To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps are being taken to monitor the effectiveness of the Environmental Stewardship schemes in rebuilding biodiversity apart from assessing the condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest. (154544)

DEFRA and Natural England are spending about £1.5 million a year to monitor and evaluate how effectively the full range of agri-environment scheme objectives is being delivered; including biodiversity, landscape, the historic environment and access.