Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the future of agri-environment projects jointly funded by the National Lottery.

George Eustice

The Government’s announcement of 3 October has provided further certainty on funding to rural communities while we develop a new approach to supporting agriculture, protecting the countryside and generating growth in the rural economy.

Existing agri-environment agreements and new Countryside Stewardship agreements starting on 1 January 2017 will be guaranteed even after the UK leaves the EU. We will confirm arrangements for entering into new agri-environment funding agreements after 2017 in due course.

Leaving the EU means that we will want to take our own decisions about how we deliver the policy objectives previously targeted by EU funding, including agri-environment schemes. Over the coming months, the Government will review, in conjunction with stakeholders, all EU funding schemes in the round to ensure that any ongoing funding arrangements best serve the UK‘s national interest. Defra will discuss the interface with lottery funding with DCMS and the lottery distributors as part of this process.