Written questions by Snowden.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to change the level of funding for farms in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.

At February’s NFU Conference, the Secretary of State announced a raft of new policies that will put money in the pockets of farmers in Fylde, Lancashire, and across the country. We remain committed to investing £5 billion of funding in the farming budget over two years, and are on track to do so. We will be 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 following the spending review in summer 2025. We plan to launch the new Higher Tier scheme later this year; Capital Grants will re-open in summer 2025; we continue to move forward with Landscape Recovery; we are increasing payment rates for Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement holders to recognise their ongoing commitment to delivering environmental outcome; and we are making £110 million available for new grant competitions to support research and innovation, technology and equipment for farmers. We are investing £208 million in biosecurity protections and extending the Seasonal Worker visa route for five more years. We are backing British produce in Government catering contracts and ensuring fair competition across the supply chain through contractual reform.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to support the resilience of family farms in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.

At February’s NFU Conference, the Secretary of State announced a raft of new policies to put money in farmers pockets and make them more resilient. We are making £110 million available for new grant competitions to support research and innovation, technology and equipment for farmers. We are investing £208 million in biosecurity protections and extending the Seasonal Worker visa route for five more years. We are backing British produce in government catering contracts and ensuring fair competition across the supply chain through contractual reform. We are making good progress in appointing a Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector to help embed fair practice across the sector and expect to be able to make an announcement on this shortly. And Baroness Minette Batters has been appointed as a reviewer for the Farming Profitability Review, to understand the barriers farmers face to increasing profitability.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to revise guidance issued to producers on obligations under the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme.

The pEPR Scheme Administrator, working with the relevant UK regulator, will revise producer guidance, where appropriate, to assist them in understanding and meeting their obligations under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to encourage people to buy Lancashire produce.

As we set out in our Plan for Change, we are focused on supporting our farmers, supporting rural economic growth and boosting Britain’s food security. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed, has confirmed to businesses and industry groups from across the food sector that work is underway to develop an ambitious new food strategy. The strategy will set the food system up for long-term success and will deliver wide ranging improvements. This will set it up for success in ensuring it is able to feed the nation, can realise its potential for economic growth, protect the planet, and nourish individuals. Defra officials regularly engage with stakeholders across the food supply chain to understand their work to promote British produce in-store and online. We strongly support efforts to promote British food and back our farmers, who produce some of the best food in the world. This is why the food strategy will set the food system up for long-term success and ensure that our food system can feed the nation, realise its potential for economic growth, protect the planet, and nourish individuals, now and in the future. The UK has a wide range of incredible regional food and drink products, including from Lancashire, like Beacon Fell Traditional Lancashire Cheese which is a protected designation of origin. I strongly encourage anyone to seek out and enjoy their own local produce and the great things that other regions have to offer, too.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on farmers’ mental health in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

This Government is committed to supporting the mental health of those working in farming and agriculture. The Government continue to fund the Farmer Welfare Grant. This currently funds four charities to deliver projects which support mental health and build resilience in local farming communities. One consortium of charities, led by the Farmer Network, operates in Lancashire. Their ‘Keep Farming Stronger for Longer’ campaign is delivering workshops, training, events, networking, 1:1 advice and the provision of additional Field Nurse services in the region. Furthermore, the Government is paying out £60m through the Farming Recovery Fund to support farmers affected by this unprecedented extreme wet weather. Finally, the Government announced in their 2024 manifesto 8,500 new mental health support workers. This will give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health, reduce delays and provide faster treatment closer to people’s homes.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce fly-tipping in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

Local authorities are often best placed to respond to incidences of fly-tipping. They have a range of enforcement powers which we encourage them to make good use of. We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide enforcement guidance, which councils would legally need to have regard to. In our manifesto we committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course. In the meantime, Defra will continue to chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders, such as local authorities, to promote good practice on tackling fly-tipping.  Various practical tools, including ‘how to’ guides covering key issues, are also available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the number of farmers who will be affected by changes to (a) agricultural property relief and (b) business property relief in (i) Fylde constituency and (ii) Lancashire.

Assessing the impact of the new Inheritance Tax policy, which comes into force from 6 April 2026, relies on a number of factors such as ownership structure and debt levels. Without such information, which the Government does not hold at that level, area level assessments cannot be made. This Government is aware that each farm is different, and so we encourage farmers to speak to their tax advisors and agents to understand how these changes may impact their specific situation and how to plan for the future. As an outcome of the October 2024 Spending Review, we have committed £5 billion in the agricultural budget over the next two years – the biggest ever budget for sustainable food production and nature recovery in this country’s history. This enables us to keep momentum on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of infrastructure developments on agricultural land in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.

