Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
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 11 April 2025 to Question 44061 on Water Restoration Fund, how environmental (a) fines and (b) penalties collected from (i) water and (ii) sewerage companies since November 2023 will be used.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Water Restoration Fund, which launched in April last year, is reinvesting funding based on water company environmental fines and penalties into projects to improve the water environment. The Water Restoration Fund funding is based on water company fines and penalties from April 2022 until October 2023.
Up to £11m of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects.
Following a rigorous assessment process, I am pleased to say that current applicants to the Water Restoration Fund have been contacted regarding the outcome of their application. Further details regarding which projects have been successful will be shared in due course once funding agreements have been finalised.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on the reinvestment of environmental (a) fines and (b) penalties collected from (i) water and (ii) sewerage companies since November 2023 through the Water Restoration Fund.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Water Restoration Fund is reinvesting funding based on water company environmental fines and penalties into projects to improve the water environment. The Water Restoration Fund funding is based on water company fines and penalties from April 2022 until October 2023.
Up to £11 million of funding was made available on a competitive basis to support a range of water restoration projects.
Following a rigorous assessment process, I am pleased to say that current applicants to the Water Restoration Fund have been contacted regarding the outcome of their application.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding he has allocated to support National Parks in England in 2025-26.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 25/26 the Government is providing £44.8 million resource funding to the 10 National Park Authorities, alongside £15 million capital investment.
Projects in National Parks will also receive funding through extensions to our Farming in Protected Landscapes and Access to All programmes. We have extended Farming in Protected Landscapes until March 2026, providing £30 million across England’s 10 National Parks and 34 National Landscapes. Access For All has also been extended to March 2026, with an additional £6.8 million for National Parks and National Landscapes to deliver improved access to nature for all users.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure small businesses are supported during the implementation of the extended producer responsibility scheme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The aim of packaging extended producer responsibility is to ensure businesses - rather than taxpayers - are responsible for the cost of dealing with packaging when it becomes waste. These plans will encourage manufacturers to reduce the amount of packaging they use and increase recyclable and reusable alternatives.
Packaging extended producer responsibility cost obligations will only apply to large producers with a turnover over £2 million and who place more than 50 tonnes of packaging on the market. This threshold exempts around 70% of producers from paying these fees. Any large producers who supply the exempt producers with empty packaging will pay the fees associated with that packaging.
We have made a full assessment of the impacts that implementing packaging extended producer responsibility will have. This includes assessment of the impacts on small businesses, which can be found in Section 8 of the impact assessment: The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has of the cost of the Extended producer responsibility scheme for small businesses.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The aim of packaging extended producer responsibility is to ensure businesses - rather than taxpayers - are responsible for the cost of dealing with packaging when it becomes waste. These plans will encourage manufacturers to reduce the amount of packaging they use and increase recyclable and reusable alternatives.
Packaging extended producer responsibility cost obligations will only apply to large producers with a turnover over £2 million and who place more than 50 tonnes of packaging on the market. This threshold exempts around 70% of producers from paying these fees. Any large producers who supply the exempt producers with empty packaging will pay the fees associated with that packaging.
We have made a full assessment of the impacts that implementing packaging extended producer responsibility will have. This includes assessment of the impacts on small businesses, which can be found in Section 8 of the impact assessment: The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for reopening the main Capital Grant offer for new applications.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Capital Grants scheme is currently under review after exceptional demand over the Autumn. Officials are currently reviewing the offer to ensure funding goes further to improve outcomes for food security and nature conservation. This review will include looking again at spending controls removed by the last Government. Defra will explain the outcome of that review and provide an update to all applicants, including farmers who have submitted but not yet been offered an agreement, in early 2025.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for announcing the outcome of bids submitted to the Water Restoration Fund in spring 2024.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Water Restoration Fund, which launched in April 2024, was established to reinvest water company environmental fines and penalties into projects to improve the water environment. Defra is continuing to work with His Majesty’s Treasury regarding continued reinvestment of the water company fines and penalties on water environment improvement.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) farmers and (b) landowners are aware of relevant funding initiatives under the ELM scheme which are available to help them comply with environmental objectives.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra regularly communicates and engages with farmers and landowners through a range of methods. Links to Defra’s grants and schemes are available through https://www.gov.uk/guidance/funding-for-farmers, a single webpage designed to make it easier for farmers and landowners to be aware of opportunities available. Regular updates explaining schemes and updating on changes are made through https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/ , which includes a subscription function so users can receive e-mail updates when new posts are published. Defra ministers and engagement teams regularly meet with stakeholders and members of the agricultural community in order to share and discuss Defra’s grants and schemes, including attending agricultural shows and other stakeholder events.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the third round of Landscape Recovery will open for applications.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government reconfirmed its commitment to Environmental Land Management schemes in the recent Spending Review, where we prioritised directing investment to these schemes as part of the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history.
As a core element of the Environmental Land Management schemes, Landscape Recovery is uniquely placed to provide large-scale, long-term benefits for nature, delivering improvements to biodiversity, carbon emissions, water quality, air quality, flood resilience and food security.
Landscape Recovery projects that were awarded funding in rounds one and two are continuing, and we are continuing to move into the delivery phase with the first round of projects. Plans for a third round of Landscape Recovery will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applicants in South Devon constituency received capital grant funding in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
During the Financial Years (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25 a total of 115 Number of Farm Businesses have received Capital Grant Funding in South Devon constituency.
These are broken down by financial year below.
Capital Grants- How many applicants received funding by Volume:
Scheme | 22/23 | 23/24 | 24/25 |
CS Capital Grants | 6 | 29 | 80 |
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