theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_193
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_193

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who breached the terms of their visa were subsequently granted indefinite leave to remain since 4 July 2024. \p Mike Tapp: Obtaining the specific information requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple systems owned by multiple teams across the Home Office as well as the manual checking of records and, therefore, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_194
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_194

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to paragraph 20 of the Explanatory Notes to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, whether the statutory advisory group that will provide an opportunity for the voices of victims and survivors of the Troubles to be heard will include alleged members of paramilitary organisations. \p Hilary Benn: The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill requires appointments to the Victims and Survivors Advisory Group to be made following consultation with relevant individuals, in order to inform the appointments process. I will publish details of who will be consulted. I have already committed to a publicly advertised application process for members of the Advisory Group.
wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_195
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_195

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to paragraph 20 of the Explanatory Notes to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, whether the requirement for the Legacy Commission and coroners to consider the welfare of witnesses when requesting or requiring them to give evidence will include alleged members of paramilitary organisations. \p Hilary Benn: The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill includes strong safeguards for veterans that were not included in the 2023 Act, and that respond directly to the concerns expressed during engagements that the Government has undertaken. The Government is also taking forward some measures on a non-legislative basis. All of the measures that the Government has announced are being introduced in order to protect and ensure fair treatment of any veteran who is asked to engage with legacy mechanisms.

Some measures will apply only to veterans, including the protection from cold calling and the new safeguard that ensures veterans from giving unnecessary evidence on historical context and general operational details.

Other measures, including the right to give evidence remotely and having regard to the welfare of witnesses, will necessarily apply to others. This will ensure, for example, that former police officers are able to avail of these measures.
wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_196
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_196

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to paragraph 20 of the Explanatory Notes to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, whether seeking anonymity when giving evidence remotely to the Legacy Commission will include alleged members of paramilitary organisations. \p Hilary Benn: The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill includes strong safeguards for veterans that were not included in the 2023 Act, and that respond directly to the concerns expressed during engagements that the Government has undertaken. The Government is also taking forward some measures on a non-legislative basis. All of the measures that the Government has announced are being introduced in order to protect and ensure fair treatment of any veteran who is asked to engage with legacy mechanisms.

Some measures will apply only to veterans, including the protection from cold calling and the new safeguard that ensures veterans from giving unnecessary evidence on historical context and general operational details.

Other measures, including the right to give evidence remotely and having regard to the welfare of witnesses, will necessarily apply to others. This will ensure, for example, that former police officers are able to avail of these measures.
wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_197
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_197

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to paragraph 20 of the Explanatory Notes to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, whether right to give evidence remotely will include alleged members of paramilitary organisations. \p Hilary Benn: The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill includes strong safeguards for veterans that were not included in the 2023 Act, and that respond directly to the concerns expressed during engagements that the Government has undertaken. The Government is also taking forward some measures on a non-legislative basis. All of the measures that the Government has announced are being introduced in order to protect and ensure fair treatment of any veteran who is asked to engage with legacy mechanisms.

Some measures will apply only to veterans, including the protection from cold calling and the new safeguard that ensures veterans from giving unnecessary evidence on historical context and general operational details.

Other measures, including the right to give evidence remotely and having regard to the welfare of witnesses, will necessarily apply to others. This will ensure, for example, that former police officers are able to avail of these measures.
wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_198
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_198

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to paragraph 20 of the Explanatory Notes to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, whether protection from repeated investigations will include alleged members of paramilitary organisations. \p Hilary Benn: The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill includes strong safeguards for veterans that were not included in the 2023 Act, and that respond directly to the concerns expressed during engagements that the Government has undertaken. The Government is also taking forward some measures on a non-legislative basis. All of the measures that the Government has announced are being introduced in order to protect and ensure fair treatment of any veteran who is asked to engage with legacy mechanisms.

