Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help support heritage farmland.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to supporting British farmers and the vital role they play. In England, the Government will continue to invest in our farmers and land managers to make their businesses, food production and our country more sustainable and resilient through Environmental Land Management (ELM), including our heritage farmland.
Part of ELM, Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier includes actions and capital items which support farmers and land managers in protecting and restoring historic or archaeological features and carrying out heritage actions. For example, actions include:
Furthermore, there are three boundary feature actions and two heritage actions remaining available in the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 offer, as follows:
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support biodiversity in rural communities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to restoring and protecting nature in rural communities through delivering our legally binding biodiversity targets on species abundance, species extinction and habitat creation and restoration. The Land Use Framework (LUF) shows we have enough land to deliver all our targets and outcomes but need to be more strategic in its use.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) are being prepared across the whole of England to enable local areas to set priorities for biodiversity and environmental improvement and to propose where action is most needed.
Each strategy is being led by a local authority and co-developed with input from local communities, landowners, and stakeholders, ensuring that it reflects the unique environmental and social context of the local area, including rural areas.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to tackle flooding in flood-prone areas.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Protecting communities around the country from flooding is a priority for this Government.
That is why we set up a Flood Resilience Taskforce to provide oversight of national and local flood resilience and preparedness ahead of and after the winter flood season.
Protecting communities from floods is a devolved responsibility. Delivering on the Plan for Change, in England, this Government is investing at least £10.5 billion until 2036 to construct new flood schemes and repair existing defences, protecting communities from the devastating impacts of climate change.
This Labour Government are investing £4.2 billion over the next three years—2026-27 to 2028-29—to construct new flood defence schemes and maintain and repair existing defences across England.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of extreme weather events on small-scale farms in the last two years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has made no assessment of the potential impacts of extreme weather on small farms.
The Government has allocated £11.8bn to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament, including £5.9bn for environmental farming schemes. Defra is focusing efforts on actions with multiple benefits: for example, improving soil health so soil can hold more water, which both reduces flood risk in extreme rainfall (winter 2026) and drought risk in extreme dry weather (summer 2025). Later this year Defra will open the Sustainable Farming Incentive offer in two windows: the first from June 2026 for small farms and also farms without existing Environmental Land Management revenue agreements; the second from September for all farms.
Farmers contribute to and are affected by weather-related challenges. The measures the government is introducing will help British farming thrive and boost farmers’ resilience to extreme weather while protecting this country’s water resources and meeting environmental goals.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of food waste reduction initiatives on household food costs.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
58% of the food that is wasted in the UK is wasted in our homes, almost three quarters of which (73%) is edible. This food has a value of around £17 billion, which is around £80 per month or £1,000 per year for the average family with children.
This Government is committed to moving towards a circular economy – a future where our resources are used as efficiently and productively as possible for as long as possible, and waste is reduced. To tackle food waste in the home, we fund a programme of action delivered by WRAP to help people save money by buying what they need and using what they buy. This includes campaigns such as Food Waste Action Week with the theme of ‘Make Your Food Go Further, helping the public to shop for, store and cook foods in ways that reduces food costs and minimises waste.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with water companies on reducing agricultural runoff into rivers and waterways.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In January 2026, I hosted a cross-sector roundtable, which included water industry representatives, to discuss planned reforms to agricultural pollution regulations. Engagement continues with industry, farming and environmental representatives at official level.
Regional planning will take a cross-sector approach to water management, ensuring agricultural water pollution is actively tackled. A Regional Water Planning Steering Group—established through a commitment in the Water White paper and chaired by Minister Hardy—held its first meeting with water company representatives and other stakeholders on 11 February.
We are committed to the Environment Act target to reduce agricultural nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment entering the water environment by 40% by 2038. The Environment Improvement Plan sets out clear delivery plans to achieve these targets. We are already taking action to reduce this pollution, including doubling the funding for farm inspections.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times the fisheries protection vessel has been deployed in each of the last five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is unable to confirm the position at a UK level as fisheries protection is a devolved matter. The Marine Management Organisation is responsible for regulating and enforcing fisheries activity in English waters. Its two dedicated Offshore Patrol Vessels maintain a near-continuous presence at sea to monitor compliance and safeguard sustainable fishing, with each vessel averaging over 350 days at sea per year since 2022.
Information on at sea activity undertaken by the Scottish, Welsh, or Northern Irish authorities in the waters for which they are responsible can be obtained directly from the respective devolved governments.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the labour supply to the agri-food sector.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises that access to a sufficient workforce is essential for the resilience and productivity of the farming. Whilst Defra does assess the number of people currently working in agriculture this does not include questions related to adequacy of supply. The Farming Profitability Review, however, is a recent assessment of impacts on farming, which includes considerations of labour availability. Recommendations from this review covered a range of labour supply issues related to migrant workers, education and wider skills requirements.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has undertaken an assessment of the environmental impacts associated with poor animal health.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has made several assessments of the environmental impacts associated with animal health, including the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. Improved animal health is recognised as important in reducing agricultural greenhouse gas mitigations in the Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan (2025).
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help improve the profitability of UK farm produce.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Farming Roadmap and the full Government response to the Farming Profitability Review will be published later this year, which will set out the wider plan to boost profitability and long-term viability.
The Government is currently already taking forward a series of measures. A new Farming and Food Partnership Board will bring together farmers, processors, retailers, and the wider supply chain to strengthen collaboration across the sector. The Government is investing £30 million in a Farmer Collaboration Fund to support peer-to-peer networks so farmers can share knowledge and learn from each other.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive will be also reformed to make it simpler and fairer, with two application windows this year. The June window will support smaller farms and those without agreements, and the September window will be open to all farms. The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme will be extended for three additional years, supported by £30 million of funding next year.