Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department makes available to farmers on the management of arable field margins to provide benefits for wildlife.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra provides guidance to farmers and other land managers on the management of arable field margins as part of agri-environment schemes such as Environmental Stewardship. The new Countryside Stewardship scheme will continue and enhance this guidance.
Farmers not wanting to sign up to an agri-environment scheme can obtain advice from a variety of sources, including the Campaign for the Farmed Environment.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
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 10 September 2014 to Question 208409, what the maximum level of fine and sanction available for illegal tree felling was in each year since 1982; and when the level of fine or sanction was last reviewed and last increased under provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 1982.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The penalty for felling a tree without the authority of a felling licence is prescribed by section 17 of the Forestry Act 1967. A person guilty of this offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or twice the sum which appears to the court to be the value of the tree, whichever is the higher. The standard scale of fines was introduced into the Forestry Act by the Criminal Justice Act 1982.
Changes to the standard scale are made the Ministry of Justice and apply uniformly across all offences using the standard scale. The level 4 fine maximum at present is £2,500.
Since 1982, the standard scale has been revised as follows:
Level: | 1982: | 1992 (as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1991): |
1 | £25 | £200 |
2 | £50 | £500 |
3 | £200 | £1,000 |
4 | £500 | £2,500 |
5 | £1,000 | £5,000 |
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
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 12 September 2014 to Question 208678, what guidance her Department issues on the meaning of Best Available Technology to remove phosphates from water.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Neither Defra nor the Environment Agency has issued guidance on the meaning of Best Available Technology to remove phosphates from sewage.
In order to meet the Environmental Quality Standards required by the Water Framework Directive, the Environment Agency sets permit limits for sewage discharge works. The appropriate technology employed to achieve those permit limits is a matter for the operator and is not specified by the Environment Agency.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions the Forestry Commission has brought for the illegal felling of trees in each of the last five years.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 September 2014, Official Report, columns 601W – 602W.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department provides on the determination of allowable increases in phosphate pollution levels in English rivers.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
In July Defra published updated Ministerial guidance to the Environment Agency to assist it in carrying out its river basin planning functions under the Water Framework Directive. This includes guidance on environmental standards such as phosphates standards.
Current phosphate standards are set out in Directions to the Environment Agency and will apply to the end of the current six-year planning cycle in 2015.
Updated standards for phosphate will apply for the next six-year river basin planning cycle. This follows a review and consultation by the UK Water Framework Directive Technical Advisory Group. The new standards will be reflected in revised Directions to the Agency.
These standards define the levels of phosphorus required in order to achieve good ecological status and are used by the Environment Agency in setting objectives for rivers.