The Commission’s duty to avoid duplication unless it is considered essential will apply to all of its investigations. This will ensure that the Commission’s investigations are effective, efficient, and focused on getting answers for families, whilst also protecting veterans from having to unnecessarily provide information previously covered.
wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_199
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_199

Robin Swann:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department’s policies of the Northern Ireland Minister for the Economy ‘s decision not to engage with the Government’s trade talks with Israel. \p Hilary Benn: Trade policy is a reserved matter and the UK Government is responsible for negotiating international trade agreements on behalf of all the nations and regions in the UK.

This Government suspended trade negotiations with Israel on 20 May, owing to the actions of the Israeli Government in Gaza and the West Bank.
wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_200
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_200

Edward Argar:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the equitability of National Grid's transition from the purchase of wayleaves to the purchase of easements with one-off payments for hosting grid infrastructure. \p Michael Shanks: The government encourages voluntary agreements between electricity network developers and landowners as they can support enduring relationships. The government has not carried out an assessment of the equitability of paying landowners regularly under a wayleave versus a one-off easement payment and it is up to the parties involved in the agreement to assess whether the terms are equitable.
wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_201
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_201

Mary Glindon:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for the forthcoming climate action plan. \p Katie White: My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State has regular discussions with my Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a number of issues.
wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_202
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-23 conversation_202

Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the GB Energy founding statement, published on 25 July 2024, when Local Power Plans will be published. \p Michael Shanks: The Local Power Plan is a joint strategy between GBE and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. This document will outline our shared long-term vision for the local and community energy sector: to drive the growth of locally-owned renewable energy projects and support efforts to unlock cleaner, cheaper and more resilient power at the community level. This will give communities a direct stake in the transition to net zero.

We are continuing to develop the Local Power Plan with GBE and other key stakeholders and updates on publication will be provided soon.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_1

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how long a period of notice was given to stakeholders before the closure of SFI. \p Daniel Zeichner: To ensure fair access, and to avoid the risk of overspend, we could not give any advance notice to avoid creating a sudden increase in the level of demand.

Whilst we aim to give notice where possible (and we are aware the application service mentioned this intention of 6 weeks’ notice), there was no requirement in the scheme rules for SFI24 for us to give any notice before we closed applications.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_2

Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will list the (a) application deadlines and (b) start dates for each funding scheme for (i) farmers, (ii) growers and (iii) land managers; and the hectarage covered in each scheme. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra operates a page on gov.uk, “Funding for farmers, growers and land managers”. This page advises about grants and other funding currently open or opening soon, and includes links to the relevant scheme or grant webpage. Information about application deadlines for each grant is found on those webpages.

We will update on plans for any further schemes following the Spending Review.

Defra also operates a page on gov.uk, Area of land in agri-environment schemes. The latest data available for that page dates to 2022, and shows that in that year the total area of land in entry-level agreements was 1.4 million hectares and the total area of land in higher-level or targeted agri-environment agreements in England was 2.3 million hectares.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_3

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support farmers. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Government’s commitment to our farmers remains steadfast. It’s why we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years – more money than ever for sustainable food production.

This is funding over 37,000 live Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements, increased payments under Higher Level Stewardship (HLS), and Round 1 and 2 Landscape Recovery projects. It will also fund new Higher Tier agreements and Capital Grants, both of which open or re-open to applications later this year.

We have allocated £60 million to the Farming Recovery Fund for farmers affected by extreme weather, and £208 million to protect against disease threats.

We have also recently announced further policies including extending the Seasonal Worker visa route for five more years, backing British produce in government catering contracts, and investing £110 million in agri-technology. A new commissioner for the tenant farming sector will be appointed, and a veterinary agreement with the EU will be sought to ease export red tape. The government will also protect farmers from low welfare trade deals and lower energy bills by connecting renewable energy to the National Grid.

Other measures include a land-use framework for food security and nature recovery, a Cross-Government Rural Crime Strategy, and a British Infrastructure Council to drive private investment in rural areas.

