HC Deb 11 July 1984 vol 63 cc1031-2
11. Mr. Simon Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has received the report of the Nature Conservancy Council. "Nature Conservation in Great Britain"; and whether he intends to respond to it.

Mr. Waldegrave

My right hon. Friend welcomed the publication of the Nature Conservancy Council's strategy document "Nature Conservation in Great Britain" as "forthright, realistic and challenging." We are considering the action programmes it contains in the context of the NCC's corporate plan.

Mr. Hughes

Does the Minister agree with his right hon. Friend that, if a minuscule proportion of the money that is devoted to agriculture and forestry were spent on conservation, it would work wonders? What does his Department intend to do to correct the imbalance of funding between agriculture and conservation in favour of conservation?

Mr. Waldegrave

My Department will continue to work with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to see that there is a properly balanced policy in the countryside.

Mr. Yeo

Is my hon. Friend aware that the Nature Conservancy Council is understaffed and that that was recognised even by the Rayner scrutiny last year? Will he take steps to increase funding to enable the NCC to have more staff to cover its important work?

Mr. Waldegrave

Almost every suggestion that I hear is for more money. We are examining the NCC's corporate plan and shall discuss it with the council's chairman.

Mr. Ron Davies

Is the Minister aware of the strong criticism that is directed at his Department by the House of Lords Committee that deals with agriculture and the environment? Does he accept that there will have to be a fundamental change in the agricultural structures programme if our environment is to be properly protected? Will he explain what steps he is taking to ensure that there is a proper and realistic arrangement between his Department and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to ensure that environmental issues are examined properly?

Mr. Waldegrave

I have studied the report's conclusions and I do not doubt that when Ministers in my Department and in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food discuss it, it might be possible to find further improvements.

Mr. Rowe

Is my hon. Friend aware that, although we warmly welcome the fact that his Department works closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, we still do not know enough about the mechanisms through which that co-operation is achieved, nor do we know how best to carry on the debate to support changes in the agricultural support system? We should be grateful to hear more about those procedures.

Mr. Waldegrave

It is difficult to give a full description in answer to a question, but I assure my hon. Friend that there are regular meetings of Ministers in the two Departments to discuss these issues.

Dr. David Clark

In view of warnings of pollution damage to the British countryside in the NCC report, including three lochs in Scotland, and fish loss in the English Lake District, how can the Government justify their inactivity over the reduction of air pollution?

Mr. Waldegrave

There is no such inactivity. We have committed ourselves to further reductions of acidifying pollutants. The hon. Gentleman might have noticed that the Freshwater Biological Association said that there has been no acidification in the lakes in the Lake District that it was measuring.