Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given on 4 December 2024, UIN 15757. Although the Trade and Cooperation Agreement allows zero tariffs and zero quota trade, leaving the EU single market and customs union had an impact on the export of agri-food products, as have other changes in trade policy such as new Free Trade Agreements with other countries, and global shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Agri-food trade with the EU has fallen since 2018 in real terms (after adjusting for trade inflation) by 20% (exports) and 11% (imports). However, there is difficulty separating out the impact of the UK leaving the EU from those other factors. The majority of UK agri-food exports were still to EU countries in 2023, 57% (£14 billion).

We are working to reset our relationship with our European friends to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to UK-EU trade. We will seek to negotiate a veterinary/sanitary and phytosanitary agreement to boost trade and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers in the UK and the EU. We have been clear that our trading relationship can be improved but we are not rejoining the single market or customs union, and we will not return to freedom of movement.

Responsibility for enforcing the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 lies with English local authorities. Local authorities may keep records of individual enforcement activity, including cases that have led to prosecutions. However, the information requested regarding prosecutions is not held centrally by Defra.

Defra is finalising a post-implementation review (PIR) of the Regulations. The PIR considers the effectiveness of the regulations, including enforcement. The report into the review will be published shortly.

The UK’s self-sufficiency ratio has been stable for several decades, currently producing 62% of all the food we need, and 75% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. UK food security is built on supply from diverse sources: strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes.

UK food security is high and strengthening it by supporting our farmers and food producers is a top priority for this Government. This government will protect farmers from being undercut in trade deals; lower energy bills; use the Government purchasing power to back British produce; introduce a land-use framework, the first ever Cross-Government Rural Crime Strategy; and set up a new British Infrastructure Council.

The latest figures for 2023, as set out in the government’s official statistics, show that the UK is 53% self-sufficient for fresh vegetables and 16% self-sufficient for fruit.

Rural policy is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The UK Government is committed to improving the quality of life for people living and working in rural areas. To achieve this, we are ensuring that the needs of people and businesses in rural areas are at the heart of policymaking including in the government’s economic growth agenda.

Defra has a team dedicated to developing the evidence base on rural areas. It publishes the Statistical Digest for Rural England to provide up-to-date analysis across a wide range of subjects including information on employment and redundancy rates in rural areas.

In Q2 2024, the percentage of working-age people (16-64) in employment was 79.1% in Rural areas and 73.9% in Urban areas.

Redundancy rates in England have fluctuated over time, although both Rural and Urban areas have shown an overall decrease in redundancies over the period 2007 to 2024 (falls of 2.5 and 2.3 redundancies per 1,000 employees respectively). In Q2 2024 redundancy rates were lower in Rural areas than in Urban areas, at 3.8 and 4.0 redundancies per 1,000 employees respectively.

As the independent economic regulator, Ofwat independently scrutinises water company business plans and ensure the prices water companies charge their customers are fair and proportionate. Ofwat published their final determinations for Price Review 2024 on 19 December, which sets company expenditure and customer bills for 2025-2030.

The Government is committed to taking action to address water poverty and help vulnerable customers with their water bills. All water companies, including South East Water and Southern Water, have measures in place for customers who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, including measures such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support.

Furthermore, we expect companies to hold themselves accountable for their public commitment to end water poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure appropriate measures are taken to this end.

Defra regularly communicates and engages with farmers and landowners through a range of methods. Links to Defra’s grants and schemes are available through https://www.gov.uk/guidance/funding-for-farmers, a single webpage designed to make it easier for farmers and landowners to be aware of opportunities available. Regular updates explaining schemes and updating on changes are made through https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/ , which includes a subscription function so users can receive e-mail updates when new posts are published. Defra ministers and engagement teams regularly meet with stakeholders and members of the agricultural community in order to share and discuss Defra’s grants and schemes, including attending agricultural shows and other stakeholder events.

The Department has already initiated a series of meetings with key animal welfare stakeholders as part of the development of an overarching approach to animal welfare. We will be outlining more detail in due course.
BACKGROUND NOTE (NOT TO BE PUBLISHED)

A public consultation on fairer food labelling was undertaken between March and May 2024 by the previous Government. This sought views on proposals to improve and extend current mandatory method of production labelling. The consultation also sought views on whether new rules should be introduced on country-of-origin labelling. We are now carefully considering all responses before deciding on next steps and will respond to this consultation in due course.