The Government does not comment on individual projects which have yet to be consented via the independent planning process. The Government has launched a consultation on land use in England which will inform the publication of the Land Use Framework this year. The framework will set out how the Government will protect land with the greatest long-term potential for food production, while delivering on the need for new infrastructure which will bring forward green growth, good jobs and investment across the country. The Land Use Framework and the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan are being designed alongside each other to work cohesively together and with other sectoral plans.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that young people can access the countryside.

We are currently providing £4.45 million funding to deliver a second phase of Generation Green, to help more disadvantaged children and young people experience the benefits of the great outdoors. This builds on the legacy of the successful first phase of the Generation Green programme. Although this funding will end at the end of March 2025, we will continue to seek opportunities to help young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, access the countryside. The DfE Sustainability and Climate Change Unit and the Defra Access to Nature teams are working collaboratively to align policy development on access to nature and opportunities for children and young people to engage with nature, alongside enhancing education and skills. Together we want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to experience and learn about nature, in order to behave responsively, protect and enhance it, whilst also supporting building important skills.

Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department offers to household waste recovery firms in Fylde constituency.

We take household waste recovery firms to mean private waste collectors. We are working to support private waste collectors in England ahead of the upcoming Simpler Recycling reforms, which will ensure that across England, people will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school. Guidance has been published to assist local authorities, other waste collectors and workplaces in implementing the new requirements: Paper and card guidanceHousehold waste services guidanceWorkplace recycling guidance Defra has launched a Simpler Recycling Communications Toolkit to help local authorities and private waste collectors inform their business and non-domestic customers about the required changes. We are continuing to engage with stakeholders to support successful delivery of the reforms, in the lead up and following the 31 March 2025 implementation date for workplaces, and 31 March 2026 for households.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2025 to Question 26765 on Soil: Conservation, what steps he is taking to ensure that family farms below the threshold required to access (a) Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and (b) Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes are able to receive support to prevent soil degradation on agricultural land impacted by repeated flooding.

The Government continues to roll out ELM schemes, including Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) and the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), to support farmers in actions including improving soil health and supporting flood and drought resilience. CSHT is in its pre-application phase with applications opening in summer, and the SFI is open for applications. There is no size or income threshold below which a farm would not be eligible to apply for either scheme. For SFI, the requirement that farmers must have been eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in either 2022 or 2023 no longer applies to the expanded SFI offer. This means that groups that were not eligible for BPS are now eligible to apply for the expanded SFI offer. This includes groups such as new entrants, non-farming land managers and smallholders. For CSHT, farmers, foresters or land managers wishing to apply must have management control of the land they want to enter into CSHT actions for the duration of those actions, and cannot be paid twice for the same activity included in other agreements. We have published information that sets out what you can do now to prepare to apply for CSHT. We will publish more details on the timing and approach to widening applications further in 2025. We will also provide more details in February about how other farm and land managers who are not initially invited, but who are interested in applying for CSHT, can contact RPA.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2025 to Question 26765 on Soil: Conservation, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of thresholds for the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier; and what plans his Department has to review schemes to ensure they can be accessed by small family farms.

The Government continues to roll out ELM schemes, including Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) and the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), to support farmers in actions including improving soil health and supporting flood and drought resilience. CSHT is in its pre-application phase with applications opening in summer, and the SFI is open for applications. There is no size or income threshold below which a farm would not be eligible to apply for either scheme. For SFI, the requirement that farmers must have been eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in either 2022 or 2023 no longer applies to the expanded SFI offer. This means that groups that were not eligible for BPS are now eligible to apply for the expanded SFI offer. This includes groups such as new entrants, non-farming land managers and smallholders. For CSHT, farmers, foresters or land managers wishing to apply must have management control of the land they want to enter into CSHT actions for the duration of those actions, and cannot be paid twice for the same activity included in other agreements. We have published information that sets out what you can do now to prepare to apply for CSHT. We will publish more details on the timing and approach to widening applications further in 2025. We will also provide more details in February about how other farm and land managers who are not initially invited, but who are interested in applying for CSHT, can contact RPA.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2025 to Question 26765 on Soil: Conservation, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of thresholds for Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes; and what plans his Department has to review those thresholds to ensure they can be accessed by small family farms.