The Government is also committed to making the supply chain fairer, with upcoming reviews on the pig, egg, poultry, and fresh produce sectors.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_4

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with farmers on the potential impact of changes to (a) basic payments, (b) the Sustainable Farming Initiative, (c) capital grants and (d) higher tier schemes on farming businesses. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Secretary of State believes in the importance of continued engagement with the sector and has spoken with several farmers since his appointment. Defra ministers and officials will continue to work closely with the farming sector to develop and improve our offers to make sure they work for as many different farmers and land types as possible.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_5

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Forestry and Arboriculture Training Fund will support courses available in Bedfordshire. \p Mary Creagh: The Forestry and Arboriculture Training Fund is currently closed for applications. The Forestry Commission is collecting feedback from those who have attended the course and will be working with key stakeholders to deliver the Forestry Sector Skills Plan.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_6
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_6

Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the alignment of the timing of funding schemes for farmers with the farming calendar. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra will be opening the Environmental Land Management (ELM) Capital Grant scheme and the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier offer in the Summer on a rolling application window basis. This will enable farmers to apply throughout the year, while enabling Defra to continue to monitor the situation to make sure demand doesn’t exceed the available funding. For the ELM Capital Grant scheme, farmers will be able to apply for a grant in more than one category but only submit one application per farm business Single Business Identifier (SBI) can be submitted per year. Other grants remain open, including grants for Woodland management plans, the Higher Tier Capital Grant, Capital grants plans, the Protection and Infrastructure grant, and Woodland tree health grants.

We expect to publish more information about the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer in summer 2025. This will include an indication of when we expect to re-open SFI for applications.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_7
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_7

Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on (a) the size of the egg laying hen population, (b) the number and proportion of egg laying hens that are kept in caged systems and (c) the number and proportion of eggs that come from caged hens. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra’s official statistics on livestock populations in the United Kingdom, published in June 2024, state that the total number of egg-laying hens (including breeding birds) was 54.6 million birds. Of these, 41.9 million were laying hens and pullets for table egg production.

Defra does not hold published figures on the number of egg-laying hens kept in caged systems, known as enriched ‘colony’ cage systems. However, Defra’s latest statistics indicate that in 2024, the UK Egg Industry produced 2.6 billion eggs for human consumption from hens in enriched ‘colony’ cage systems, accounting for 22% of total UK production.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_8
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_8

Andrew George:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will set targets in the updated Environmental Improvement Plan for the biodiversity recovery of (a) wetlands, (b) peat bogs (c) coastal strips, (d) grasslands, (e) woodlands and forests and (f) other significant habitats. \p Mary Creagh: The Government concluded a rapid review of the existing Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) and published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025.

Later in 2025 we will publish a revised EIP, to protect and restore our natural environment with delivery information to help meet the ambitious Environment Act targets. It will be a clearer, prioritised plan for achieving environmental outcomes such as reducing waste across the economy, planting more trees, improving air quality and halting the decline in species.

We have legally binding targets have been carefully designed to enable biodiversity recovery. These are:
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_9
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_9

Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his department conducted an impact assessment before the decision to close the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme was made. \p Daniel Zeichner: We publish regular statistics on Farm Business Income broken down in various ways. Farming evidence packs have been recently updated including key statistics and farm performance. These set out an extensive range of data to provide an overview of agriculture in the UK. We will continue to carry out appropriate and timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development.

On the 11 of March 2025, we published forecasts which suggest that average Farm Business Income has risen in 2024/25 across all farm types with the exception of cereal farms. This follows a fall in income for most farm types in 2023/24, after some exceptional highs in the two preceding years.

Across England, 50,000 farm businesses are already in agri-environmental schemes. We will open up initial applications for CS Higher tier and a revised ELM capital grants offer later in the Summer.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_10
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_10

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to re-open the Sustainable Farming Incentive for new applications for farmers in South Suffolk constituency. \p Daniel Zeichner: This Government has committed £5 billion over 2 years to sustainable farming and nature recovery and we’ve worked hard to get as many farmers into environmental land management schemes as possible.