The UK is committed to meeting the requirement to submit to the Convention on Biological Diversity its seventh and eighth national reports in February 2026 and June 2029, respectively. These reports will provide an assessment of our progress on the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework, including progress towards the national targets which we submitted on 1 August.

The Government has no such plans. Navigation authorities are responsible for operational matters on their waterways, including setting the terms and conditions of their boat licencing regimes.

Dredging and clearing channels is an important option for watercourse maintenance, where it is technically and cost effective, does not significantly increase flood risk for others and is environmentally acceptable.

For many locations, there are more effective ways to protect land and communities from floods as part of a catchment-based approach.

Defra publishes a related measure, production to supply ratio, for a range of produce in its Agriculture in the UK publication. The same publication includes stock changes in its supply and use tables for cereals. The department’s UK Food Security Report 2024 also includes global stock to consumption ratios for a range of agricultural commodities.

Tackling biodiversity and climate change together is important both nationally and internationally. This government is demonstrating international leadership in this space. We have recently appointed Ruth Davis OBE as Special Representative for Nature; she will champion our ambition to put climate and nature at the heart of our foreign policy.

On the 30th of July, we announced a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP). We are working with civil society, business and local government to review and revise the EIP to develop an ambitious programme to better protect the environment, create a zero-waste economy, save nature, reach net zero and adapt to climate change.

We are committed to concluding the review by the end of the year. A statement of key findings will be published in early 2025, to be followed by publication of a revised EIP.

The Forestry Commission publishes statistics on new planting of woodland, and trees outside woodland, in England. These can be found in Forestry Commission Key Performance Indicators. These statistics are reported for each financial year in thousands of hectares. The Government does not hold data for individual constituencies but continues to work with delivery partners across England to increase tree planting rates.

Defra monitors animal disease outbreaks worldwide and assesses the risk that they might enter the United Kingdom (UK) through legal or illegal trade in animal products. Its team of veterinary and risk experts provide rapid outbreak assessments to inform import decisions and enforcement action and undertake full qualitative risk assessments in certain cases. These assessments are published on gov.uk at www.gov.uk/government/collections/animal-diseases-international-monitoring.

Meat imported commercially via Border Control Posts is subject to local authority-led official controls to ensure that it complies with UK import conditions. The Home Office’s Border Force has lead responsibility for identifying and seizing meat imported illegally other than via Border Control Posts.

To further mitigate the risks, it is illegal in the UK to feed catering or domestic food waste to livestock, including pigs.

While many users make use of these rights in a responsible way, the Government is aware of damage and disturbance caused by excessive use of off-road motor vehicles on highways where such activities are legal, such as byways open to all traffic and on other unsealed roads which carry motor vehicle rights, often referred to as ‘green lanes’. Motor vehicle use on green lanes can damage the surface and reduce enjoyment of the route by other users. Defra consulted on banning vehicles from green lanes as part of the 2019 Landscapes Review, but a legislative ban to remove vehicular rights was not supported. Defra believes that the current Traffic Regulation Order process is legally robust enough to protect green lanes with carefully targeted local action to protect sensitive areas, while allowing vehicle users to responsibly enjoy the countryside.

It is local authorities’ responsibility to monitor and repair public rights of way, which includes green lanes.

As of the 17 November there are no Farm Businesses with a current Countryside Stewardship scheme agreement in the Aldershot constituency.

The above is based on the registered address for the business postcode.

Note: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) only holds data for the number of farms that are registered with the RPA and have Countryside Stewardship Agreement.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window and as of 17 November there are currently no Farm Businesses with a Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement in the Aldershot constituency.

* The above is based on the registered address for the business postcode

Note: *The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) only holds data for the number of farms that are registered with the RPA and have SFI agreement.

The Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26. Accelerating the phase out of Direct Payments will allow us to focus more of this funding on Environmental Land Management schemes, which will boost nature and sustainable food production. This will enable farmers to make their businesses more sustainable and resilient, including those who have been often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenant farmers.

