Contributions
1,962 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveI completely understand that the closure so quickly and unexpectedly has caused difficulties and concern—I just want to say that. However, it is important that, looking to the…18 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveThe noble Baroness’s question references a lot of the longer-term work that Defra is doing to get these things right. Regarding solar farms, the land-use framework is designed to…18 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveThe noble Baroness makes a really good point about the increasing intensification of farming, and that is something we do not want to see. Our focus has to be on high-quality…18 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveMy Lords, as I said, I am very aware that the sudden closure, when farmers were expecting more notice, has not been easy and that, for many people who were intending to put in…18 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveMy Lords, I thank noble Lords for their interest and questions on the Statement. Twice before, the SFI system has been paused when the funding had been used up from the…18 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveI thank my noble friend for those questions. The last time I visited Northern Ireland, I went on a visit with the Ulster Farmers’ Union to a farm to look at the specific…18 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveOn food security, as I mentioned earlier, we currently have 37,000 farmers in the SFI scheme, which equates to about 50% of farmland. The purpose of that is to support them to…18 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveAs I mentioned earlier, this is not the first time that SFI has been paused. The way the scheme operates is that it opens for applications and, when the funding is used up, it is…18 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveAs I said, we need to reform the system and we are working on that; we want it to work as effectively as it possibly can, both to support farmers and to deliver the environmental…18 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveOn the detail of the new scheme, as I mentioned earlier, we will consult with stakeholders on how it needs to be reformed to work better for farmers and the environment. We do not…18 Mar 2025HANSARDFlood Reinsurance (Amendment) Regulations 2025That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 15 January be approved. Considered in Grand Committee on 10 March .17 Mar 2025HANSARDBiodiversity and ConservationThe noble Lord, Lord Gascoigne, and others talked about beavers. I am really pleased that we have been able to set out our approach to the wild release and management of beavers…13 Mar 2025HANSARDBiodiversity and ConservationMy Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Roborough, just said, there have been many questions and I have only 12 minutes to respond. I shall do my best but will of course write with any…13 Mar 2025HANSARDFlood Reinsurance (Amendment) Regulations 2025That the Grand Committee do consider the Flood Reinsurance (Amendment) Regulations 2025.10 Mar 2025HANSARDFlood Reinsurance (Amendment) Regulations 2025I do not have the figure at my fingertips. This is something we are looking at. We have asked business insurance companies and the scheme itself to look at what those costs are,…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHigh Seas TreatyMy Lords, the Government have created a network of marine protected areas covering 40% of English waters, including the first three highly protected marine areas, which were…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHigh Seas TreatyLet me confirm that the Government are completely committed to ratification of the BBNJ agreement, in line with our determination to re-invigorate the UK’s wider international…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHigh Seas TreatyTo confirm, the UN ocean conference is a separate meeting. Therefore, it is not a deadline for ratification of the treaty, but we are committed to the ratification.10 Mar 2025HANSARDHigh Seas TreatyThe BBNJ agreement establishes the mechanism to designate marine protected areas and other areas-based management tools in areas that are beyond national jurisdiction. We have…10 Mar 2025HANSARDHigh Seas TreatyThe noble Earl makes a very good point. No law or agreement is worth anything unless we enforce it. That is why we are determined to do all that we can to achieve our 30 by 30…10 Mar 2025