Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
What progress has been made on implementing his Department's 25 Year Environment Plan.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government is already implementing commitments in the plan. We recently consulted on proposals to ban UK sales of ivory, are bringing into force rules to reduce water pollution from agriculture and are legislating to set limits on air pollutants emitted from medium sized combustion plants. Since the plan’s publication, several supermarkets and restaurants have pledged to tackle plastic packaging and single-use plastics.
Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what taxpayer funded grants including EU funds have been received by the RSPB in the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
The department publishes details of all expenditure over £25,000, including grants, at https://data.gov.uk/dataset/financial-transactions-data-defra.
The majority of grants are made under the Darwin/Official Development Assistance (ODA) initiative. The RSPB also receives funding under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Details of specific grants made under CAP in the 2015 and 2016 European Community financial years (16 October – 15 October) can be found via http://cap-payments.defra.gov.uk.
Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 11 of the RSPB's Reserves 2012 report, what information his Department holds on the population of priority bird species on RSPB reserves since 2012.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Defra does not hold information on the population of priority bird species on RSPB reserves.
Asked by: Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hen harrier nests there were on (a) RSPB and (b) non-RSPB reserves in each of the last five years; how many of those nests failed to have any chicks fledge in each of those years; and what the known causes of each of those nest failures were.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has primary control over access to two known hen harrier breeding sites: the RSPB reserve at Geltsdale and United Utilities landholding in the Bowland Fells, a special protection area.
Table 1. Breeding data from sites primarily controlled by RSPB
Year | Area | Outcome | Likely reason for failure |
2014 | Bowland | 5 chicks fledged |
|
2014 | Bowland | 4 chicks fledged |
|
2015 | Bowland | Nest failed | Unknown - chicks dead in nest |
2015 | Bowland | 1 chick fledged |
|
2015 | Bowland | Nest failed | Male missing |
2015 | Bowland | Nest failed | Male missing |
2015 | Bowland | Nest failed | Male missing |
2015 | Bowland | Nest failed | Predation |
2015 | Geltsdale | Nest failed | Male missing |
2016 | Geltsdale | 1 chick fledged |
|
Table 2. Breeding data from sites primarily controlled by other bodies
Year | Area | Outcome | Likely Reason for failure |
2013 | County Durham | Nest failed | Female disappeared/deserted |
2013 | Northumberland | Nest failed | Abnormal eggs |
2014 | Cumbria | 2 chicks fledged |
|
2014 | Peak District | 4 chicks fledged |
|
2015 | Cumbria | 2 chicks fledged |
|
2015 | Cumbria | 3 chicks fledged |
|
2015 | Cumbria | 3 chicks fledged |
|
2015 | Northumberland | 4 chicks fledged |
|
2015 | Northumberland | 5 chicks fledged |
|
2016 | Northumberland | 2 chicks fledged |
|
2016 | Northumberland | 5 chicks fledged |
|
2017 | Northumberland | 4 chicks fledged |
|
2017 | Northumberland | 3 chicks fledged |
|
2017 | Northumberland | Nest failed | Suspected predation |
2017 | Northumberland | 3 chicks fledged |
|
2017 | Northumberland | Nest failed | Likely bad weather - chicks dead in wet nest |
2017 | Yorkshire Dales | Nest failed | Suspected predation |
2017 | Yorkshire Dales | Nest failed | Suspected predation |