Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the level of take-up of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme is; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

The application window for the Mid-Tier closed on 30 September. 2,314 agreement applications were received. 1,025 expressions of interest for the Higher Tier have also been received, together with 257 applications for forestry agreements. The level of interest is in line with our expectation.

Natural England and the Forestry Commission are now working to assess these to offer agreements to those applicants who have submitted high quality plans that will do most to improve our water quality and the farmed environment

Some elements of the scheme have been available earlier in 2015. 1,798 applications were received for 2015 water capital grants, of which 1,458 have been awarded. We also received 743 applications for woodland creation during a fixed application period and for tree health and woodland management plans, which continue to be applied for year round. To date, 288 agreements have been awarded.