We have closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for new applications because the current SFI budget has been successfully allocated, with large-scale uptake of the scheme and 37,000 live SFI agreements delivering towards our environmental targets.

We will be reforming the SFI offer to direct funding towards SFI actions which are most appropriate for the least productive land and have the strongest case for enduring public investment. This will allow us to align SFI with our work on the Land Use Framework and the 25-year farming roadmap to protect the most productive land and boost food security, whilst delivering for nature.

We expect to publish more information about the reformed SFI offer in summer 2025. This will include an indication of when we expect to re-open SFI for applications.

We invite farmers from South Suffolk to follow our blog to keep updated on the latest news.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_11
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_11

Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with (a) police forces, (b) local authorities and (c) animal welfare groups on helping to prevent future dog-on-dog attacks. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra is continuing to work with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to explore measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. This includes continuing to consider how we can improve data collection and recording so we are in a better position to take action.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_12
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_12

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an estimate of the number of farms that did not apply for the Sustainable Farming Incentive before its closure. \p Daniel Zeichner: On 31st December 2024, SFI23 agreements covered 39% of the utilised agricultural area (UAA) of England, and SFI expanded offer agreements a further 4%. Approximately 64% of the UAA of England was under an agri-environment scheme.

Approximately 30% of the 100,000 active farm businesses registered with the RPA had SFI agreements as of the 1st of January 2025. Approximately 50% of farm businesses have an agri-environment agreement.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_13
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_13

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive on the viability of family farms. \p Daniel Zeichner: 50,000 farm businesses are already in agri-environmental schemes. We will open up initial applications for Countryside Stewardship Higher tier and a revised Environmental Land Management capital grants offer later in the Summer.

On the 11th of March 2025 we published forecasts which suggest that Average Farm Business Income has risen in 2024/25 across all farm types with the exception of cereal farms. This follows a fall in income for most farm types in 2023/24, after some exceptional highs in the two preceding years.

For all farm types, except for Cereals, expected reductions in Direct Payments have been completely offset by projected increases in other Farm Business Income components in 2024/25.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_14
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_14

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of pausing the Sustainable Farming Incentive for new applications on (a) flood risk and (b) flood management for agricultural land in South Suffolk constituency. \p Daniel Zeichner: All actions in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) have been assessed for the impact on a number of indicators, including flood risk. By benefiting soil health, many of the actions in SFI will reduce flood risk by increasing infiltration and therefore, reducing run off. These actions will be delivered across tens of thousands of farmers for the next three years. The specific actions to manage flood risk are mainly in Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier, which will open in the summer.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_15
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_15

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of levels of sustainability of the fishing industry in the South Atlantic on fish imports. \p Daniel Zeichner: The volume of fish caught in the South Atlantic, which are then imported into the UK, is low when compared with the primary sources of UK seafood imports. All seafood imported into the UK has to be accompanied by appropriate documentation, demonstrating that the fish have been caught legally and in line with the relevant governance arrangements.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_16
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_16

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number of farms that hadn't applied to the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme before its closure in West Dorset constituency. \p Daniel Zeichner: Our recent published statistics on area under agri-environment schemes can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/area-under-agri-environment-schemes-in-england-2024/area-under-agri-environment-schemes-in-england-at-31st-december-2024

They show that 58% of Dorset land parcel area (which approximates the eligible area) was under SFI agreements.

In January 2025, there were 1,400 SFI23 and 400 SFI expanded offer agreements in the ITL2 area of Dorset and Somerset.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_17
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_17

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the timing of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme on farmers. \p Daniel Zeichner: We publish regular statistics on Farm Business Income. Farming evidence packs for example have been recently updated including key statistics and farm performance. These set out an extensive range of data to provide an overview of agriculture in the UK. We will continue to carry out appropriate and timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development.

On the 11th of March 2025 we published forecasts which suggest that average Farm Business Income has risen in 2024/25 across all farm types with the exception of cereal farms. This follows a fall in income for most farm types in 2023/24, after some exceptional highs in the two preceding years.

