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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to move the regulation of sludge used on agricultural land from the Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989 into the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, as outlined in the Environment Agency strategy for safe and sustainable sludge use.

The Government is working with the Environment Agency to assess the regulatory framework for sludge. We recognise the importance of improving the regulatory framework, however, further work is required before any proposal for change may be progressed.