Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of flooding of agricultural land on UK food security.

We recognise that the recent period of wet weather has impacted UK agriculture. On 13 November we announced that additional financial support will be provided to rural communities, recognising the importance of preventing flooding for farmers and protecting food security.

Defra is providing a one-off £75 million Internal Drainage Board (IDB) Fund, to accelerate IDBs’ recovery from the winter 2023 -24 storms and to modernise and upgrade assets.

More than 12,700 farmers impacted by the severe wet weather, including Storms Babet and Henk, between October 2023 and March 2024, have received recovery payments totalling £57.5 million from the Farming Recovery Fund. These are one off recovery payments which will support land recovery activities such as soil remediation, recultivation and the removal of debris caused by flooding.