Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for the proposed new Environmental Land Management Schemes after 2022.
Answered by George Eustice
The Secretary of State and I have regular meetings with the Chancellor on a wide range of issues. Funding of all government business after 2022 will be determined as part of the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 role of public advice in the effective delivery of the proposed new Environmental Land Management Schemes.
Answered by George Eustice
We will be introducing a new Environmental Land Management (ELM) system that will pay land managers for delivering environmental public goods.
The government will work with farmers and land managers who wish to improve the environment by entering into multi-annual ELM contracts in which land managers commit to take certain actions to deliver environmental goods and benefits in return for funding.
We believe that those managing the land are best placed to decide how to deliver the environmental benefits they have signed up to provide. We propose that land managers should have access to the information and advice they need to enable them to develop holistic management plans for their land.
Evidence from previous agri-environment schemes suggests that the effectiveness of measures and the quality of environmental benefits can depend on the quality and extent of advice from trusted advisers. We propose that an approved specialist adviser should be readily available to help the land manager to deliver desirable environmental outcomes. We want land managers to establish trusted relationships with their adviser. We are therefore exploring the role that third party advisers could play. For example, an adviser could be an agronomist who a farmer has worked with in the past and trusts, or an adviser from a local organisation who can advise on local conditions. We expect that these advisers would need to be approved to demonstrate their level of capability and to ensure sufficient protection for the spending of public money. The appetite for existing advisers training to deliver advice within ELM, and the market for delivering this training, is being tested through a combination of policy development, Testing and Trials and social science involvement, with an intelligence assessment in development.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the European Commission on the timing of the publication of the updated controllers of trade in endangered species regulations on wildlife trade; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure sentencing guidelines for wildlife trade offences are put in place.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The updated and consolidated Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations (COTES) that the Department is taking forward concern the domestic implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species controls. As such we have not discussed the timing of their publication with the European Commission.
As part of the review of COTES legislation Defra has held discussions on guidelines for prosecutors with the Crown Prosecution Service, and sentencing guidelines with the Sentencing Council.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has made to the International Whaling Commission on Japan's resumption of whaling in the South Atlantic.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK Government raises its opposition to Japan’s continued whaling at every appropriate opportunity, including at meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Most recently, I raised the issue with the Japanese Fisheries Minister during an official visit to Japan.
We will continue to work closely with countries opposing Japan’s programme of whaling in the build-up to the next IWC meeting in October this year, and will ensure that the UK’s strong opposition is reiterated. Parliamentary business permitting, the UK will again be represented at the Ministerial level, as has been the case at previous IWC meetings.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Slovenia in October 2016 related to Japan's resumption of its whaling programme in the South Atlantic.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK Government raises its opposition to Japan’s continued whaling at every appropriate opportunity, including at meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Most recently, I raised the issue with the Japanese Fisheries Minister during an official visit to Japan.
We will continue to work closely with countries opposing Japan’s programme of whaling in the build-up to the next IWC meeting in October this year, and will ensure that the UK’s strong opposition is reiterated. Parliamentary business permitting, the UK will again be represented at the Ministerial level, as has been the case at previous IWC meetings.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government will be represented at ministerial level at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Slovenia in October 2016.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK Government raises its opposition to Japan’s continued whaling at every appropriate opportunity, including at meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Most recently, I raised the issue with the Japanese Fisheries Minister during an official visit to Japan.
We will continue to work closely with countries opposing Japan’s programme of whaling in the build-up to the next IWC meeting in October this year, and will ensure that the UK’s strong opposition is reiterated. Parliamentary business permitting, the UK will again be represented at the Ministerial level, as has been the case at previous IWC meetings.