Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government which deer species they consider should be eliminated from the UK, if any.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The deer impacts policy statement sets out a plan to sustainably manage wild deer in England so that they are not a threat to environmental, social or economic goals. It does not set targets for individual species as impacts vary across the country, depending on the number of species present, their activities and levels of abundance in an area. We are encouraging regional and landscape-scale approaches.
Defra will seek to review relevant invasive deer species, with respect to potentially listing them as species of special concern alongside Muntjac.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assistance the Environment Agency provides landowners to help them prevent illegal waste sites from being established on their land.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) asks that landowners report illegal waste activity immediately on its 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 to enable early intervention.
The EA will investigate illegal waste activity to, where possible, identify the perpetrator and require them to clear the waste, taking appropriate enforcement action to punish and deter.
The EA collaborates with partners such as National Farmers Union and Royal Chartered Institute of Surveyors to run communication campaigns aimed at educating landowners. We work with partners locally such as rural police crime teams to raise awareness and share information to combat waste crime.
The EA encourages landowners to check empty land and property regularly to ensure it is secure, stopping criminals from gaining access.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, if any, of the proportion of wild venison which meets the British Quality Wild Venison standard.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not made an estimate of the proportion of wild venison that the meets the British Quality Wild Venison standard. Defra continues to provide grants for capital items, training and projects related to wild venison and supported the creation and implementation of the British Quality Wild Venison Standard. Defra will continue to support the wild venison supply chain, including continuing to facilitate GB Wild Venison Working Group to improve resilience and traceability, and promote the British Quality Wild Venison Standard, with the aim of increasing demand for wild venison.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what targets exist for the increase in consumption of wild venison through public procurement.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is exploring the use of public procurement to increase consumption of wild venison but has not set any targets. The serving of wild venison needs to be a local decision made by the appropriate procurement professional who is best placed to understand the needs of their customers and how to balance those needs with the constraints of the supply chains in which they are operating.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the EU–Mercosur trade agreement on UK farmers.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The EU-Mercosur trade agreement was signed on 17 January 2026, but has not yet been ratified, and is a matter for the EU. We do not expect that it will impact UK food production, supply or security.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve support for farmers affected by flooding.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) agri-environment schemes currently fund a range of actions offering multi-year support for farmers to manage and reduce flooding on their land. Defra provides grants such as BFS1: 12-24m watercourse buffer strip on cultivated land and CSW24: Manage grassland for flood and drought resilience and water quality. The Government will be opening a new round of SFI for applications from small farms and those without an existing SFI agreement this summer and the CSHT scheme is open to those who have been invited to apply by the Rural Payments Agency.
The Farming Recovery Fund was used to make exceptional, one-off recovery payments to support farmers affected by Storms Babet, Henk and severe wet weather over the winter of 2023 and 2024 to help cover the uninsured costs of restoring farmland. Farmers are encouraged to continue managing their own risk by taking actions in their own business to build resilience, including taking advantage of commercial insurance markets. There are no plans to open the Farming Recovery Fund at this time.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the farming recovery fund.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) agri-environment schemes currently fund a range of actions offering multi-year support for farmers to manage and reduce flooding on their land. Defra provides grants such as BFS1: 12-24m watercourse buffer strip on cultivated land and CSW24: Manage grassland for flood and drought resilience and water quality. The Government will be opening a new round of SFI for applications from small farms and those without an existing SFI agreement this summer and the CSHT scheme is open to those who have been invited to apply by the Rural Payments Agency.
The Farming Recovery Fund was used to make exceptional, one-off recovery payments to support farmers affected by Storms Babet, Henk and severe wet weather over the winter of 2023 and 2024 to help cover the uninsured costs of restoring farmland. Farmers are encouraged to continue managing their own risk by taking actions in their own business to build resilience, including taking advantage of commercial insurance markets. There are no plans to open the Farming Recovery Fund at this time.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Storm Goretti on habitats and biodiversity.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Storm events place increasing pressure on the water environment and can disrupt habitats and biodiversity. The Environment Agency (EA) would not usually look at the impact of a particular storm, such as Storm Goretti, on nature. Instead, the EA considers these issues in the broader context of climate resilience, including how natural processes contribute to protection and recovery.
The England and UK Biodiversity Indicators (see both attached) give a snapshot of the current status of biodiversity and track trends over time, showing whether aspects of biodiversity are improving, declining, or remaining stable. The England Biodiversity Indicators are continually adapted to align with the Environmental Improvement Plan.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support is available to communities to respond to treefall as a result of extreme weather.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Forestry Commission works closely with the forestry sector and environmental organisations to provide guidance on storm recovery operations for both public and private woodland owners following extreme weather.
The Forestry Commission provides support through Incident Management and Contingency Planning, helping to coordinate response, issue warnings, and share information to the forestry sector and communities. This work is carried out in partnership with Lead Government Departments and emergency responders.
Forestry Commission guidance states that a felling licence is not required to clear windblown (uprooted, snapped or no longer growing) or dangerous trees. Where felling licence applications relate directly to managing standing trees that present public safety risks, the Forestry Commission may expedite processing by excluding publishing on the public consultation register where there is an overriding public safety benefit.
During recovery, restocking woodlands provides an opportunity to increase resilience to future extreme weather and climate change, including adjusting woodland design and tree species choices to improve long‑term stability.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how UK farmers will replace the lost market for feed quality cereals when the UK imports bioethanol from the United States of America.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The landmark economic deal with the United States announced on 8 May protects jobs in the automotive, steel, aluminium, pharmaceutical and aerospace sectors - sectors that employ over 320,000 people across the UK. For the first time ever, this deal will also open up exclusive access for UK beef farmers to the US market.
The demand for UK-produced crops is subject to global market prices and supply. Crop varieties grown in the UK can be of a specification for food, feed and bioenergy standards, and this in-built flexibility helps farmers to ensure an end-use market for their product. For farmers, the opportunity to sell into bioenergy production offers a secondary market for their surplus or lower quality crops and associated agricultural residues. In 2023, 133,000 hectares of agricultural land in the UK were used to grow crops for bioenergy. This area represents 2.2% of the arable land in the UK.
The Government is working closely with the Ethanol industry to find a way forward. The Business and Transport Secretaries met with representatives from the bioethanol industry last week to discuss their concerns.