Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish the Farming Profitability Review.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Baroness Batters will present her report to the Defra Secretary of State at the end of October for consideration.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reduction in yields of main cereal crops in 2025 on farm profitability.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Cereals are internationally traded commodities, and their supply chains are dynamic and responsive to global market developments.
The Government has closely monitored the 2025 harvest and continues to engage regularly with industry stakeholders to assess any implications this may have on the cereals sector. In addition, the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG) provides early warning of atypical market movements by tracking trends in prices, inputs, and trade.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to re-open the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding. Further details about the reformed SFI offer will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Spring Statement 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the funding of the Farming and Countryside Programme on the net number of hectares of farmland farmed in a nature-friendly way.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We are increasing the budget for sustainable farming and are investing more than £2.7 billion a year in farming and nature recovery.
Funding for the Environmental Land Management Schemes paid to farmers will increase by 150% from £800 million in 2023/24 to £2 billion by 2028/29.
As a result of the Government’s determination to get more farmers to participate, there are now 50,000 farm businesses and half of all farmed land now managed under our schemes – with more money being spent through these schemes than at any point.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency is taking steps to (a) control and (b) report on the potential risk of toxic contamination from the use of (i) recycled Energy Recovery Facilities incineration ash residue and (ii) Air Pollution Control Residue in building materials.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As was the case when he was Secretary of State for Defra, the ash residue from energy recovery facilities is normally processed into incinerator The bottom ash aggregate (IBAA). IBAA can only be used under the terms of a regulatory position statement (RPS) or a permit issued by the Environment Agency (EA).
The EA have risk assessed the use of IBAA. The RPS sets out placement limitations which allows use of IBAA whilst retaining protection of the environment. If the RPS cannot be met, a site-specific permit and risk assessment is required. Where a permit is issued there is a requirement to report.
Air Pollution Control Residue can only be used as a building material when that material has met the criteria for end-of-waste, which is assessed on a case-by-case basis. This requires that the material must be of no significantly greater risk to the environment or human health than the non-waste-derived equivalent.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timeline for for the proposed Fens Reservoir is for the (a) submission of a development consent order application to the Planning Inspectorate, (b) final decision on the development consent order application, (c) construction work to start on site, (d) construction work to finish on site, and (e) for the reservoir to be operational.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Anglian Water is responsible for the development of the Fens reservoir. Proposals will be consulted on and will follow the requirements of the National Policy Statement for Water Resources Infrastructure. A traffic and transport assessment is currently underway and further information will be shared with communities as part of the next phase of consultation this Autumn.
Anglian Water will submit the application for a Development Consent Order in 2027. The determination of the application by the Secretary of State is expected in 2028/29 and should Development Consent be granted, construction of the reservoir will start in 2029/30.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 5 February 2025, HCWS417 on the Flood Investment Announcement, whether he plans to provide additional support to local authorities impacted by increases to Internal Drainage Board special levies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The government supports the important work internal drainage boards (IDBs) do in managing water and flood risk, benefiting communities, businesses and the environment.
The government announced as part of the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement, that it will provide £5 million in funding for the local authorities most impacted by IDB levies.
On 31st March 2025 the government also announced an additional £16 million boost to the IDB Fund to support greater flood resilience for farmers and rural communities. The Fund has increased from £75 million to £91 million to provide opportunities to modernise and upgrade assets and this will help reduce future cost increases. Defra has also committed to work with the IDB sector and MHCLG to review IDBs’ current funding and costs.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 his Department has met representatives of (a) Greenpeace, (b) Just Stop Oil and (c) Extinction Rebellion since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Ministers have met with Greenpeace and discussions continue at an official level. There have not been any meetings with Just Stop Oil or Extinction Rebellion.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total SFI agreement uptake has been per quarter since the beginning of the launch of the 2021 pilot scheme.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The table below shows the number of Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements accepted and started per quarter since the scheme’s launch in 2021. To note that farmers can have more than one SFI Agreement. The application window was paused across Spring and early Summer in 2022.
Quarter | Number of Agreements |
Oct 21 to Dec 21 | 515 |
Jan 22 to Mar 22 | 340 |
Apr 22 to Jun 22 | 20 |
Jul 22 to Sep 22 | 6 |
Oct 22 to Dec 22 | 1144 |
Jan 23 to Mar 23 | 910 |
Apr 23 to Jun 23 | 641 |
Jul 23 to Sep 23 | 609 |
Oct 23 to Dec 23 | 4044 |
Jan 24 to Mar 24 | 9915 |
Apr 24 to Jun 24 | 9391 |
Jul 24 to Sep 24 | 2875 |
Oct 24 to Dec 24 | 6122 |
Jan 25 to Mar 25 | 4358 |
Total | 40,890 |
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 July 2024 to Question 1488 on Agriculture: Food Supply, what preparations his Department has made for the 2025 Farm to Fork Summit.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The department is planning to engage closely with key stakeholders from across the food system over the coming months. We will confirm the details of possible future events in due course.