We publish regular statistics on farm income in England and other data related to farm businesses. For example, on 14 November 2024, we published our Farm Business Income statistics (Farm business income - GOV.UK), which looked at how farm business income has changed in 2023/24, including the contribution of Direct Payments and agri-environment payments to farm incomes, including analysis by farm type. Farming evidence packs have been recently updated including key statistics and farm performance (Farming statistics evidence packs - GOV.UK). These set out an extensive range of data to provide an overview of agriculture in the UK, and the contribution of farm payments to farm incomes, including analysis by sector, location in England and type of land tenure.

We will continue to carry out appropriate and timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development.

The Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26. Accelerating the phase out of Direct Payments will allow us to focus more of this funding on Environmental Land Management schemes, which will boost nature and sustainable food production. This will enable farmers to make their businesses more sustainable and resilient, including those who have been often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenant farmers.

We publish regular statistics on farm income in England and other data related to farm businesses. For example, on 14 November 2024, we published our Farm Business Income statistics (Farm business income - GOV.UK), which looked at how farm business income has changed in 2023/24, including the contribution of Direct Payments and agri-environment payments to farm incomes, including analysis by farm type. Farming evidence packs have been recently updated including key statistics and farm performance (Farming statistics evidence packs - GOV.UK). These set out an extensive range of data to provide an overview of agriculture in the UK, and the contribution of farm payments to farm incomes, including analysis by sector, location in England and type of land tenure.

We will continue to carry out appropriate and timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development.

The Capital Grants scheme has been closed to new agreements following unprecedented demand this Autumn, which would use all the available funding. We are forecast to spend more on capital grants this year than ever before. This is only possible because we allocated the largest ever budget for sustainable food production through the farming budget. In the first week of December, we paid £343 million into the rural economy, benefiting more than 31,000 farmers. We currently are reviewing the Capital Grants offer to ensure funding goes further to improve outcomes for food security and nature conservation and will provide an update in early 2025.

From 6 April 2026, 0% inheritance tax will be due on the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property. Above this amount, landowners will access 50% relief from inheritance tax and will pay inheritance tax at a reduced effective rate up to 20%, rather than the standard 40%. This tax can be paid in instalments over 10 years interest free, rather than immediately, as with other types of inheritance tax.

This is on top of all the other spousal exemptions and nil-rate bands that people can access for inheritance tax too. This means that two people who share ownership of a piece of farmland, depending on their circumstances, can pass on up to £3 million without paying any inheritance tax. Furthermore, if land is transferred 7 years before death, farmers pay no inheritance tax at all.

Data from HMRC and supported by the independent Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) indicates that around 500 estates a year will be impacted. The majority of those will be able to adapt their businesses. The exact number will depend on a wider range of factors based on their individual circumstances. It is not broken down to specific constituencies.

With 73% of claims being for less than £1 million, the majority of estates will be unaffected, and they will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done. This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on.

As an outcome of the recent Spending Review, we have also committed £5 billion in the agricultural budget over the next two years – the biggest ever budget for sustainable food production and nature recovery in this country’s history. This enables us to keep momentum on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector. In the first week of December, we paid £343 million into the rural economy, benefiting more than 31,000 farmers.

Any farmer or land manager who received Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments at least up until October 2022 in England is also eligible for support from the Farming Resilience Fund (FRF). The FRF provides free business support (and mental health support, where appropriate) to farmers and land managers in England to help them through agricultural transition. It does this by awarding grants to organisations who help farmers and land managers to understand the changes that are happening, identify how, what and when they may need to adapt their business models, and access tailored support to adapt. The support is offered free of charge to farmers and land managers by organisations known and trusted in the farming community. The support will run until March 2025.

Local authorities are already legally required to deliver waste collection services to all households in their area. Simpler Recycling in England will go further by mandating weekly food waste collections under the Environment Act 2021. Local authorities have always had flexibility to choose residual waste frequency, depending on local need.

Local authorities are best placed to determine the effective delivery of local services. We recognise that as recycling services are expanded and improved under Simpler Recycling, local authorities may choose to review residual waste services to ensure they are providing best value for money in line with local need. The Government’s priority is ensuring that households’ needs are met, and we expect local authorities to continue to provide services to a reasonable standard, as they do now.

