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 extent to which farmers will contribute towards natural flood defence measures.

Environmental Land Management schemes and other Government grant payments create incentives for land managers to adopt sustainable farming practices, which provide benefits for agricultural productivity, biodiversity and resilience to climate events. For example, we are providing funding for farmers to implement natural flood management measures on their land, boosting resilience and supporting flood preparedness. Funding for soil health actions can help reduce the impacts of drought and flooding.

The record £2.65 billion floods investment programme also delivers natural flood management, with the impact of a project on agricultural land included as part of the funding calculator. In addition, the government published a rapid evidence assessment in 2024 of flooding and coastal erosion on agricultural land and businesses, and this discusses the evidence for agriculture as a provider of natural flood management.