Asked by: Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - The Cotswolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness of the introduction of the mid-tier countryside stewardship scheme and (b) the effect of the introduction of that scheme on processing existing (i) entry and (ii) higher level stewardship claims.
Answered by George Eustice
Almost 6,000 mid-tier agreements under Countryside Stewardship (CS) are currently in place. A further 10,500 Mid-Tier applications packs have been requested for agreements that would start on 1 January 2019, an increase of 39% on last year.
Natural England, who currently administer the scheme, have been under severe pressure and this has resulted in delays to the issuing of agreements and the processing of payments. We have been working hard to address this, by, for instance introducing 75% bridging payments to CS agreement holders who have yet to receive either an advance or full payment. Agreement offers for the 2018 period were all issued by end-May, allowing agreement holders to submit their claim by 15th June.
Asked by: Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - The Cotswolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) entry level and (b) higher level Stewardship payments remain outstanding for (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and whether his Department has set a date for all such outstanding payments to be resolved.
Answered by George Eustice
A table containing the requested information can be found below. Defra has recently approved additional recovery actions and we now expect Environmental Stewardship advanced and final payments to be substantially completed by mid-August 2018 and mid-October 2018 respectively.
Claim period | Scheme | Payments due | Claims withdrawn or rejected | Payments complete | Payments outstanding |
2016 end of year | ELS | 22,234 | 137 | 21,976 | 121 |
| HLS | 13,978 | 50 | 12,988 | 940 |
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2017 mid-year | ELS | 11,534 | 140 | 11,117 | 277 |
| HLS | 13,190 | 142 | 8,266 | 4,782 |
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2017 end of year | ELS | 11,530 | 117 | 9,081 | 2,332 |
| HLS | 13,146 | 15 | 1,889 | 11,242 |
Asked by: Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - The Cotswolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many claims for payment for work under the Higher Level Stewardship scheme which took place in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17 are unresolved; and whether he has set a target date for the resolution of those claims.
Answered by George Eustice
Holders of Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreements receive two payments: an advance and a final payment.
1,111 (20%) of HLS agreements are still to receive their final payment for 2016.
6,774 (52%) of HLS agreements are still to receive a payment for 2017.
There is no set deadline for Environmental Stewardship payments. Natural England is focused on making the payments and we are keeping farming groups regularly updated on progress.
Asked by: Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - The Cotswolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what priority his Department accords to animal sentience when setting its policies on animal welfare standards.
Answered by George Eustice
The Secretary of State set out the Government’s position in a Written Ministerial Statement on 23 November:
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-11-23/HCWS267/
Asked by: Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - The Cotswolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many members of the board responsible for Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Conservation Area reside in Cotswold district; and how many members of that board are elected representatives of the residents of Cotswold district.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The number of members of the conservation board responsible for the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) who reside in Cotswold district is as follows:
Of the 14 Secretary of State appointed members: two members currently reside in the Cotswold District Council (CDC) area. One of the two members (although already appointed) has not yet taken up his duties. He will do so on 1 December 2017.
Of the 15 local authority members: two members currently reside in the CDC area. The CDC representative resides in the CDC area. A second member, the Gloucestershire County Council representative represents a division within the CDC area and resides in the CDC area.
Of the eight parish members: three members reside in the CDC area and represent parishes within the CDC area.
The Cotswolds AONB covers a significantly larger geographical area than that of the CDC. The Cotswolds AONB geographical area does not actually include all of the CDC area. This is reflected in the Board’s membership.
The current overall membership of the Cotswolds AONB Conservation Board is as follows:
Cotswolds Conservation Board: Membership | |||
Secretary of State Appointed Members | Local Authorities | Parish Councils | Total |
14 | 15 | 8 | 37 |