For all farm types, except for Cereals, expected reductions in Direct Payments have been completely offset by projected increases in other Farm Business Income components in 2024/25.

50,000 farm businesses are already in agri-environmental schemes. We will open up initial applications for Countryside Stewardship Higher tier and a revised Environmental Land Management capital grants offer later in the Summer.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_18
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_18

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons his Department decided to (a) announce the closure of and (b) close the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme to new applicants on the same day. \p Daniel Zeichner: This Government has committed £5 billion over 2 years to sustainable farming and nature recovery and we’ve worked hard to get as many farmers into environmental land management schemes as possible.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) now has more than 37,000 multi-year live agreements and is not only delivering sustainable food production and nature’s recovery for today and the years ahead, but it is also putting money back into farmers’ pockets.

With record numbers of farm businesses in farming schemes and the sustainable farming budget successfully allocated, we have stopped accepting new applications for SFI.

This high uptake of the scheme means it is fully subscribed. The decision to close the scheme to new applications was taken at that point.  We could not give any advance notice because we needed to ensure fair access to the scheme and avoid creating a sudden increase in the level of demand.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_19
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_19

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to introduce a replacement scheme following the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme. \p Daniel Zeichner: We have closed Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for new applications because the current SFI budget has been successfully allocated, with large-scale uptake of the scheme and 37,000 live SFI agreements delivering towards our environmental targets.

Now is the right time for a reset: supporting farmers, delivering for nature and targeting public funds fairly and effectively towards our priorities for food, farming and nature.

We will be reforming the SFI offer to direct funding towards SFI actions which are most appropriate for the least productive land and have the strongest case for enduring public investment. This will allow us to align SFI with our work on the Land Use Framework and the 25-year farming roadmap to protect the most productive land and boost food security, whilst delivering for nature.

A budget will be set for the coming year in the Chancellor’s spending review. Now the scheme is fully allocated it will temporarily close to new applicants while we will work with the farming sector to prioritise funding for future years so we can target those who will benefit most before reopening to new applicants.

We expect to publish more information about the reformed SFI offer in summer 2025. This will include an indication of when we expect to re-open SFI for applications.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_20
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_20

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the replacement scheme for the Sustainable Farming Incentive will be (a) index-linked to inflation and (a) provide greater financial support than the SFI scheme. \p Daniel Zeichner: Prices in schemes have increased in the last 3 years to reflect inflation and pay a fair price for action.

The overall budget has been set in the context of the Spending Review and is sufficient to continue rolling out schemes and paying farmers as planned this year.

The budget for future years will be set in phase 2 of the Spending Review. We will provide further details about the reformed SFI offer following the Spending Review.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_21
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_21

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how he plans to support upland farmers who were intending to move onto the Sustainable Farming Incentive following the closure of the scheme. \p Daniel Zeichner: We fully recognise the importance of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for upland farmers – and we strongly want the scheme to be available to them as we move forward.

We have closed SFI for new applications because the current SFI budget has been successfully allocated, with large-scale uptake of the scheme and 37,000 live SFI agreements delivering towards our environmental targets.

We will be reforming the SFI offer to direct funding towards SFI actions which are most appropriate for the least productive land and have the strongest case for enduring public investment.

We expect to publish more information about the reformed SFI offer in summer 2025. This will include an indication of when we expect to re-open SFI for applications.

In the meantime, as announced on 25th February, we’re increasing HLS payment rates. We believe this uplift better reflects the contributions made by those with HLS agreements and will support the continued protection and management of these sites.

