Written questions by Whately.

Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on considering the industry feedback on introducing BESS to the Environmental Permitting Regulations.

The Government is committed to ensuring grid-scale batteries remain as safe as possible and we are exploring options to enhance safeguards to manage the potential environmental and public health risks associated with grid-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) sites. We are currently considering responses to the Government's recent consultation on modernising environmental permitting for industry, which asked for views on potentially including grid-scale BESS sites within environmental permitting regulations.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will hold discussions with the Electrical Storage Health and Safety Governance Group on introducing BESS to the Environmental Permitting Regulations.

Defra officials have regularly attended Electrical Storage Health and Safety Governance Group meetings, where the proposal of potentially including battery energy storage system (BESS) sites into the Environmental Permitting Regulations has previously been discussed. Officials will continue to engage with the Group, and other key stakeholders, as part of BESS policy development.

Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the official response to the public consultation on Environmental Permitting Regulations which concluded last year.

The Government response to the public consultation on modernising environmental permitting for industry will be published in due course. We welcome the input received from respondents to the consultation. The reforms will support innovation and improve the permitting framework.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to address the use of catapults in causing suffering to (a) pets and (b) wild mammals.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While it does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that must not be used to kill wildlife, it is still illegal to deliberately attempt to kill, injure, or harm protected species, whether by using a catapult or any other harm-causing device. There are a range of other offences found in further legislation to protect wildlife from cruelty such as the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996. Where pets and livestock are concerned, it is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause an animal any unnecessary suffering. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 increased the sentences available for the most serious cases of animal cruelty by increasing the maximum penalty for this offence to 5 years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. The Government takes crimes against animals seriously. While Defra is keeping the law in this area under review, existing powers are already available for the police to tackle the misuse of catapults and there are therefore no current plans for further assessment of the legal (a) sale and (b) possession of catapults.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has any plans to review the regulation of catapults in relation to animal welfare concerns.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While it does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that must not be used to kill wildlife, it is still illegal to deliberately attempt to kill, injure, or harm protected species, whether by using a catapult or any other harm-causing device. There are a range of other offences found in further legislation to protect wildlife from cruelty such as the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996. Where pets and livestock are concerned, it is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause an animal any unnecessary suffering. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 increased the sentences available for the most serious cases of animal cruelty by increasing the maximum penalty for this offence to 5 years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. The Government takes crimes against animals seriously. While Defra is keeping the law in this area under review, existing powers are already available for the police to tackle the misuse of catapults and there are therefore no current plans for further assessment of the legal (a) sale and (b) possession of catapults.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the legal (a) sale and (b) possession of catapults on animal welfare.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While it does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that must not be used to kill wildlife, it is still illegal to deliberately attempt to kill, injure, or harm protected species, whether by using a catapult or any other harm-causing device. There are a range of other offences found in further legislation to protect wildlife from cruelty such as the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996. Where pets and livestock are concerned, it is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause an animal any unnecessary suffering. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 increased the sentences available for the most serious cases of animal cruelty by increasing the maximum penalty for this offence to 5 years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. The Government takes crimes against animals seriously. While Defra is keeping the law in this area under review, existing powers are already available for the police to tackle the misuse of catapults and there are therefore no current plans for further assessment of the legal (a) sale and (b) possession of catapults.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of the use of catapults causing harm to wild mammals have been recorded in each of the last five years.

The Government takes wildlife crime seriously. Defra supports the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), which helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threats and directly assisting law enforcers in their investigations. Defra is providing £424,000 for NWCU in the financial year 2025-2026. However, crimes against wildlife using catapults are not ‘notifiable’. This means police forces are not required to record and report figures on this type of crime to the Home Office for statistical and monitoring purposes. Defra therefore holds no official statistics on the number of incidents of the use of catapults causing harm to wild mammals from the last five years. Any decision to make such wildlife offences notifiable sits with the Home Office rather than Defra. Regardless of notifiable status, when it comes to responding to the most prevalent wildlife crimes, police force Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of legislation for (a) deterring and (b) prosecuting people who attack (i) wildlife and (ii) livestock with catapults; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to help tackle this.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While it does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that must not be used to kill wildlife, it is still illegal to deliberately attempt to kill, injure, or harm protected species. There are a range of other offences found in further legislation to protect wildlife from cruelty such as the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996. Where livestock is concerned, it is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause an animal any unnecessary suffering. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 increased the sentences available for the most serious cases of animal cruelty by increasing the maximum penalty for this offence to 5 years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. The Government takes crimes against animals seriously but there is already sufficient legislation in place which protects them from targeted use of catapults. Defra therefore has no current plans to take further steps to tackle the use of catapults and nor does the Home Office have plans to change the law to make a catapult a specified prohibited weapon.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that importers of fresh fruit from outside the UK receive timely advance notification of border inspections.

