The Secretary of State took the decisions about local government reorganisation according to the criteria that we set out, but I hear the right hon. Gentleman’s comments and will take them into account as we move forward.

How can it be justified for a unitary authority to be formed that rips the waterside away from the New Forest, and places it under the control of Labour-dominated Southampton, when the building blocks of the new unitary authorities were stated by the Government to be the existing areas covered by district and borough councils?

The UK Government is committed to support minority communities and uphold our obligations under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities - to create a society in which all citizens feel acknowledged, safe and able to achieve their full potential. The flexibility provided in the Convention means that we can take a broad approach and consider the experience and specific needs of all minority communities in the UK, to ensure that they receive the support they require. As such, we have no plans for the New Forest Commoners to be formally recognised.

Local government reorganisation will lead to better outcomes for residents, save significant money which can be reinvested in public services, and improve accountability.

The government has been clear with councils on the importance of local engagement in developing their proposals for unitary government. This should include residents, community groups, public service providers, workforces and their representatives, Members of Parliament and businesses.

Boundary changes are possible, and as a starting point existing district areas should be considered the building blocks for proposals. Where there is a strong justification, including having regard to local identity, then more complex boundary changes will be considered.

We want to provide these Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement holders with some certainty and continuity until they can move into the new ELM offer and to provide support so they can continue delivering environmental outcomes on their land. We will provide more information on timelines for rolling out the new CSHT and the reformed SFI offer in due course.

Farmers with an HLS agreement that expired in 2024 were offered a two-year extension to their agreement. This will allow farmers to continue delivering land management practices in HLS agreements without interruption to the funding they receive.

Defra also announced that on the 24 February 2025, that agreement holders under the Environmental Stewardship Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) will see an increase to their payment rates in the near future.

The Minister’s Mandate, first introduced in 1971, is mainly concerned with the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the Crown lands of the New Forest. The Protected Landscapes Duty requires relevant authorities such as Forestry England to seek to further the statutory purposes of Protected Landscapes including the New Forest. Forestry England is also subject to a range of regulations, assurance schemes, procedures and other guidance to steer its activity in the New Forest, including the New Forest Acts 1877, 1949, 1964, and 1970, Ancient Monuments & Archaeological Areas Act 1979, Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, Environment Act 1995, and Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Forestry England continues to manage the Crown lands of the New Forest to achieve a proper balance between people, nature and a working commercial forest. For this reason, there is no plan to review the Minister’s Mandate at this time.

On 2 November, the effects of Storm Ciaran were seen at Testwood Water Treatment Works in Hampshire. The heavy rainfall and consequent flooding impacted water quality, which meant that it was not possible for the Treatment Works to effectively treat the volume of water needed to maintain supplies. This included to properties in the Waterside area of the New Forest. Southern Water attempted to minimise the impact but as soon as it become apparent that supply would be affected, notifications were provided to customers, through their website and social media.

Once flooding reduced, Southern Water increased supplies slowly to safeguard safety and drinking water quality standards. Customers had water supply restored gradually over the course of Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 November. Arrangements were put in place to support those customers off supply, including the opening of three bottled water stations, and regular deliveries to vulnerable customers.

Throughout the water supply outage, my officials engaged closely with Southern Water to ensure steps were taken to resolve the incident as soon as possible. I was regularly briefed on the emerging situation and ensured that Southern Water was supporting customers in the impacted area, particularly those who are vulnerable.

And on 8 November, I met with Lawrence Gosden, CEO Southern Water, to consider what lessons could be learned from this water supply incident and the actions Southern Water are taking avoid future interruptions at Testwood Water Treatment Works. The company is also providing a detailed report to the Drinking Water Inspectorate, who will carry out a full assessment on the event.

Ensuring a plentiful supply of water is a government priority with our Plan for Water, published in April 2023, setting out how we will enhance water supply infrastructure and improve resilience to drought as well as managing water demand. Earlier this year, regional water resources groups and water companies, including Southern Water, consulted on their draft Water Resource Management Plans. Within their plans, water companies must consider all options, including demand management and water resources infrastructure for at least the next 25 years.

Water companies are also using the £469 million made available by Ofwat in the current Price Review period (2020-2025) to investigate strategic water resources options, that are required to improve the resilience of England’s water supplies. Ofwat also recently announced that water companies are bringing forward £2.2 billion for new water infrastructure delivery, over the next two years, with £350 million worth of investment in water resilience schemes.

Where a company does not meet their performance expectations, Ofwat, the independent water regulator, will take decisive regulatory action. For example, due to underperformance in 2022-23 across several areas, including on supply interruptions and customer satisfaction, draft decisions by Ofwat will mean Southern will return over £42 million to its customers in the 2024-25 financial year.

