asked Her Majesty's Government:When they propose to introduce revised hedgerow regulations and what proportion of existing hedgerows they wish to protect. [HL960]

Revised draft regulations will be published for statutory consultation after the results of the research by ADAS into the Hedgerows Review Group's recommendations have been fully evaluated. I am unable to put a timescale on this at this stage.The Government's aim is to ensure that any revised hedgerows regulations adequately protect important hedgerows. We do not have preconceived ideas about the proportion of existing hedgerows which should qualify as important.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their estimate of the number of miles of hedgerow which have been removed since 1996. [HL961]

This information is not held centrally. However, a survey of hedgerow stock is being undertaken as part of Countryside Survey 2000. This will provide estimates of the length of hedgerow removed since previous surveys in 1990 and 1993, and a baseline for monitoring future changes.