Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to increase payment rates for the (a) Higher Level Stewardship and (b) Upland Entry Level Stewardship schemes.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not have plans to update prices for Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) or Upland Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) agreements. This is because these agreements are made on a whole farm basis and payments work differently in those schemes.
From the 1st of January 2023 we made it possible for customers in HLS leave their agreements early, without recovery of payments, and enter another land management scheme and we will continue to support these moves. The new scheme must be of equivalent or greater environmental value than the HLS component of their existing agreement. Agreement holders can also apply for a Countryside Stewardship, Sustainable Farming Incentive and/or a Landscape Recovery agreement for any land that does not already contain a HLS option, they can be next to each other but must not overlap.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers have applied to the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier in the most recent application window; and what proportion of those were (a) eligible for and (b) offered an agreement.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The application deadline for the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme closed on 28 April 2023 with 1,450 applications received by the Rural Payments Agency. As of 22 November 2023, there were 1,223 eligible applications (84.3%) of which, 585 offers of agreement had been made (47.8% of eligible applications). Applications continue to be processed and agreement offers sent on a daily basis.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farms are included in the Countryside Stewardship scheme in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of 14 November, there are 90 farm businesses with a current Countryside Stewardship Agreement or a Countryside Stewardship Agreement starting on 1 January 2024 for the Mid Bedfordshire Constituency.
Mentions:
1: Earl of Caithness (Con - Excepted Hereditary) The improved payment rates for the SFI and Countryside Stewardship scheme are to be commended. - Speech Link
2: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (LD - Life peer) This would instead evolve into the existing Countryside Stewardship scheme. - Speech Link
3: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab - Life peer) However, the Countryside Stewardship scheme already includes the control and management of some invasive - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Selaine Saxby (Con - North Devon) hedgerows without approval, and our countryside stewardship schemes, which help to maintain and restore - Speech Link
2: Tim Farron (LD - Westmorland and Lonsdale) It is good that the options provided through countryside stewardship are there, but they will only be - Speech Link
3: Rebecca Pow (Con - Taunton Deane) Remember that this is a new scheme; farmers are rolling off their countryside stewardship schemes on - Speech Link
May. 15 2024
Source Page: CS, ES and SFI option uptake data 2024Found: Official Statistics CS, ES and SFI option uptake data 2024 Countryside Stewardship
Mar. 14 2024
Source Page: Rural Payments Agency opens claim windows for farm payments for 2024Found: The claim window for existing Countryside Stewardship (CS) revenue and Environmental Stewardship (ES
Mentions:
1: Mark Spencer (Con - Sherwood) stewardship —particularly in mid-tier—and the sustainable farming incentive. - Speech Link
2: Steve Reed (LAB - Croydon North) We also value the role that farmers play in protecting our great British countryside. - Speech Link
3: Tim Farron (LD - Westmorland and Lonsdale) I want more people in stewardship schemes, landscape recovery and SFI. - Speech Link
4: Thérèse Coffey (Con - Suffolk Coastal) What are we doing to ensure we open the doors to welcome them into SFI and countryside stewardship? - Speech Link
5: Mark Spencer (Con - Sherwood) The scheme has already had a higher uptake than in the first few years of countryside stewardship and - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Lord Cromwell (XB - Excepted Hereditary) I spent last month bouncing back and forth between officials who deal with Countryside Stewardship and - Speech Link
2: Lord Benyon (Con - Life peer) The noble Lord is a weapons-grade guardian of the countryside, and I want to make sure that people like - Speech Link
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 list all Government investments in the farming sector in Christchurch constituency since 1 April 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has supported the farming and rural sector through payments under a range of schemes.
Since 1 April 2023, the RPA has released through schemes and grants approximately £326k in the Christchurch constituency. A breakdown of these figures is in the table below.
Basic Payment Scheme | Countryside Stewardship Scheme | Environmental Stewardship | Sustainable Farm Incentive | Other Grants | Total |
£218,516 | £57,616 | £21,286 | £5,602 | £22,802 | £325,822 |
There are no species recovery or landscape recovery projects funded within the Christchurch constituency.
There are no live Conservation and Enhancement Scheme agreements.
The Dorset peat project is Defra funded. However, there are no peat restoration sites within the constituency boundary – sites at Cannon Hill and Holt Heath are close to the boundary.
The only project to highlight which falls within the constituency is the Salisbury to sea (Christchurch Harbour) fish barrier removal study, which also incorporates floodplain reconnection opportunities funded by Network Rail but is being managed and contracted by Natural England in partnership with the Environment Agency.
Except for New Forest Higher Level Stewardship there are no other funds that Natural England is aware of linked to New Forest National Park which overlaps at the east boundary of the constituency.
There are Countryside Stewardship agreements funded and associated investment of time by Natural England staff locally on agri agreements and Catchment Sensitive Farming (Stour and Avon catchments) within the Christchurch constituency.