Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent enforcement activity the Environment Agency has undertaken to help control the release of phosphates from the agricultural sector in the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar catchment area.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are increasing agricultural inspections in Somerset and other affected areas, which will help address phosphate pollution at source, by recently allocating the Environment Agency (EA) an additional £1.2 million to significantly increase the number of inspectors visiting farmers. We have also escalated our efforts to help farmers take voluntary action beyond regulatory requirements to reduce water pollution by expanding the Catchment Sensitive Farming programme - jointly run by Natural England, EA and Defra - to operate across the whole of England.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
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 he has made of the effectiveness of potential measures to reduce phosphorous discharge into the surface water catchment area for the Somerset Levels and Moors Special Protection Area.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are a range of potential measures that can be deployed to reduce phosphorous discharge in the Somerset Levels and Moors catchment. Natural England and the Environment Agency are working with all the relevant parties, including local planning authorities (LPAs) and Wessex Water as well as landowners and developers to evaluate and implement the various options.
To prevent additional phosphorous loading from new development, mitigation measures such as wetland and woodland creation will need to demonstrate that they will be effective in the long term. It is clear from other catchments facing nutrient loading that they have a key role to play in removing nutrients, enabling nutrient-neutral development. Several mitigation schemes for specific developments have been assessed and approved and the LPAs in Somerset are developing a strategy to support wider rollout of these mitigation schemes. There will be significant further investment of up to £57 million over the next three years by Wessex Water to reduce phosphorous discharge from water treatment works.
In the farming sector there are many joint projects underway and more is likely to be needed. The current approach is to encourage the uptake of voluntary measures to reduce the amount of phosphorous entering the system, including Catchment Sensitive Farming. These include a focus on river and habitat improvements, better farming infrastructure, and enforcement by the Environment Agency where necessary.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to include provisions in the proposed Environment Bill to tackle the use of netting on hedges, hedgerows and trees on development sites.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Environment Bill measures are currently being finalised and will be published in due course.
On netting specifically, while it is not an offence to use netting to exclude birds from potential nesting sites, such action should only be used to help protect birds during development. It is for those who take exclusion measures to ensure the mesh size of netting is suitable for the species involved and is properly maintained so they don’t harm wild birds. We expect local planning authorities to look at these practices closely and take appropriate action where necessary.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Rural Payments Agency will deliver outstanding countryside stewardship payments in full.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) took on responsibility for Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship in October 2018, and is simplifying the administration of the schemes as far as possible under the current EU system by streamlining processes, making changes to IT systems and boosting the workforce to speed up processing.
All eligible Countryside Stewardship 2016 and 2017 claims have received a payment apart from exceptional cases, for example, those that cannot be paid for legal reasons such as probate. Any claim that was not paid a 2018 advance payment by the end of March was issued a bridging payment in early April.
The RPA is on track to meet its commitment to complete 95% of 2018 final payments on claims by the end of July.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to provide support for on-going training for young farmers who have entered the farming industry, to help ensure the sustainability of that workforce.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
It is a key priority of this Government to enable an innovative, productive and competitive agricultural sector, which invests in its people and skills.
The Government is working with industry bodies to improve access to the skills and training required within the industry. The Food and Drink Sector Council identified skills as one of its first priorities. The Council has established a Workforce and Skills Group to develop a long-term action plan for a world-class workforce for all sectors of the food chain, including agriculture.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
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 protect fly-grazed horses; and what support his Department provides to local authorities to help them enforce the Control of Horses Act 2015.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra is keen to ensure that we uphold our high standards of welfare including in relation to fly-grazed horses.
The Control of Horses Act 2015 introduced more flexible options for the management of fly-grazing and other abandoned horses and has been welcomed by landowners, local authorities, countryside bodies and animal welfare charities. The 2015 Act allows landowners, occupiers and local authorities to secure and if necessary remove horses unlawfully left on their land and take them immediately to a place of safety. The person detaining the horse must notify the local police within 24 hours of doing so, and if the horse’s owner can be identified, they must also be notified.
The 2015 Act provides flexibility, meaning that local authorities can use it in a way that meets their specific needs. We encourage all interested parties to work together at local level to use the available powers to address the challenge of abandoned horses.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of using a risk-based approach to the control of bovine tuberculosis after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government’s strategy to eradicate bovine TB in England is based on a risk-based approach. We remain committed to rigorous implementation of the Strategy, while continually assessing the extent to which leaving the EU may provide additional opportunities.