Businesses must notify the competent authorities in advance of a consignment arriving in GB when it contains High risk or Medium A risk plants and plant products as they are subject to phytosanitary controls. Upon completion of the notification an initial risk assessment is provided detailing whether an inspection is required. Drivers and notifiers are informed in one of two ways. If the transporter uses the Goods Movement Vehicle Service (GVMS), drivers should use the ‘check if you need to report for an inspection’ option, to find out what they need to do. Drivers should check this service again before they reach the point of entry.If the transporter does not use GMVS, Imports of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) will provide an initial risk assessment telling the importer/agent if their consignment needs SPS checks when they submit their import notification. If the consignment does need checks, the importer/agent will also receive a text and email message 2 hours before the transporter’s estimated time of arrival in GB. The message will confirm what the transporter needs to do. They can also check their IPAFFS dashboard.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the overnight holding of perishable fruit consignments at borders on affected businesses; and what steps his Department plans to take to help minimise delays for just-in-time supply chains in the fresh produce sector.

For Plants and Plant Products, APHA will aim to inspect consignments within four hours of them being presented for a physical inspection. However, a small minority of fruit and vegetables are subject to 100% inspection due to the level of pest and disease risk and may be held in the event that the goods are not available for inspection. The time taken to conduct checks is subject to a ‘Service Level Agreement’ (SLA), details of which are available on Gov.uk. Our teams have been working closely with traders to ensure checks are completed effectively and swiftly to avoid delays. We are confident BCP capacity, including staff resource, and opening times are sufficient for the current volume of checks. We continue to work with traders to ensure their documentation is accurately filled out before starting their journey and have published guidance to traders and drivers on the requirements of BCP inspections to help reduce waiting times.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) consult and (b) inform businesses importing fruit from non-EU countries of changes to (i) inspection regimes and (ii) risk categorisation; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on ensuring that policy changes do not result in (A) unanticipated costs and (B) supply disruptions for importers.

Changes to plant health import controls are communicated in-line with relevant international obligations, including those under the WTO-SPS agreement and International Plant Protection Convention. This includes submitting a notification to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the UK Chief Plant Health Officer writing to their counterparts in other countries. Details are also published on the UK Plant Health Portal. Consultation with stakeholders on proposed, and up-coming changes to import controls is primarily through the UK plant health advisory forum. In line with the WTO-SPS agreement DEFRA ensures that any changes to import controls have a proportionate lead in time to allow trade and trading partners sufficient time to prepare.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will instruct the Environment Agency to provide information on their planned inspections of battery storage units at Cleve Hill Solar Park before they are switched on.

The Environment Agency (EA) does not directly regulate the batteries associated with solar power schemes; this is the remit of the Local Authority. The EA, under the planning processes, advises on various aspects associated with the building and operation of battery storage facilities to ensure that risks to the environment are appropriately managed. This includes site wide flood risk assessments and pollution prevention plans. The EA are satisfied that drainage of the site, including the management of fire water, will prevent harm to the environment and that any recommendations have informed the Battery Safety Management Plan, approved by the Planning Inspector. If a permit is required from the EA to undertake any part of the operation, the operator is expected to submit a permit application. Details of the proposal will be inspected and a permit granted, where it can be shown by the applicant that the proposal will not cause a risk to the environment. The EA inspects permitted sites to ensure compliance with permits. If a pollution incident occurs, the EA will work with all other emergency services to ensure the environment is fully considered as part of the response.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has recent discussions with the Environment Agency on their inspection plans for the battery storage units at Cleve Hill Solar Park.