Government and regulators will continue to closely monitor Southern Water’s Performance and will not hesitate to hold them to account if they fall short.

By delivering investment on specific priority sites, Freeports will create thousands of high-quality jobs in some of our most disadvantaged communities. These sites have been carefully selected for their suitability for development by the local Freeport coalition, which comprises key private partners and Local Authorities who, importantly, provide democratic accountability for the actions of the Freeport. The development sites sit within an ‘outer boundary’ which sets the limit for how far apart they can be and broadly indicates the area they expect to benefit most directly from the Freeport's economic impacts. While the Solent Freeport outer boundary intersects with the New Forest National Park, this in no way means that the area has been earmarked for development nor does this confer any special planning status. Local authorities retain all their statutory powers and responsibilities, including responsibility for providing planning permission. Freeport status in no way undercuts the local planning process and there is no change to the current planning and environment status of national parks.

Camping in the Forest is an independent operator of campsites in Great Britain. It is majority owned by the Camping and Caravanning Club. The decision not to open campsites in the New Forest in summer 2020 was taken by the Camping in the Forest business. Forestry England is disappointed in this decision and has been in regular dialogue with CITF seeking the opening of the sites.

Camping in the Forest is an independent operator of campsites in Great Britain. It is majority owned by the Camping and Caravanning Club. The decision not to open in 2020 was taken by Camping in the Forest. Any engagement or assessment of potential effect of the closures would be a matter for that independent business.

Forestry England (FE) is disappointed with this decision and is in dialogue with Camping in the Forest to request that the decision be reconsidered, but the ultimate decision rests with Camping in the Forest.

FE is in active discussion with the New Forest National Park Authority and other interested local parties about steps that can be taken to manage unauthorised camping.

In recent years, Highways England has been in contact with the Verderers of the New Forest, New Forest District Council, Forestry Commission and Hampshire County Council to determine responsibility for maintenance of the cattle grids around the A31. Highways England maintains the grids that it is responsible for, which are positioned within its boundary line of the A31 highway. Highways England is committed to future engagement with all local stakeholders, and happy to participate in any subsequent meetings on this issue.

Defra has received several pieces of correspondence on this issue. On the substance of the department’s response to those representations, I refer my Rt Hon Friend to the answer I gave to the Rt Hon Member for New Forest East on 11 May 2020, PQ UIN 41876.

[www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-05-01/41876]

We have received three pieces of correspondence from the New Forest Commoners Defence Association on these subjects.

The New Forest National Park Authority are aware of the challenges and have been working with the Forestry Commission, Verderers and the Commoners Defence Association to help find the best solution to support commoning and deliver the best outcomes for land management.

Natural England recently recommended that the Environmental Stewardship Higher Level agreement with the Verderers should be extended by one year as the agreement was delivering its objectives and the Sites of Special Scientific Interest within the forest were being managed in a way that improved their condition. We are not aware of damage to landscape due to increased numbers of de-pastured cattle.

We intend to consult further with the industry before setting the detailed rules for delinked payments. This will help us get the approach right for farmers and allow us to take account of any particular concerns, such as the impact on commoners.

The reference period to be used for delinked payments is one of the areas that we intend to consult on. For example, we could make payments based on the Basic Payment Scheme payments the farmer was entitled to receive in a particular scheme year or average over a number of years. We understand the importance of carefully deciding on this reference period and of communicating it to the industry in good time.

Natural England’s advice to land owners and managers responsible for the New Forest is laid out in our “European Site Conservation Objectives: Supplementary advice on conserving and restoring site features” which brings together the best available scientific evidence relating to the site’s priority habitats and species (http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/6183967367626752).

Heathland management requires the removal of trees such as birch and conifers to enable the rare heather habitat, grassland and mire habitats to thrive. The New Forest is a unique mosaic of natural habitats including broadleaved woodland which, where appropriate, is allowed to naturally expand its range supporting both biodiversity and climate change demands.

The biodiversity benefits of heathland are well known and its management and restoration forms part of the Government’s commitments in the 25 Year Environment Plan. Heathland supports a range of specialist species that cannot live anywhere else. A total of 133 UK priority species are associated with lowland heathlands in England. These are species found exclusively on heathland sites or for which a significant proportion of records come from heathlands. The New Forest is now the UK stronghold for a number of these species as addressed in the following publication: Managing for species: Integrating the needs of England’s priority species into habitat management (http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/30025).

Defra does not hold this information. Maintaining and verifying stock numbers is a matter for the Verderers of the New Forest.