§ Mr. CorbettTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what is the minimum amount of grant, and over what period, for which the Weald Meadows Initiative may apply to employ a specialist adviser on the replanting of degraded grass; [7360]
(2) if he will list (a) the grants applied for and (b) the grants given and their amount on behalf of the Weald Meadows Initiative. [7362]
§ Mr. MorleyThis Department has no grant scheme that could offer support for the employment of such an adviser. Last October, shortly before the closure in England of the Marketing Development Scheme, the Weald Meadows Initiative sought a grant for a products co-ordinator and a marketing campaign for its wildflower products. This application did not fit well with the scheme criteria, and with strong competition for the limited funds available, it was not successful.
§ Mr. CorbettTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the grants for which application can be made to replant degraded grassland in the area covered by the Weald Meadows Initiative. [7361]
§ Mr. MorleyThe re-creation, restoration and maintenance of unimproved grassland can be grant aided through the Countryside Stewardship scheme. Payments of £85 a hectare per year are available for managing lowland hay meadows together with a supplement of £30 a hectare per year for fields of less than 3 ha in size. Many of the remaining valuable grassland meadows are small in size and the additional payment is in recognition of the 509W difficulties of managing small fields. A one year supplementary payment is also available (normally for one year but occasionally up to five years) for additional measures to assist with initial grassland management work such as scrub control or spreading hay from species rich grassland to introduce flowers and grasses.