Tag: rural affairs

Bishop of St Albans asks about sustainable farming and countryside stewardship programmes

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 29th April 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government:

  •  when they will publish further information on the combined Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship offer.
  • when farmers will be able to apply for the new combined Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship offer.
  • when guidance for the Sustainable Farming Incentive online application portal will be set out.
  •  when farmers in existing Higher Level Stewardship, Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements can transfer to the new offer.
  • when the new Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship actions can be added to areas already in the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement, particularly in upland areas where the HLS agreement has a linked Upland Entry Level Stewardship agreement.
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Bishop of St Albans asks about proliferation of organised crime in rural areas

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 15th March 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the National Rural Crime Network’s report Rural Crime: Serious, Organised and International, published on 10 March.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con, Home Office): We welcome the National Rural Crime Network’s report and will consider its recommendations.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about tax allowances for second homes

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 21st March 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to scrapping tax breaks for all second homes, and not just short-term lets, as a further step in dealing with the rural housing affordability crisis.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about support for farmers affected by Environmental Land Management Schemes

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 28th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what further steps they plan to take to support and protect upland and hill farmers to offset any loss of income they face under the new environmental land management schemes.

Lord Douglas-Miller (Con, DEFRA): Upland farmers play a vital role in managing some of our most important and iconic landscapes, which are valued and recognised by the public. In addition to farming, the management of upland landscapes can provide many environmental benefits and ecosystem services, including clean air and water, carbon sequestration and flood risk management.

Upland farmers are well placed to benefit from our Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, which are designed to maintain sustainable, productive land which delivers for both farmers and the environment.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about financial penalties for fly-tipping and livestock worrying

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 27th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to increasing the fixed-penalty fine for fly-tipping to a maximum of £2,000.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about access to essential services for rural communities

The Lord Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 13th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposed ‘taxi tax’ on rural communities accessing essential services, particularly healthcare.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about access to bank accounts and services for small businesses

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 5th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government:

  • what assessment they have made of the impact on small businesses in rural areas of having their bank accounts frozen or closed entirely.
  • what assessment they have made of the impact on small businesses of many banks, including HSBC, NatWest and Santander, not allowing them to open accounts.
  • what plans they have to ensure that banks do not unfairly refuse applications to small businesses to open accounts, given that there is no requirement currently to tell a customer why they have been turned down.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con, Treasury): The Government recognises the vital role SMEs play in fuelling economic growth, and it is important they can access the banking services they need.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about rural homelessness

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 30th November 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what processes are in place for counting and identifying instances of rural homelessness.

Baroness Penn (Con, Department for Levelling-up, Housing & Communities): The Government understands rural homelessness presents unique challenges which can differ from urban areas.

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King’s Speech Debate: Bishop of St Albans speaks on rural affairs and the environment

The Bishop of St Albans spoke in the King’s Speech debate on 13th November 2023 on the topic of rural affairs and the environment, and on several future bills mentioned in the speech:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I declare my interest as president of the Rural Coalition as set out in the register. That means that I want to reflect for a few moments on the environmental and rural dimensions of some of the legislation that will be coming our way over the coming year.

I will make a couple of preliminary comments. Back in 2015, His Majesty’s Government responded to the independent rural-proofing implementation review by the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington. Among the recommendations was that

“Defra Ministers should work with Cabinet Office to strengthen and improve rural proofing guidance when the impact of policies is being assessed, to ensure that rural policy impacts are given clear and robust attention”.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about support for regenerative agriculture and funding for local communities

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 17th October 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support regenerative agriculture.

Lord Benyon (Con, DEFRA): Environmental land management (ELM) is the foundation of our new approach to farming. ELM includes the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). This pays farmers for actions that support food production and can help improve farm productivity and resilience, while protecting and improving the environment. It will support sustainable food production and contribute towards the environmental targets set out in the government’s Environmental Improvement Plan. The SFI 2023 opened for applications on 18 September 2023, and farmers who have a live SFI 2023 agreement before the end of the year will receive an accelerated payment in the first month of their agreement.

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