We will also open the rolling application window for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier this summer and have published information that sets out what upland farmers can do now to prepare to apply for CSHT.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_22
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_22

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the funding for the new National Biosecurity Centre is being paid for out of the agricultural budget which was previously committed to go towards farmers directly as public payments for public goods. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Government has committed to setting up a new National Biosecurity Centre to transform the Animal and Plant Health Agency animal health facility at Weybridge, investing £200 million to improve our resilience against animal disease to protect farmers and food producers. This is funded from a budget separate from the record £5 billion of funding in the farming budget for this year and next.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_23
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_23

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Sustainable Farming Incentive on meeting environmental targets for (a) species abundance and (b) improving water quality. \p Daniel Zeichner: We have paused the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) ahead of reforming it. This is the third time SFI has been paused. We will confirm plans for the reformed SFI in the summer and we expect that scheme to contribute to these outcomes. There are also tens of thousands of farmers in SFI for three years, supporting those outcomes.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_24
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_24

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive on (a) small farms, (b) upland farmers and (c) commoners. \p Daniel Zeichner: We publish regular statistics on Farm Business Income. Farming evidence packs for example have been recently updated including key statistics and farm performance. These set out an extensive range of data to provide an overview of agriculture in the UK. We will continue to carry out appropriate and timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_25
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_25

Adrian Ramsay:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to publish (a) the Elephant Welfare Group's report, (b) the Government's response to the Elephant Welfare Group's report; and what his Department's policy is on the future of elephants in UK zoos. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Government’s policy on the keeping of elephants in zoos will be set out with the publication of the new Standards of Modern Zoo Practice for Great Britain. The new Standards, which will replace the current Secretary of State’s Standards of Modern Zoo Practice, will be published shortly.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_26
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_26

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to support farmers through the agricultural transition following the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive. \p Daniel Zeichner: This Government is proud to have secured the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history, with £5 billion being spent to support farmers over a 2-year period.

Defra has closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for the submission of new applications, existing agreements will continue. Every penny in all existing SFI agreements will be paid to farmers, and outstanding eligible applications that have been submitted will be processed.

We will provide further details about the reformed SFI offer once the Spending Review has been completed.

Whilst we are developing the reformed SFI offer, other schemes will still be available.

SFI is an important offer, but it is part of a wider package. We remain committed to investing in agri-environment schemes. We plan to launch the new Higher Tier scheme later this year; Capital Grants will re-open in summer 2025; we continue to move forward with Landscape Recovery; and we are increasing payment rates for Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement holders to recognise their ongoing commitment to delivering environmental outcome.

Funding from the farming budget also supports the provision of advice within the sector. The Farming Advice Service can assist farmers to review what advice and guidance is available to meet their business needs.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_27
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_27

Robbie Moore:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department made projections on the number of Sustainable Farming Incentive applications it would receive in financial year 2024-25. \p Daniel Zeichner: We monitor forecasts of scheme uptake and spend against the current year budget on an ongoing basis and respond accordingly to maximise the amount that can be delivered. We committed to spending £2.6 billion in 24/25 and are on track to deliver that having responded to a number of demands in year.

Furthermore, we have a full understanding of commitments into future years arising from multi-annual agreements. We monitor the uptake of our demand led schemes which have a budgetary impact on future years (such as SFI) on a regular basis, increasing the frequency of this as the level of commitment approaches the budget available in future years.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_28
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_28

Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution by the hon. Member for Yeovil during the Ministerial Statement on Sustainable Farming Incentive on 12 March 2025, if he will visit farmers in Yeovil constituency to discuss this matter. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Secretary of State believes in the importance of continued engagement with the sector and has spoken with several farmers since his appointment. He will be happy to speak to those in the Yeovil Constituency.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_29
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_29

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2025, to Question 22329, on Noise: Pollution Control, whether his Department has published guidance on established use in statutory nuisance complaints for (a) long-standing chiming clocks and  (b) church bells. \p Emma Hardy: The Statutory Nuisance Regime under Section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA) is designed to provide protection from nuisances including noise, odour, smoke, fumes, artificial light, infestations and accumulations. Local authorities are responsible for investigating nuisance problems brought to their attention under the EPA.

If local authorities consider that a statutory nuisance is happening, has happened or will happen in the future, they must serve an abatement notice (usually on the person responsible).

