Oral Answers to Questions

Callum Anderson Excerpts

Thursday 19th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Eagle]

Local markets are extremely important, particularly for maintaining food supply locally, and I am very interested in seeing what we can do to assist. Most markets are owned and operated by local authorities. I think the Covent Garden Market Authority is the only wholesale market that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs still looks after. I recognise the hon. Member’s comments on food security, but this country is 67% self-sufficient in food at the moment, or 77% if one takes out the produce we cannot grow, such as mangoes and bananas. Nobody is complacent about that, and we are looking at this very closely. The new farming and food partnership board will be looking at it, and the first sector we will look at is horticulture.

[Callum Anderson (Buckingham and Bletchley) (Lab)]

5. What steps she is taking to reform the sustainable farming incentive.

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Reynolds)]

I set out further details of the 2026 sustainable farming incentive offer at the National Farmers Union conference last month. We are streamlining action and reducing complexity, so that more farmers can access funding. The offer will be simpler and fairer, with priority access in June for small farms, and farms not already in receipt of environmental land management scheme agreements.

[Callum Anderson]

I was pleased to welcome my right hon. Friend to Adstockfields, a great small family farm in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency, for a rural summit. As she knows, the SFI came up frequently. Can she set out for the House the steps that she has taken to ensure that farmers with SFI 2023 and countryside stewardship mid-tier agreements that are expiring this year can move on to SFI 2026 agreements, without losing any support?

[Emma Reynolds]

It was a pleasure to meet my hon. Friend and farmers from Buckinghamshire at the farm in his constituency for our rural summit, at which we discussed SFI and other issues. At the end of last year, the Government decided to extend expiring mid-tier agreements. I understand that farmers are concerned about any gap in their support, and we are looking to see what we can do to fix that problem.

Oral Answers to Questions

Callum Anderson Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Callum Anderson (Buckingham and Bletchley) (Lab)]

1. What steps she is taking to improve flood resilience in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)]

As part of our record £10.5 billion flood defences programme, the largest in history, the Environment Agency is progressing multiple schemes to improve resilience to flooding locally. These include natural flood management projects for Blue Lagoon, Buckingham and Leckhampstead, a property flood resilience study for Buckingham and the Tingewick flood alleviation scheme.

[Callum Anderson]

I thank the Minister for her response. Last winter’s floods exposed how years of under-investment by the previous Conservative Government had left Buckingham’s flood defences inadequate, which impacted many businesses and residents in our town. I have had the pleasure of working with the Flood Action 4 Buckingham group and others to ensure that local voices are heard and to identify ways we can act together to ensure we are resilient in the future. Can the Minister advise me and my constituents on how we can access our fair share of future flood resilience funding so that we are not in this position again?

[Emma Hardy]

I thank my hon. Friend for his important question. I recognise that, at this time of the year, there is anxiety about flooding, and I thank him and the Flood Action 4 Buckingham group for their work. He will be pleased to know that our flood funding policy reforms, announced in October, will make it quicker and easier to deliver the flood defences that he desperately needs, and I would be happy to meet him to discuss this issue in more detail.