Written question asked by David Drew (Labour) on Monday, 15 October 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 October 2007. It was answered by Jonathan Shaw (Labour) on Monday, 22 October 2007 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Environmentally Sensitive Areas

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that Natural England has sufficient resources to cope with the re-negotiation of environmentally sensitive area agreements as part of the new EU regional development plans.

Answer: Arrangements for operating agri-environment schemes, including the Environmentally Sensitive Areas scheme, are the responsibility of Natural England.The Secretary of State announced on 29 March 2007, Official Report, column 131WS, that the overall budget for the Rural Development Programme for England covering the period 2007 to 2013 will be £3.9 billion. The proportion of that budget which will be devoted to agri-environment schemes, which includes Environmentally Sensitive Areas agreements, is expected to be about £2.9 billion. This represents an increase of £1.3 billion over the funding that was available, for agri-environment schemes, in the 2000 to 2006 period under the England Rural Development Programme.

Secondary information