That is a matter for discussion between ACRE, as the coordinating body for the Network, and Northamptonshire.
We support the valuable work the ACRE Network does to benefit rural communities. That is why we have confirmed that it will again receive over £2 million worth of funding in the coming year.
Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish a consultation on a licensing scheme for commercial game shooting.
Answered by George Eustice
Landowners are free to run commercial shoots on their land, provided they are carried out appropriately and legally. We have no plans to introduce a licensing system for commercial shoots, or to consult on the matter.
Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will (a) discuss with her counterpart in the Scottish Government the effect of the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 and (b) publish a consultation on vicarious liability for landowners who host commercial game shooting in England.
Answered by George Eustice
The introduction of new legislation requires evidence that it will be effective. We are not yet aware of any successful prosecutions or of any compelling evidence that the introduction of the provisions of vicarious liability in Scotland has had a significant deterrent on those who commit wildlife crime.
We will continue to monitor the situation in Scotland and to consider whether this or a similar offence is necessary and proportionate to assist in tackling wildlife crime in England.
Asked by: Andy Sawford (Labour (Co-op) - Corby)
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 she has made of the value for money of payments to farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy.
Answered by George Eustice
The following documents have been placed in the Library.
In October 2013, alongside the public consultation, Defra published an evidence paper which assessed the impact of the new Common Agricultural Policy and the costs and benefits of payments made to farmers.
https://consult.defra.gov.uk/agricultural-policy/cap-consultation.
Since then a number of more technical implementation decisions were announced and on 11 December 2014 the Common Agricultural Policy Basic Payment and Support Schemes (England) Regulations 2014 No. 3259 were laid in Parliament. Included in the explanatory memorandum to the legislation is a further evidence paper updating some of the analysis and providing further analysis of the impact of some of the more technical decisions.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3259/memorandum/contents
In addition, an impact assessment of the new Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) was published in June 2014 setting out the evidence base on the costs, benefits and value for money.