Written questions by Lavery.

Food and Rural Affairs, what evaluation her Department has made of levels of reliance on climate‑vulnerable food imports and the risks posed by extreme weather events overseas.

The UK has a resilient food system producing around 65% of all the food eaten in the country. Through international trade, the UK has access to food products that cannot be produced here, which supplements domestic production and ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather do not affect the UK's overall security of supply. Whilst the UK has a high degree of food self-sufficiency, the UK Food Security Report 2024 shows that food security cannot be taken for granted. Climate and geopolitical volatility have weakened aspects of food supply stability since 2021, although food availability or the quantity of food available to the UK has been maintained thanks to continued resilience in food production.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support controlled‑environment agriculture, regenerative farming and other sustainable methods.

The Government has allocated a record £11.8bn to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. Defra is targeting public money where it delivers most value, supporting farmers and land managers to help restore nature and boost farm productivity. Support includes the Sustainable Farming Incentive offer for 2026, which will be more focussed, more transparent and fairer, so that as many farmers as possible can benefit from agreements. It will open in two windows, the initial window from June 2026 being for small farms and farms without existing Environmental Land Management revenue agreements. Defra will reopen the Capital Grants offer in July. This new round will make £225 million available to farmers to buy equipment or services that help them make farming and environmental improvements across England. Defra has also announced £120 million will be available in farming grants for 2026 to boost productivity and innovation across the agricultural sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the UK’s overall level of food self‑sufficiency, and what steps are being taken to increase domestic production of key staples.

UK self-sufficiency has remained broadly stable for several decades. In 2024, the UK was 65% self-sufficient for all food; 77% for food that can be produced here. In most scenarios, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes ensures a supply of food is maintained and can withstand disruptive events. The picture is nuanced, and moving to a higher level of self-sufficiency does not automatically make the UK more food secure. In December 2025, the Secretary of State announced the Farming & Food Partnership Board in response to the independent Farming Profitability Review led by Baroness Minette Batters. The Board will bring together farming, food, retail, finance and Government to take a strategic farm‑to‑fork approach to improving farming profitability and strengthening UK food production. It will oversee sector plans aimed at boosting productivity, reducing costs and opening new markets in ways that support health and environmental goals.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing food mile targets in food networks.

An assessment of the potential merits of food mile targets has not been made. The Good Food Cycle highlighted the importance of strong and resilient local food systems. It is important to note that ‘food miles’ alone are not a reliable measure of a product’s total environmental impact. For most foods, the production stage represents the largest share of emissions rather than transport. Through the Food Data Transparency Partnership, the Government is working to improve the consistency, accuracy and accessibility of environmental impact data across the food sector. This includes the standardisation of scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions reporting, covering emissions generated across supply chains, including those associated with transport. The Government is also working to strengthen local food systems and support integration of local business into supply chains, particularly for public procurement.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect domestic agriculture from climate‑related risks including flooding, heat stress and soil degradation.

Defra is targeting public money where it delivers most value, supporting farmers and land managers to help restore nature and boost farm productivity, which in turn protects food security and builds resilience to climate change. The Sustainable Farming Incentive offer for 2026 will be more focussed, more transparent and fairer, so as many farmers as possible can benefit from agreements. Defra’s Capital Grants offer, opening later this year, will offer funding for a wide range of items, including natural flood management measures. Landscape Recovery projects awarded development funding in rounds one and two continue to progress towards the delivery phase. Three projects are now in their implementation phase. This includes Evenlode Project, which will allow the river to reconnect with its floodplain, reducing flooding and improving habitats for wildlife. Defra has increased the Internal Drainage Board (IDB) Fund to £91m, benefitting over 400,000 hectares of farmland and over 200,000 properties.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of climate‑driven global crop failures, droughts and energy system strain on UK national security.

On 20 January, the Government published the Nature Security Assessment, which found that severe degradation or collapse of critical global ecosystems would be highly likely to result in impacts such as water insecurity and reduced crop yields. These findings inform cross-government resilience and national security planning, helping the UK anticipate and manage systemic risks arising from climate and nature loss. The UK Food Security Report 2024 similarly sets out that, while UK production and trade remain stable, climate change, nature loss and water pressures pose increasing risks to long-term food system resilience. These assessments sit alongside the Government’s five-yearly Climate Change Risk Assessment, most recently published in 2022, which considered risks to both the food and energy sectors. Maintaining secure and resilient food and energy systems is a core Government priority, supported by the UK National Adaptation Programme, which provides the framework for identifying and addressing climate change impacts across critical sectors.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support farmers to reduce emissions.

This Government is committed to delivering net zero by 2050 and we will work in collaboration with farmers and others with a stake in our food system towards this. The transition to more climate friendly practices will work hand in hand with food security and farm productivity. We will support farmers to adopt low carbon farming practices, increasing the carbon stored on their land while boosting profitability.