Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Sustainable Farming Incentive for upland farmers with non-improved grassland.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Low and no Input Grassland standard is currently being piloted for SFI and will support farmers to sustainably manage their low and no input grasslands to benefit wildlife, including pollinators, by protecting existing quality habitat and improving the diversity of other grasslands.
Our current indicative date for the introduction of the Low and no Input Grassland standard into the live scheme is 2024. We will publish more details in due course.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of support for upland farmers moving to the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Answered by Mark Spencer
We are rolling the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme out over time. The first step of that roll out includes the Moorland Standard. We have worked regularly with a group of stakeholders, including farmers and practitioners, to develop that Standard within the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme. This standard has the sole focus on, and eligibility for land mapped above the moorland line in the uplands of England. It forms an integral part of the offer for those farming in the uplands alongside the other elements of the scheme they may also be eligible for.
We will continue to expand Sustainable Farming Incentive so that upland farmers are able to access funding for a wide range of activities so that they can maintain sustainable farm businesses which deliver for food, farming and the environment.
As we roll out the Sustainable Farming Incentive offer, upland farmers will continue to benefit from the Countryside Stewardship scheme, and the legacy Environmental Stewardship offer. In combination, alongside the grants we offer, free business advice and targeted innovation funding, upland farmers have access to a range of offers to invest in their businesses.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many upland farmers are enrolled in the pilot of the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Answered by Mark Spencer
As of 30th November 2022, there were 834 farmers taking part in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Pilot scheme. Using the criteria of having at least one land parcel within the categorisation of being in a Less Favoured Area, there are 109 upland farmers.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to review the (a) financial and (b) other support available for upland farmers in Areas of Outstanding National Beauty.
Answered by Mark Spencer
We have a range of offers available to upland farmers within Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). At the moment, farmers can access Countryside Stewardship which offers multi-year payments to maintain and enhance on farm environments. Currently, 75% of priority habitat that is above the moorland line is within such an environmental agreement.
We also have a range of grant offers to upland farms so that they can invest in their productivity. More offers will open shortly, such as those for slurry infrastructure. For farmers in Protected Landscapes in England (including AONBs), the Farming in Protected Landscape programme offers funding to support farm businesses to deliver projects across the four themes of the programme; climate, nature, people and place.
We have worked regularly with a group of stakeholders, including farmers and practitioners, to develop a specific Moorland Standard within the Sustainable Farming Incentive Scheme. This standard has the sole focus and eligibility on land mapped above the moorland line in the uplands of England. It forms an integral part of the offer for those farming in the uplands alongside the other elements of the scheme they may also be eligible for. This is the first offer that we will build more onto over time.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
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 17 October to Question 61123 on Property Flood Resilience Scheme, whether her Department plans to publish the update Property Flood Resilience Repair Grant scheme before the end of this year.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The outcomes of the evaluation of the Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Repair Grant Scheme will be published in 2023.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect the British agricultural sector from the potential threat of African Swine Fever.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Following a risk assessment by the Animal and Plant Health Agency regarding the threat of African Swine Fever (ASF), on 31 August we announced new controls restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain to help safeguard Britain's pig population. Travellers from the EU are no longer allowed to bring pork or pork products weighing over two kilograms into GB, unless they are produced to the EU's commercial standards. The new controls, which came into force on 1 September, will strengthen GB's biosecurity in relation to the standards for bringing pork and pork products into GB from the EU and EFTA states.
A UK-wide exercise that simulated an outbreak of ASF was carried out in 2021 to test government contingency plans to contain and eliminate the disease in the event that it reached the UK. The aim of the exercise was to help improve the UK’s animal disease response capabilities through testing plans, instructions and the structures employed in managing an outbreak.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the (a) Secretary of State for International Trade, (b) Minister for the Cabinet Office and (c) Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential threat posed by African Swine Fever to the British agricultural sector.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Animal Health and Plant Agency has carried out an assessment on the risk of entry of African swine fever (ASF) into Great Britain from the EU Member States and found the overall risk to be medium. HM Government takes the threat to the UK posed by animal diseases very seriously and regularly exercises its contingency plans to ensure they are fit for purpose, including through a UK-wide exercise that simulated an outbreak of ASF in 2021.
We introduced new controls on 1 September restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain to help safeguard Britain's pig population. Travellers from the EU are no longer allowed to bring pork or pork products weighing over two kilograms into GB, unless they are produced to the EU's commercial standards. More information on the new controls can be found on GOV.UK. www.gov.uk/government/news/strict-new-controls-on-pork-and-pork-products-to-protect-britains-pig-sector-against-african-swine-fever.