§ Mr. Giles Shawasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will set out in the Official Report the procedure whereby his Department reconciles the need to implement economic drainage schemes with the need to maintain wetlands for nature conservation;
(2) how his Department assesses the general benefits, if any, of drainage schemes; what grants are available; and what is the minimum return on investment required for the expenditure of such public money.
§ Mr. StrangGrants may be paid to drainage authorities under the Land Drainage Act 1976 for arterial drainage improvements, or to farmers for field drainage and ditching under the Farm and Horticultural Development Scheme or the Farm Capital Grant Scheme.
For arterial schemes, authorities have a statutory duty to have regard to conservation and amenity. Local consultations usually resolve difficulties, but if this is not possible we must decide our attitude on the merits of each case. The benefits arising in the form of increased production or losses avoided are brought to a present value using the Treasury test discount rate of 10 per cent.
For drainage and ditching schemes, officers of my Department pay full regard to the responsibilities of my right hon. Friend the Minister under Section 11 of the Countryside Act. Furthermore, where Ramsar Convention wetlands are involved there is always special consultation with the Nature Conservancy Council. No assessment of cost benefit is made by my Deparment on individual cases; the applicant is expected to make his own management decisions. Grant is, however, payable only on expenditure considered commensurate with the proposed work.