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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the state of the microbiosphere in England and Wales; and what steps they are taking (1) to enhance knowledge of it, and (2) to preserve it.

On 31st January 2023 the Government published its second statutory Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23), as committed to in the Environment Act. The EIP23 builds on the Government’s commitment to leave the environment in a better state than we found it. It is delivery focussed and sets out the actions that will drive us towards reaching our long-term environmental targets and goals, including improving and protecting soil health.

This is aided by Defra receiving £140 million research and development funding over three years towards delivering the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) Programme. NCEA is building long term monitoring capability and yielding valuable new data, including improved understanding of national soil condition and soil microbial activity.