Asked by: Julie Cooper (Labour - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on what the maximum amount is that a national government can spend on farming subsidies according to World Trade Organisation rules.
Answered by George Eustice
Farming subsidies are covered by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture which was adopted by WTO members (including the UK) in 1994. This agreement sets out conditions under which domestic support in favour of agricultural producers may be made. More information can be found on the WTO website:
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/ag_intro03_domestic_e.htm.
Individual WTO members’ commitments can be found here:
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/supporting_tables_e.htm
Asked by: Julie Cooper (Labour - Burnley)
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 potential effect on UK agriculture of the UK leaving the EU single market and Customs Union.
Answered by George Eustice
Outside the EU we will create new opportunities for our farmers to grow more, sell more and export more great British food. Alongside our plans for a new domestic agricultural policy, the UK has been clear that it is leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union. We have set out two potential options for our customs arrangement; a customs partnership where at the border the UK would mirror the EU’s requirements for imports from the rest of the world, or a highly streamlined arrangement where we would jointly implement a range of measures to minimise frictions together with provisions for Northern Ireland. Both options would leave the UK free to determine its own tariffs.
Asked by: Julie Cooper (Labour - Burnley)
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 support the viability of the domestic livestock market after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
British farming has a reputation for high animal welfare standards and strong environmental protections. Livestock farmers are meeting ever more demanding consumer expectations, and this focus on quality and provenance will help sell our produce at home and abroad.
As we leave the EU, we want to give farmers the time and the tools to adapt to the future. We have provided much needed stability through our commitment to maintain the same cash total in funds for farm support for the duration of this Parliament. This will avoid a cliff edge but also help farmers prepare properly for change.
Asked by: Julie Cooper (Labour - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to ensure that the Countryside Stewardship scheme will not make any farmer on the previous Entry Level Stewardship scheme financially worse off.
Answered by George Eustice
There are currently 5,838 entry level Environmental Stewardship agreements. In 2018 4,939 expire, and the rest in 2019. Farmers in these agreements will continue to get their payments for the lifetime of the agreements.
We encourage farmers leaving entry level Environmental Stewardship in 2018 to consider applying for Countryside Stewardship. We have introduced four new offers for wildlife on arable, lowland grazing, upland and mixed farms. These new wildlife offers are non-competitive, the form is shorter and we have reviewed and simplified the supporting evidence requirements.
Asked by: Julie Cooper (Labour - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times she has attended public meetings of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee since her appointment.
Answered by George Eustice
Attendance at Committee meetings is a matter of public record and transcripts of such appearances can be found in Hansard and on Committee web pages.
Asked by: Julie Cooper (Labour - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding her Department has allocated for projects to prevent flooding in Burnley and Padiham.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Following the December 2015 flooding, the Environment Agency is developing a revised assessment of flood risk in Padiham, which may identify further measures to reduce flood risk in the area.
The Environment Agency has also allocated £10,000 to the Burnley Ordinary Watercourse Study in 2018/19. The study aims at better understanding the flood risk from ordinary watercourses and will inform any potential future investment needs.
The Fulledge Flood Risk Management Scheme was funded through £345,000 Flood Defence Grant in Aid and was completed in March 2013. The scheme reduces the flood risk to 781 properties in Burnley and helped to significantly reduce flooding in Burnley during storm Eva.
Asked by: Julie Cooper (Labour - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph 1.242 of Budget 2016, how much of the additional £700 million for flood defence and resilience will be spent in Lancashire.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Of the additional £700 million announced in the Budget to be spent on flood defences and resilience, £150m has been allocated to new schemes in Yorkshire and Cumbria. The £40m per year increase in floods maintenance will be spent nationwide according to need. The remaining funding will be allocated following the outcome of the National Flood Resilience Review in the summer.