Defra recently published guidance to ensure that local authorities consider certain factors when they review services, to ensure that reasonable standards are maintained. These include ensuring that there are no disamenity impacts, such as the build-up of odorous waste at the kerbside or an increase in fly-tipping of residual waste. We expect local authorities to monitor any changes to collection frequencies to ensure there are no unintended adverse consequences.

Departmental budgets are set through the Spending Review Process. We therefore do not know budget allocations for the next decade. Budgets are then allocated to Departmental activities.

To protect the country from the devastating impacts of flooding, we will invest £2.4 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience, by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences.

The Government is aware of the University of Hull and Humberside Fire and Rescue Service proposal for a National Flood Resilience Centre, but there are no current plans to fund this from Defra. Defra understands the funding model has not been finalised.

Training on flood resilience undertaken by different teams and composes many different activities. It is not possible to disaggregate the proportion of the Department’s spending on flood resilience that goes on training.

Flood research and development is funded through separate finance streams to Flood Resilience. It is therefore not appropriate to consider part of the Flood Resilience budget as being allocated to research.

Defra funding for Research and Development projects is declared publicly on Science Search: Science Search.

Environmental Land Management schemes remain at the centre of our offer for farmers, with the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and Landscape Recovery all continuing. There are now over 60,000 live agreements across these schemes, supported by £5 billion in the agricultural budget over the next two years in the recent budget. This budget is funding farmers in these schemes deliver improvements to food security, biodiversity, carbon emissions, water quality, air quality and flood resilience through winter 2024/25 and beyond.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) rather than Defra has responsibility for regulating rodenticides/rat poisons. Given the potential risks posed to the environment by rodenticides, they are subject to strict regulation.

Where wild birds of prey or any non-target species of wildlife are killed illegally by rat poison the full force of the law should apply to proven perpetrators of the crime. Defra is a principal funder of the National Wildlife Crime Unit which helps prevent and detect illegal poisoning by obtaining and disseminating intelligence and directly assisting law enforcers in their investigations. Defra also provides funding for England’s Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme which determines the underlying cause of death of wildlife where illegal use of pesticides or rodenticides/rat poison is suspected.

To help ensure that non-target species are not harmed by rat poison, Defra would further advise anyone seeking to lawfully manage rodents to consider the most humane method of control and apply the least severe solution. There are a range of effective, alternative methods for successful rodent management including elimination of harbourage, food and water. The use of spring traps and live capture traps are also inexpensive, reusable and widely available.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answers to his previous questions; PQ 12005, tabled on 30 October 2024, and PQ 8968, tabled on 14 October 2024.

We are listening to the sector to ensure their views are heard. Ministers and officials regularly meet with a range of farming stakeholders, including the National Farmers Union (NFU), the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), and the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA). We will continue to meet with stakeholders to ensure their views are heard.

The table below sets out the number of cardholders at the end of each calendar year, by organisation.

This Government is clear that we will change existing policies to end the use of neonicotinoid pesticides that threaten bees and other vital pollinators.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

As the Prime Minister said in his speech on 5 December the Government will streamline development processes to meet new and ambitious targets to build 1.5 million homes and advance 150 major infrastructure projects.

The Government will also use the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to establish a more efficient and effective way for obligations related to our most important sites and species to be discharged at a scale that has the greatest environmental benefits.

The Government has committed to only act in legislation where we can confirm to Parliament that the steps we are taking will deliver positive environmental outcomes. Necessary amendments may be made to assimilated EU law on the Habitats Directive to secure the operability of the proposed new approach.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) began making payments to Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement holders at the start of the December 2024, along with those in Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier and Environmental Stewardship, with around £330 million paid to date. The RPA is working hard to complete processing on remaining claims and issue payments as promptly as possible. The new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme will open in 2025 and will move to quarterly payments to help with cashflow management

The UK Government has provided research funding through the Farming Futures Fund to look at the potential for precision breeding in producing virus-resistant varieties of sugar beet. Separately, the British Beet Research Organisation is operating an industry-funded programme researching alternative methods to protect sugar beet crops.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is at the heart of our approach to minimise the risks associated with pesticides. Four IPM actions are available within the Sustainable Farming Incentive. Farmers are paid to complete an assessment and produce an IPM plan; establish and maintain flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field strips; establish a companion crop and to move towards pesticide-free farming.

