A new United Kingdom-wide guide outlining how our forests and woodlands can reduce the damaging effects and financial impact of flooding on vulnerable communities has been published today (Tuesday 25 October) by the Forestry Commission, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish Forestry and Northern Ireland Forest Service.

Woodlands can play a key role in flood mitigation and make an important contribution to reducing downstream flood risk. Tree planting can significantly affect the volume, pathway and timing of surface run-off, slowing and reducing flood peaks, while management operations such as cultivation, drainage, road construction and harvesting can have the opposite effect if not appropriately managed.

Produced by Forest Research, the new Practice Guide provides advice to landowners, forest and woodland managers, planners, practitioners and flooding authorities on how forests and woodlands can make a positive contribution to natural flood management and play a stronger role in flood mitigation.

Advice includes:

• How to identify whether downstream communities are vulnerable to flooding and if so, modify the design of the woodland to enhance the flood benefit.
• How to amend the scale, timing and type of woodland operations to minimise the impact of flood risk and flood run-off.
• Where and how to use leaky dams to slow flood flows.

Applying this guidance will assist land managers and forestry practitioners in meeting the requirements of the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) and will help deliver a more sustainable and integrated approach to managing flood risk – reducing the damaging effects and financial impacts of future floods on downstream communities.

Richard Stanford, Forestry Commission Chief Executive, said:

Our woodlands and forests play a key role in reducing the peaks in water flow. This helps to protect communities across the UK vulnerable to flooding from their devastating impacts.

This new Practice Guide will enable the forestry sector to harness the benefits of tree growing to reduce the risk of flooding, while ensuring that management operations do not increase peak flows. It will promote working with natural processes to deliver a more sustainable, catchment-based approach to managing flood risk to benefit communities across the UK.

Dominic Driver, Natural Resources Wales’ Head of Land Stewardship, said:

Helping to prevent flooding is one of the many benefits of planting trees and creating new woodlands, but we also recognise that inappropriate forest management can risk environmental harm and reduce the well-being benefits that we derive from water.

The UK Forestry Standard helps us ensure sustainable forest management in Wales, and this practice guide will help contribute to that. We will now be integrating this practice guide to our work in managing and regulating forestry activities.

A wide range of organisations are responsible for managing flood risk across the United Kingdom and rely on partnership working to help protect affected communities and assets from flooding. Implementing the guidance as described will enable foresters to meet UKFS requirements and guidelines, and in so doing, make a positive contribution to reducing flood flows and the damaging effects of flooding.

By playing a stronger role in flood mitigation, it will also help the forest sector increase the resilience of downstream communities likely to be impacted by more frequent flooding due to climate change.

The new UKFS Practice Guide can be downloaded free of charge from the Forest Research website. Printed copies will also be available to order shortly.

Prime Minister Liz Truss’s statement on leaving Downing Street

It has been a huge honour to be Prime Minister of this great country.

In particular, to lead the nation in mourning the death of Her Late Majesty The Queen after 70 years of service,

and welcoming the accession of His Majesty King Charles III.

In just a short period, this government has acted urgently and decisively on the side of hardworking families and businesses.

We reversed the National Insurance increase.

We helped millions of households with their energy bills and helped thousands of businesses avoid bankruptcy.

We are taking back our energy independence…

…so we are never again beholden to global market fluctuations or malign foreign powers.

From my time as Prime Minister, I am more convinced than ever we need to be bold and confront the challenges that we face.

As the Roman philosopher Seneca wrote: “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that they are difficult.”

We simply cannot afford to be a low growth country where the government takes up an increasing share of our national wealth…

and where there are huge divides between different parts of our country.

We need to take advantage of our Brexit freedoms to do things differently.

This means delivering more freedom for our own citizens and restoring power in democratic institutions.

It means lower taxes, so people keep more of the money they earn.

It means delivering growth that will lead to more job security, higher wages and greater opportunities for our children and grandchildren.

Democracies must be able to deliver for their own people…

We must be able to outcompete autocratic regimes, where power lies in the hands of a few.

And now more than ever we must support Ukraine in their brave fight against Putin’s aggression.

Ukraine must prevail.

And we must continue to strengthen our nation’s defences.

That is what I have been striving to achieve… and I wish Rishi Sunak every success, for the good of our country.

I want to thank Hugh, Frances, Liberty, my family and friends, and all the team at No10 for their love, friendship and support.

I also want to thank my protection team.

I look forward to spending more time in my constituency, and continuing to serve South West Norfolk from the backbenches.

Our country continues to battle through a storm.

But I believe in Britain.

I believe in the British people.

And I know that brighter days lie ahead.

• Importers must apply to be registered as an approved trader under new scheme
• Scheme ensures rescue animals can be rehomed whilst national biosecurity is still protected

The Government has today (25th October 2022)  announced a new ‘Approved Importers scheme’ for pet imports from currently higher risk countries. It is being introduced to replace the temporary ban on commercial imports, including rescue animals, from Belarus, Poland, Romania and Ukraine, and allow for safer movements to resume.

Under a new safeguarding declaration, anyone commercially importing dogs, cats and ferrets into Great Britain from the previously suspended countries can now apply for Approved Importer status with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) from 29th October 2022.

In order to be approved, importers must be based or have representation in the UK, have no record of serious non-compliances in the last 12 months, and share with APHA the details of the transporter and the registered premises from where the animals originate from.

