Written questions by Anderson.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK-Japan organic equivalency agreement on organic farmers and producers in Buckinghamshire.

Japan is the second largest organic market in Asia, valued at an estimated £1.4 billion in 2023, and expanding rapidly, driven by Japanese government initiatives to promote organic consumption domestically. The UK-Japan agreement to formally recognise the equivalency of each other’s organic livestock standards will help British exporters to meet growing consumer demand for organic products in Japan. Defra has a network of 16 agri-food and drink attaches who work to remove trade barriers and support UK agri-food businesses to export. This includes an attaché based in Japan. Last year the network removed over 50 trade barriers, estimated by industry to be worth £127million per annum. Businesses in Buckinghamshire can access a range of tools and support available through the Business Growth Service via business.gov.uk to help businesses sell abroad and find the best country for their product. Additional support can be accessed through the UK Business Academy, which is a free training programme for UK businesses looking to grow their international sales.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to promote awareness among farmers and food producers in Buckinghamshire of new export opportunities created by the mutual recognition of UK and Japanese organic livestock standards.

Japan is the second largest organic market in Asia, valued at an estimated £1.4 billion in 2023, and expanding rapidly, driven by Japanese government initiatives to promote organic consumption domestically. The UK-Japan agreement to formally recognise the equivalency of each other’s organic livestock standards will help British exporters to meet growing consumer demand for organic products in Japan. Defra has a network of 16 agri-food and drink attaches who work to remove trade barriers and support UK agri-food businesses to export. This includes an attaché based in Japan. Last year the network removed over 50 trade barriers, estimated by industry to be worth £127million per annum. Businesses in Buckinghamshire can access a range of tools and support available through the Business Growth Service via business.gov.uk to help businesses sell abroad and find the best country for their product. Additional support can be accessed through the UK Business Academy, which is a free training programme for UK businesses looking to grow their international sales.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support organic food producers in Buckinghamshire to access export opportunities to Japan.

Japan is the second largest organic market in Asia, valued at an estimated £1.4 billion in 2023, and expanding rapidly, driven by Japanese government initiatives to promote organic consumption domestically. The UK-Japan agreement to formally recognise the equivalency of each other’s organic livestock standards will help British exporters to meet growing consumer demand for organic products in Japan. Defra has a network of 16 agri-food and drink attaches who work to remove trade barriers and support UK agri-food businesses to export. This includes an attaché based in Japan. Last year the network removed over 50 trade barriers, estimated by industry to be worth £127million per annum. Businesses in Buckinghamshire can access a range of tools and support available through the Business Growth Service via business.gov.uk to help businesses sell abroad and find the best country for their product. Additional support can be accessed through the UK Business Academy, which is a free training programme for UK businesses looking to grow their international sales.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Land Use Framework on the availability of agricultural land for food production.

The Government has been clear that food security is national security. The Framework makes a clear, long-term commitment to maintain overall food production in England while increasing resilience to climate change and to protect the most productive farmland. Defra’s analysis shows that it is possible to achieve the scale of change required without reducing domestic food production. The UK will produce food more sustainably from less land using a mixture of productivity improvements and the expansion of highly efficient sectors.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Land Use Framework on housing delivery in Buckinghamshire.

The Land Use Framework sets out a plan for how we can use our land in a more informed and more efficient way, showing there is enough land to deliver the homes our communities need, whilst protecting and enhancing the environment. The Land Use Framework is not intended to be used as material consideration in planning decisions for the preparation of development plans or for making decisions on planning applications. The impact of land use change for housing will be assessed as part of the implementation of the Land Use Framework and will inform policy on housing, infrastructure, food and the environment.

Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria she will use to determine national spatial priorities under the Land Use Framework.

The Land Use Framework informs decision-makers at all scales of spatial planning to identify areas to be safeguarded for agriculture or prioritised for nature, and to find the right areas for development and infrastructure. The Framework will support a more strategic approach to spatial planning, which will help to manage trade-offs at a local level to ensure land use change is coherent and fair, and takes account of local knowledge and values. Publishing the Framework was the first step. This year we will establish a Land Use Unit to put the framework into action and share updated analysis online.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications of the Land Use Framework for balancing infrastructure development with environmental targets.

The Framework’s focus on more informed decision making, including spatial targeting, shows how we can meet our homes and infrastructure goals while supporting nature recovery.

Food and Rural Affairs, what monitoring arrangements will be established by the proposed Land Use Unit to assess progress against the Land Use Framework’s objectives.

The Land Use Unit will monitor land use change in England to assess progress against the Land Use Framework’s objectives. Specific monitoring plans will be announced later this year following the set up of the Unit.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help raise awareness of the co-operative business model among new entrants to agriculture.

The Government strongly supports the benefits co-operatives can bring in buying inputs, coordinating production, and selling outputs, and recognises the important role they play in promoting sustainable farming. The Government is developing the new Farmer Collaboration Fund to unlock broader benefits of collaboration. The Good Food Cycle recognises the key role that co-operatives and community initiatives can play in supporting delivery of the growth, health, sustainability, and food security/ resilience outcomes.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the role of agricultural cooperatives in supporting rural communities in Buckinghamshire.