The Government has been clear that a veterinary / sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement could boost trade and deliver significant benefits on both sides. It is also clear that we will not be re-entering the single market or customs union and will not return to freedom of movement. The terms of any SPS agreement with the EU are subject to negotiation.

The Government does not have any such plan. For all pesticides, including neonicotinoids, there are legal requirements to store the product securely, use it according to its authorisation (which will include conditions considered appropriate to protect people and the environment) and dispose safely of any surplus.

Recent emergency authorisations for Cruiser SB as a seed treatment on sugar beet seed have carried very specific conditions. These include a requirement to dispose of unused stock by the end of the emergency authorisation period at the beginning of June. There should not, therefore, be any current stocks of the product.

Furthermore, we would not expect there to have been any significant surplus. Cruiser SB is applied in centralised facilities as a treatment to pre-ordered seed. The quantity required is therefore known in advance and there is no reason for additional stocks to have been acquired.

The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. Please be aware that this is subject to change as we often receive throughput returns from carriers months later.

The Government published the UK Food Security Report 2024 last week and remains committed to protecting our biosecurity and will maintain the appropriate level of controls to achieve this in accordance with the Border Target Operating Model. Please also see the Border Target Operating Model web page on gov.uk for detailed information on the rationale for border controls (at Final_Border_Target_Operating_Model.pdf).

The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. Please be aware that this is subject to change as we often receive throughput returns from carriers months later.

The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. Please be aware that this is subject to change as we often receive throughput returns from carriers months later.

Balai Cat Imports EU:

Balai Cat Imports ROW:

The EU data may include animals that have originated from a non-EU country but have travelled through an EU Border Control Post (BCP). The database records the EU BCP Country as the Country of Origin for these imports. The Rest of the World data will not include any animals that have arrived through an EU BCP.

This information is drawn from external IPAFF systems not directly controlled by the department.

We have made a full assessment of the impacts that implementing packaging extended producer responsibility will have. This includes assessment of the impacts on small businesses, which can be found in Section 8 of the impact assessment: The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024.

Packaging extended producer responsibility cost obligations will only apply to large producers with a turnover over £2 million and who place more than 50 tonnes of packaging on the market. This threshold exempts around 70% of producers from paying these fees. Any large producers who supply the exempt producers with empty packaging will pay the fees associated with that packaging.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential. The Government recognises the importance of having a robust drainage system both now and for future demand and expects water companies to plan their infrastructure appropriately to meet new growth.

As part of the Environment Act 2021, water companies in England are required to produce Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs). DWMPs set out how a water company intends to improve their drainage and wastewater systems over the next 25 years, accounting for factors including growing population and changing environmental circumstances. These plans will help sewerage companies to fully assess the capacity of the wastewater network and develop collaborative solutions to current problems and future issues.

This is a devolved matter with regard to Scotland and Northern Ireland; hunting with dogs is a reserved matter with respect to Wales and therefore, the information provided relates to England and Wales only.

The Government is committed to banning trail hunting as part of a wider drive to introduce ambitious plans to improve animal welfare. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and, to date, no assessment has been made on either the impact of hunting with hounds or trail hunting on rural communities.

We acknowledge that more can be done to reduce food waste in the primary production stage.

Conversations with industry have suggested that a potentially significant cause of food waste on farm are unfair business practices at the point of first sale, where the specification requirements can lead to produce being left unharvested or rotting in the field.

We have taken powers to clamp down on these kinds of unfair contractual practices through the ‘fair dealings’ powers contained in the Agriculture Act 2020 and intend to work with stakeholders to explore how these powers could be exercised to address such concerns.

Total UK food waste arisings are 10.7 million tonnes with approximately 1.6 million tonnes (15%) occurring on farm.

The amount of food we waste is a stain on our country. This Government will work with business to drive down food waste and make sure food is put on the plates of those in greatest need.

We continue to support WRAP and their work to drive down food surplus and waste in homes and businesses. This includes work to ensure surplus food is redistributed to charities and other organisations who can use it and on programmes to help citizens reduce their food waste.

We thank food producers, charities and retailers in the sector for tackling the problem of food waste.