The UK Government is absolutely committed to protecting our biosecurity and public health, particularly ensuring we retain our long-held freedom from rabies and tapeworm. The new regulations will allow rescue organisations to resume activities, while still complying with our strict animal health and biosecurity standards.

The move is being taken as an increasing number of people are choosing to import pets from abroad with the hope of rehoming them, unaware of the associated health and welfare risks.

Chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss said:

Commercial imports, including rescue animals are often of unknown background and disease status.

Under the Government’s new scheme, tighter controls will mean approved importers must arrive through designated points of entry and share all relevant health certificates, documents and blood tests before arrival to allow for more rigorous checks to take place. This will help protect animal and human health.

Biosecurity Minister, Lord Benyon said:

We are committed to ensuring safe commercial pet movements including rescues can continue and stopping those which carry too great a biosecurity risk.

The new scheme means we can safely lift the temporary suspension and allow only for safe movements from Animal and Plant Health Agency approved importers, helping to ensure we maintain our biosecurity standards and our vital rabies free status.

We are aware of serious non-compliance in movements, exacerbated by the present crisis in Ukraine. The scheme will remain in place until the Government is satisfied risks have reduced enough to allow controls to be lifted.

This measure only applies to commercial imports including rescue animals and it does not change the Government support for pets travelling Approved Importer status is not required for those commercially importing cats, dogs and ferrets that originated from countries other than those specified.

Before legally importing animals into Great Britain, Approved Importers are required to:

• Notify APHA details of the planned movement including place of origin, name of transporter, destination of animals, the planned route and carrier at least 7 days prior to arrival
• Upload all relevant export health certificates and blood tests 2 days before arrival. This is to allow more rigorous checks to take place
• Note that imports arriving from or via the EU by rail or car must arrive at Dover or Folkestone, only on Monday to Friday between 10am and 4pm. Animals travelling by air must enter Great Britain at a Border Control Post. (Edinburgh, London Gatwick or London Heathrow).

Today (25 October 2022) the Regulator of Social Housing published statistics about the social housing sector for both private and local authority registered providers, including stock ownership and rents as at 31 March 2022.

Returns from all registered providers of social housing show that the sector owns 4.4 million homes across England, with a net increase of over 31,000 social homes in the year. The number of Affordable Rent and low cost home ownership homes increased, while the number of social rent homes fell. General needs still makes up the majority of the social housing sector at 83% of all stock, with supported housing at 11% and low cost home ownership at 5%.

Private registered providers built and purchased more homes this year, as activity moved back towards pre-pandemic levels following the ending of Covid-19 restrictions. There has been an overall increase in their low cost rental stock since April 2021, with over 20,000 homes for Affordable Rent being added. However, despite the addition of just over 3,000 homes for Affordable Rent, local authorities saw another decline in their overall low cost rental stock. Both private and local authority providers increased their low cost home ownership stock, with over 18,000 more units owned across the sector in 2022 than in 2021.

As expected, rents increased in the year. The average increase in general needs (social rent) weekly net rents was 1.6%, in line with the limit set for 2021/22. The average weekly general needs (social rent) rent across England was £94.31, with variations across different regions of the country. Rents were lowest in the North East (£78.89) and highest in London (£116.16).

Will Perry, Director of Strategy at RSH, said:

The data from the 2021/22 Statistical Data Return and Local Authority Data Return show the impact of Covid-19 restrictions ending, with greater levels of development and acquisition activity in the period. There is a wealth of data in this year’s returns, which will be of use to anyone interested in social housing in England. It also underlines how good quality data is essential for providers making difficult decisions about future investment in the current economic climate.

Further information

For press office contact details, see the Media enquiries page.

For general queries, please email enquiries@rsh.gov.uk or call 0300 124 5225.

Notes to editors

1. Local authority social housing data was formerly collected through the Local Authority Housing Survey. Since 1 April 2020 it has been collected by RSH through the Local Authority Data Return when RSH took on responsibility for the regulation of local authority rents. Private registered provider data has been collected by RSH through the Statistical Data Return since 2012.
2. Both local authority and private registered provider stock and rents statistics are designated as National Statistics by the UK Statistics Authority.
3. There were 1,614 providers on our register on 31 March 2022. A total of 1,553 providers completed either the LADR or the SDR in 2022. There was a response rate of 100% for the 2021-22 LADR and 96% for the 2021-22 SDR.
4. Homes include self-contained units such as houses and flats and non-self-contained bed spaces, referred to collectively as units in the data.
5. Of the 4.4m units of social stock owned by RPs, private registered providers own 2.8m units while local authority registered providers own 1.6m units.
6. The 64 for-profit providers reported 20,831 units of social stock in March 2022, compared to 13,671 in March 2021.
7. From 1 April 2020 rents have been regulated through RSH’s rent standard where the limit on annual increases is CPI + 1%. The Government consultation focusing on the introduction of a rent ceiling for 2023/24 closed on 12 October 2022.
8. The Regulator of Social Housing promotes a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver and maintain homes of appropriate quality that meet a range of needs. It does this by undertaking robust economic regulation focusing on governance, financial viability and value for money that maintains lender confidence and protects the taxpayer. It also sets consumer standards and may take action if these standards are breached and there is a significant risk of serious detriment to tenants or potential tenants.