The Government continues to roll out ELM schemes, including Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) and the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), to support farmers in actions including improving soil health and supporting flood and drought resilience. CSHT is in its pre-application phase with applications opening in summer, and the SFI is open for applications. There is no size or income threshold below which a farm would not be eligible to apply for either scheme. For SFI, the requirement that farmers must have been eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in either 2022 or 2023 no longer applies to the expanded SFI offer. This means that groups that were not eligible for BPS are now eligible to apply for the expanded SFI offer. This includes groups such as new entrants, non-farming land managers and smallholders. For CSHT, farmers, foresters or land managers wishing to apply must have management control of the land they want to enter into CSHT actions for the duration of those actions, and cannot be paid twice for the same activity included in other agreements. We have published information that sets out what you can do now to prepare to apply for CSHT. We will publish more details on the timing and approach to widening applications further in 2025. We will also provide more details in February about how other farm and land managers who are not initially invited, but who are interested in applying for CSHT, can contact RPA.

Food and Rural Affairs, what support is available from his Department to set up a new Internal Drainage Board for the Fylde coast.

Internal Drainage Boards (IDB) are local independent statutory public bodies, mainly funded by the beneficiaries of their work; this includes farmers who pay drainage rates and local authorities that pay special levies. Determining where new IDBs should be created is a matter of local choice, and the Government will only consider proposals where there is clear local support, including from local authorities and farmers. Defra is addressing the current barrier to establishing new IDBs and expanding existing ones. Changes were made to the Land Drainage Act 1991, via the Environment Act 2021, enabling new IDBs to be created and existing IDBs to expand their boundaries. Defra will bring forward the necessary statutory instrument when Parliamentary time allows.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to bring forward legislation on sustainable drainage systems.

The Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in new developments. These should be to designs that cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits, reduce run off and help to improve water quality, amenity and biodiversity. It is also important to ensure appropriate adoption and maintenance arrangements are in place. We believe that these outcomes can be achieved through either improving the current planning led approach using powers now available or commencing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. A final decision on the way forward will be made in the coming months. We have made some immediate changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to support increasing SuDS. The NPPF now requires all development to utilize SuDS where they could have drainage impacts. These systems should be appropriate to the nature and scale of the proposed development. We will review the planning system holistically and consider whether further changes are required to address SuDS when we consult on further planning reform, including national policy related to decision making, in 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent soil degradation on agricultural land impacted by repeated flooding.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive provides payments for several actions to improve soil health, including herbal leys and multi-species cover crops. Healthy soils have improved resilience to extreme weather and will recover faster from flood events. Sustainable Farming Incentive actions can also be used to slow down the flow of water within catchments, helping to mitigate wider catchment flood risk. We have also recently announced a significant expansion of the flood and drought resilience offer within Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier with new actions to store water, which can be used to protect agricultural land from flooding.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 16313 on Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal, what his planned timetable is for Government to issue payments to local councils to procure the resources needed to carry out this service.

Waste collection authorities received their capital new burdens funding allocations for providing household food waste collections in February this year and will receive transitional resource allocations for the 24/25 financial year in early 2025. We aim to provide 2025/26 payments early in the financial year.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 16313 on Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal, what steps he is taking to raise public awareness of the role of householders in forthcoming food waste disposal requirements.

It is our intention to provide transitional resource funding for the 2024/25 financial year as soon as possible. Subject to agreement, Defra plans to fund communications to support participation by householders in new food waste collections.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 16313 on Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal, what support is available to borough councils to meet their obligation to provide food waste disposal.

In February of this year, we provided £258m of capital funding to waste collection authorities to help with the purchasing of bins and vehicles. It is our intention to provide transitional resource funding for the 2024/25 early in the new year and funding for 2025/26 early in the financial year. Subject to agreement, we plan to fund LAs for reasonable costs of procurement, project management, communications and container delivery. Funding for ongoing resource funding from 1 April 2026 is subject to agreement through a spending review. We are aware that some local authorities may find the introduction of the reforms more challenging than others. We want to work with local authorities to support them in overcoming any difficulties they might face in relation to compliance within the legislative timeframes. We are also working with sector specialists WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) to provide guidance on best practice and scope additional areas of support.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department will require councils to collect household and food waste separately by March 2026.

Under Simpler Recycling, by 31 March 2026 local authorities in England will be required to provide weekly food waste collections to all households.