The Environment Agency (EA) does not directly regulate the batteries associated with solar power schemes; this is the remit of the Local Authority. The EA, under the planning processes, advises on various aspects associated with the building and operation of battery storage facilities to ensure that risks to the environment are appropriately managed. This includes site wide flood risk assessments and pollution prevention plans. The EA are satisfied that drainage of the site, including the management of fire water, will prevent harm to the environment and that any recommendations have informed the Battery Safety Management Plan, approved by the Planning Inspector. If a permit is required from the EA to undertake any part of the operation, the operator is expected to submit a permit application. Details of the proposal will be inspected and a permit granted, where it can be shown by the applicant that the proposal will not cause a risk to the environment. The EA inspects permitted sites to ensure compliance with permits. If a pollution incident occurs, the EA will work with all other emergency services to ensure the environment is fully considered as part of the response.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that the Environment Agency responds to requests from the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid Kent on battery safety at Cleve Hill Solar Park.

The Environment Agency works closely with the department at every level to ensure that the Environment Agency maintains high standards of delivery for stakeholders and the public, including when handling correspondence. Members of Parliament are encouraged to deal directly with the Environment Agency on day-to-day operational matters.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to monitor the responsiveness of the Environment Agency to enquiries from hon. Members.

The Environment Agency works closely with the department at every level to ensure that the Environment Agency maintains high standards of delivery for stakeholders and the public, including when handling correspondence.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2024 to Question 15461 on Agriculture: Subsidies, when officials from his Department met with growers in the last 12 months; and what type of growers have they met.

We recognise the specific needs of the horticulture sector. Defra ministers and officials meet regularly with a variety of growers (including a number of Producer Organisation members) from across the sector to discuss a wide range of issues. This allows us to understand if, and where, government intervention is needed.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many meetings (a) he and (b) Minsters from his Department have had with (i) growers and (ii) fruit growers in the last 12 months; and when did those meetings take place.

We recognise the specific needs of the horticulture sector. Defra ministers and officials meet regularly with a variety of growers (including a number of Producer Organisation members) from across the sector to discuss a wide range of issues. This allows us to understand if, and where, government intervention is needed.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2024 to Question 15504 on Agriculture: Subsidies, what issues were discussed with growers.

We recognise the specific needs of the horticulture sector. Defra ministers and officials meet regularly with a variety of growers (including a number of Producer Organisation members) from across the sector to discuss a wide range of issues. This allows us to understand if, and where, government intervention is needed.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an estimate of the number of farmers who will exit the sector as a result of the change to agricultural property relief in the Autumn Budget.

From 6 April 2026, the full 100% relief from inheritance tax will be restricted to the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property. Above this amount, landowners will access 50% relief from inheritance tax and will pay inheritance tax at a reduced effective rate up to 20%, rather than the standard 40%. This tax can be paid in instalments over 10 years interest free, rather than immediately, as with other types of inheritance tax. This is on top of all the other spousal exemptions and nil-rate bands that people can access for inheritance tax too. This means that two people with farmland, depending on their circumstances, can pass on up to £3 million without paying any inheritance tax. This is an assumption based on the £1 million limit and nil-rate bands and does not take into consideration the specific circumstances that may affect the tax calculation. Furthermore, if land is transferred 7 years before death, farmers pay no inheritance tax at all. Data from HMRC and supported by the independent Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) indicates that around 500 estates a year will be impacted. The majority of those will be able to adapt their businesses. The exact number will depend on a wider range of factors based on their individual circumstances. With 73% of claims being for less than £1 million, the majority of estates will be unaffected, and they will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done. This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the economic contribution of farming to (a) Kent and (b) Faversham and Mid Kent constituency.

In 2023, total income from farming for Kent was £187.76 million. Total income from farming for each of the five Kent ITL3 regions was £5.16 million for Medway; £52.72 million for Kent Thames Gateway; £35.15 million for East Kent; £54.52 million for Mid Kent; and £40.21 million for West Kent. Regional estimates of total income from farming are produced at international territorial levels (ITL) 1, 2 and 3, with ITL3 being the most granular geographical breakdown. As such, the specific breakdown requested for part b) of the question is not available.