The Government strongly supports the benefits co-operatives can bring in buying inputs, coordinating production, and selling outputs, and recognises the important role they play in promoting sustainable farming. The Government is developing the new Farmer Collaboration Fund to unlock broader benefits of collaboration. The Good Food Cycle recognises the key role that co-operatives and community initiatives can play in supporting delivery of the growth, health, sustainability, and food security/ resilience outcomes.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help existing agricultural co-operatives to be economically resilient.

The Government strongly supports the benefits co-operatives can bring in buying inputs, coordinating production, and selling outputs, and recognises the important role they play in promoting sustainable farming. The Government is developing the new Farmer Collaboration Fund to unlock broader benefits of collaboration. The Good Food Cycle recognises the key role that co-operatives and community initiatives can play in supporting delivery of the growth, health, sustainability, and food security/ resilience outcomes.

Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of national water efficiency funding has been allocated to projects in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

At PR24 final determination, Anglian Water was allocated £167m to support smart metering, leakage reduction, and other water efficiency activities across the 2025-2030 period. Companies may choose where to spend allocated money within their regions, such as by targeting specific locations or spreading it evenly across their area. Additionally, Ofwat leads a £100m Water Efficiency Fund. A national campaign will launch later this year.  Winners of the first innovation competition will be confirmed in June 2026, and the money will be to the benefit of all consumers.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many agricultural technology projects in Buckinghamshire have received government innovation funding.

Twelve projects in Buckinghamshire delivered by nine organisations have been awarded a total of £2.4 million to date through the Farming Innovation Programme. Further information on this is not within Defra's remit and therefore the department would recommend reaching out to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology as the department responsible for this policy area.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of barriers to adoption of farm tech among farmers.

Farmers need evidence of the benefits and returns from investing in innovation and technology, as well as access to finance. That is why Defra is committing £30m to Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) funding competitions from FY26/27, as announced at the NFU Conference in February. This will help farmers and growers' trial practical solutions and approaches that support productivity, profitability and build resilience.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the level of funding that will be required to reduce leakage rates to target levels in Buckinghamshire.

We expect Ofwat, as the independent economic regulator, to consider the funding required to enable companies to contribute to national leakage reduction targets as part of its Price Review process. Water companies have committed to reducing leakage, on a national level, by 50% from 2017-2018 levels by 2050, including a 30% reduction interim target by 2032. Defra is supporting the Ofwat led Smart Meter Delivery Board to enable, the identification and fixture of leaks through, the rollout of 10.4 million water smart meters this Price Review.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is considering regulatory changes to help improve water infrastructure provision in Buckinghamshire.

The Water White Paper published in January 2026, available on GOV.UK, sets out the changes we are making to bring a holistic approach to water planning, which better considers current water infrastructure asset health and the resilience enhancements needed to cater for future needs. This includes bringing together the functions of Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and parts of the Environment Agency into a powerful single regulator. This will ensure water companies identify and delivery critical water infrastructure to improve our resilience and meet our future needs. This is in addition to the £104 billion of private sector investment that has been secured to fund essential infrastructure improvements in the 2025-2030 period.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of food supply chain resilience in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

The UK has a resilient food supply chain underpinned by diverse sources, robust domestic production and reliable import routes. Defra works with industry and across Government, including Cabinet Office, to monitor risks to food supply chain resilience that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains. At the local level Defra engages with local resilience forums, with support from MHCLG, to build additional resilience to supply chain shocks and emergencies.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of food imports are subject to sanitary and phytosanitary checks.

Food is not a category used to record import checks within sanitary and phytosanitary controls as it covers a large range, of varying types, of imports. Imports are subject to controls based upon their composition or commodity type. Products are categorised as high, medium or low risk, with controls appropriately weighted against the risks posed both by the commodity and the country of origin. The current risk levels are identified on GOV.UK Import risk categories for animals, animal products, plants and plant products - GOV.UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of water resilience in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency in the context of climate change projections.

Anglian Water, as the water and wastewater provider for Milton Keynes and Buckingham, has the responsibility to assess the adequacy of water resilience in the context of climate change. Anglian Water’s water resources management plan 2024 (WRMP24) evaluates the risk and possible impact of climate change and sets out likely implications for water supplies. Anglian Water has conducted a detailed assessment of climate change for each water resource zone (WRZ) in its area. The outcome of the assessment has been incorporated into Anglian Water’s WRMP24 forecasts and options are included to meet supply deficits caused by the impacts of climate change. Anglian Water’s WRMP24 was reviewed by the Environment Agency and was published in September 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, what monitoring mechanisms her Department plans to use to track progress on water efficiency in domestic properties in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

As part of the water resources management plan (WRMP) process, it is a statutory requirement for water companies to produce an annual review of their plans. The annual review sets out delivery of each WRMP component, including progress on water efficiency in domestic properties. The annual review report and data is submitted to the Environment Agency and technically assessed. Outcomes from the annual review are also used to monitor progress against the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 water efficiency target to reduce the amount of water used per-person.