Nitrogen Reduction, Recycling and Reuse (Environment and Climate Change Committee Report)

Lord Duncan of Springbank Excerpts

Tuesday 6th January 2026 Grand Committee

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Duncan of Springbank) (Con)]

Before democracy so rudely interrupted us, we were hearing from the noble Baroness, Lady Sheehan.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, I repeat that a key recommendation in our report was simplification of the regulatory system and toughening of enforcement. There are some low-hanging solutions, such as reducing inputs of nitrogen and optimising their application, improving manure management, mandating low-emission slurry spreading and slurry covers by 2027 and extending permitting to large cattle and dairy farms within two years. The Government’s response nods to these issues but opts to postpone real decisions. They prefer to wait for further pilots, reviews or consultations, rather than commit to the clear direction of travel that farmers themselves say they need. I would be interested to know why the Government are not showing greater urgency.

On water, our report highlighted that water companies alone cannot solve nutrient pollution. Upgrades to wastewater treatment are necessary but not sufficient. Upstream collaboration with land managers, catchment-based solutions and innovations in nutrient recovery must all play a part. We called for clearer expectations on integrated catchment planning and a regulatory framework that rewards pollution prevention, not merely end-of-pipe treatment. Yet the Government’s response is, again, too timid. It reiterates existing programmes but does not set out how regulations will drive the system towards joined-up catchment outcomes or how innovation in nutrient recycling will be scaled beyond a handful of projects.

Before concluding, I would like to put just two questions to the Minister. Can she confirm whether the Government will embed the holistic approach to nitrogen to which they have committed across related Defra priorities, including the farming road map, the land use framework, the food strategy, the water White Paper and the water reform Bill? Secondly, in the light of the delay to the circular economy strategy and its reframing as the circular economy growth plan, can the Minister provide assurance that nutrient circularity, including for nitrogen, will still form part of the circular economy road map for the agri-food sector?

Our report argues for aligning air quality, climate and agricultural policy so that measures reinforce, rather than undermine, one another. Moving nitrogen towards a circular economy—reduce, recycle, reuse—should be a unifying objective, but it is disappointing that the Government do not recognise that a circular economy approach to reducing nitrogen emissions is not deliverable without a national nitrogen strategy. I beg to move.