Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the (a) Landscape Recovery and (b) Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship schemes will be re-opened for applications.

A) The Government reconfirmed its commitment to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes in the recent Spending Review.  Landscape Recovery projects that were awarded funding in rounds one and two are continuing, and we are moving into the delivery phase with the first round of projects. Plans for a third round of Landscape Recovery will be confirmed in due course.

B) Defra is rolling out the improved Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) scheme this year. We have invited farmers and land managers to begin the pre-application process. There will be opportunities for other farmers and land managers to access CSHT in the future. More details on the timing and approach to widening applications will be published later this year.