Farming and Food Production: Land Use Framework

Lord Cameron of Dillington Excerpts

Tuesday 21st July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I can absolutely reassure the noble Baroness that the land use framework makes a clear commitment to maintain overall food production in England. Analysis shows that this is achievable alongside the proposed land use changes. Also, food will be produced more sustainably from less land if we have a proper combination of multifunctional land use. We need to safeguard our most important agricultural land and look at how we improve productivity. We also know that many of the improvements that are coming through sustainable farming, such as improved soil quality, increase that productivity.

[Lord Cameron of Dillington (CB)]

My Lords, bearing in mind the current crisis over our defence budget and the fact that feeding our population will be as important to our nation’s survival as the efforts of our defence forces, I wonder whether the Minister considers it sensible land use planning to allow large tracts of our best agricultural land to be used for solar panels—sometimes 3,000 or 4,000 at a shot. When we have so many roofs, reservoirs and lesser-quality land available, it seems unwise, unstrategic and against all the best principles of the land use framework agenda.

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

The recent global instability has shown that we need to be more self-sufficient and strengthen our energy independence. Doing so can also help to lower costs and tackle climate change. In addition, farmers and landowners can choose to diversify their income through solar projects on their land, which can also increase the resilience of their farming businesses. I agree with the noble Lord that solar installations on rooftops and reservoirs are important, but on their own they cannot deliver the scale and capacity required to meet the nation’s needs. The land use framework demonstrates how we can safeguard our most productive agricultural land while adapting land use to support nature recovery, climate resilience, housing and infrastructure. Expanding land use for renewable energy will not come at the expense of our best agricultural land, and solar developments will need to be located in the most appropriate places.