Further guidance on planning policy on noise, which includes advice on the agent of change’ principle, is published by MHCLG.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_30
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_30

Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will meet with the Seasonal Worker Interest Group to discuss worker welfare on the Seasonal Worker visa. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Home Office, in collaboration with Defra, is arranging a meeting on seasonal worker welfare issues hosted by the Minister for Farming, Daniel Zeichner, and the Minister for Migration, Seema Malhotra MP, later this month. Invitations have been sent to the Seasonal Worker Interest Group, and other interested parties, for this event, which will provide an opportunity to discuss these matters further.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_31
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_31

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2025 to Question 30440 on Housing: Construction, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of enabling developers to meet biodiversity net gain through off-site credits. \p Mary Creagh: The biodiversity gain hierarchy makes clear that a developer should first look to deliver their 10% BNG on-site. If they cannot achieve all or part of the 10% on-site, they must achieve the BNG off-site either on their own land, or by purchasing biodiversity units through the off-site market. If the type of units they need are unavailable in the market, they can purchase statutory biodiversity credits as a last resort.

Developers must follow this hierarchy as set out in legislation. The Government is working with stakeholders to monitor the implementation of BNG to make sure it is working as intended.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_32
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_32

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility fees being (a) illustrative and (b) not intended for business planning purposes on the ability of business to plan for these costs. \p Mary Creagh: The four UK administrations have published three sets of illustrative base fees to help businesses prepare for the implementation of extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging. Thanks to regular engagement and input with a wide range of businesses for the first time we published the third set of illustrative fees showed point estimates as opposed to ranges, providing further certainty.

Large producers are required to submit the next round of 2024 data by 1 April 2025 to ensure the fees are based on accurate data, following this and pending satisfactory regulatory checks, we intend to use these data to publish pEPR base fees by June 2025.

PackUK will continue to monitor the expected base fees as more packaging data is submitted for 2024, and will release a new set of illustrative base fees before June if there are significant changes.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_33
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_33

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to publish new guidance on the exemption process for indirect sales of non-household waste under the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme before fees are calculated for the year starting in April 2025. \p Mary Creagh: Since Autumn 2024, the Government has been working with stakeholders to consider potential future amendments to the definition of household packaging, which includes the exemption process for indirect sales of non-household waste under the pEPR scheme. The Government will provide an update on progress made and next steps shortly.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_34
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_34

James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the capability of the Animal and Plant Health Agency IT equipment. \p Daniel Zeichner: The APHA and Defra leadership teams have benefited from internal audits undertaken each year which look at issues including spend, governance, resilience, cyber security, and asset management. Additional insight into the need for investment in the APHA's IT capability has also come from 3 recent Government Internal Audit Agency audits on; Disaster Recovery, Cyber Security and a more targeted APHA Shadow IT Audit.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_35
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_35

Robin Swann:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2025 to Question 34165 on Food and Livestock: Transport, how many times the Border Control Post has contacted people responsible for a load in relation to (a) concerns and (b) concerns about non-attendance in each of the last twelve months. \p Daniel Zeichner: Due to the intelligence led and dynamic nature of our biosecurity controls, and to ensure operations are not impacted, we are unable to share this data.
wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_36
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-25 conversation_36

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to provide guidance to forestry authorities on prioritising energy generation in the context of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. \p Mary Creagh: The forestry renewables measure, announced as part of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, aims to integrate renewable energy into our natural landscape. Provisions will be in place to ensure that renewable energy developments on forestry land are not at the expense of our natural environment. Forestry England’s general duty to promote the interests of forestry and development of afforestation, as set out by the Forestry Act, will be unchanged.

The Public Forest Estate comprises a mixture of woodland and non-woodland areas. Only projects at suitable locations within the Public Forest Estate will be taken forward to deliver energy generation projects. Renewable energy developments will be subject to the planning process which will include environmental screening, surveys, and mitigation measures on any potential impacts on landscapes and ecology. The estimated footprint of these projects will be relatively small, and we expect no net loss of woodland area.