Written questions by Morris.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking steps to use the Government's tree planting programme to help tackle down-stream flooding.

Tree planting along rivers, as well as woodland creation across hill slopes in the wider catchment, can help slow water flow and temporarily store water as part of natural flood management. The England Woodland Creation Offer provides financial support for tree planting and incentivises woodland creation that reduces flood risk through supplementary payments. The ‘Woodlands for Water’ project, supported by Defra, has been providing targeted facilitation to support landowners to access tree planting grants to support the creation of woodland along rivers, which can improve water quality, manage flood risks and boost biodiversity.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the findings in the UK Food Security Report, published on 11 December 2024 on resilience to exogenous shocks in the food system.

The UK has a high degree of food security, but the 2024 UK Food Security Report shows that food security cannot be taken for granted. Strengthening food security by supporting our farmers and food producers is a top priority for this Government. While climate and geopolitical volatility have weakened aspects of food supply stability since 2021, food availability or the quantity of food available to the UK has been maintained thanks to continued resilience in food production and the global trading system. Food production faces pressing risks from climate change and nature loss over the longer term. Defra is taking action to reduce this impact and support the continued production and supply of food for UK citizens. For example, the third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3), sets out a range of measures to improve resilience and adaptation to climate change across the agri-food chain. Work is also underway to develop an ambitious food strategy. The strategy will set the food system up for long-term success and will deliver wide ranging improvements; through building resilience in the face of climate shocks and geopolitical changes, while protecting the supply chain which operates so effectively to feed the nation.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which farmers will contribute towards natural flood defence measures.

Environmental Land Management schemes and other Government grant payments create incentives for land managers to adopt sustainable farming practices, which provide benefits for agricultural productivity, biodiversity and resilience to climate events. For example, we are providing funding for farmers to implement natural flood management measures on their land, boosting resilience and supporting flood preparedness. Funding for soil health actions can help reduce the impacts of drought and flooding. The record £2.65 billion floods investment programme also delivers natural flood management, with the impact of a project on agricultural land included as part of the funding calculator. In addition, the government published a rapid evidence assessment in 2024 of flooding and coastal erosion on agricultural land and businesses, and this discusses the evidence for agriculture as a provider of natural flood management.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the National Food Strategy will account for the role of biodiversity in underpinning the food system.

Our ambitious food strategy will set and deliver clear long-term outcomes that create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system, and in doing so will consider elements of the food system that can contribute towards those outcomes.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of biodiversity net gain in delivering for biodiversity as intended.

Mandatory biodiversity net gain is an important means of ensuring development makes a net positive contribution to nature. It is in the early stages of implementation. The policy has been designed to achieve long-term benefits for biodiversity, with major biodiversity gains secured by legal contract for a minimum of 30 years. Because biodiversity net gain applies as a ‘post-permission requirement’, we are only now seeing the first permissions granted with the mandatory biodiversity gain condition. Defra officials are monitoring the implementation of mandatory biodiversity net gain closely and regularly meet with local planning authorities, developers, and the land management sector, to ensure biodiversity net gain works effectively and proportionally.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that at least half of all food purchased by the public sector is locally-produced and sustainable.

The Government continues to have an ambition for half of all food supplied into the public sector to be sourced locally or certified to higher environmental standards, whilst being in line with WTO and domestic procurement obligations. Defra continues to ...

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the National Food Strategy will include the role of biodiversity in the food supply.

Our ambitious food strategy will set and deliver clear long-term outcomes that create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system, and in doing so will consider elements of the food system that can contribute towards those outcomes.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the resilience of farm businesses by improving biodiversity.

The Government’s commitment to British farmers, including family farms, remains steadfast. We will always champion British farming to boost rural economic growth, strengthen food security and improve the environment. Defra’s farming budget will be £2.4 bi...

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the financial resilience of farms in the wake of increasing extreme weather.

The Government’s commitment to British farmers, including family farms, remains steadfast. We will always champion British farming to boost rural economic growth, strengthen food security and improve the environment. Defra’s farming budget will be £2.4 bi...

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of restrictions on the use of single-use plastic.

Defra officials are in the process of conducting a Post Implementation Review of the Environmental Regulations 2020, which includes the bans and restrictions on plastic straws, stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. This is due to be published in Octo...

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the use of single-use plastic.

This Government is committed to moving to a circular economy for plastics - a future where we keep our resources in use for longer; waste is reduced; we accelerate the path to net zero, we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs; our econ...

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of current payment schemes for upland farmers.

Upland farmers have a key role to play in the future for delivering sustainable food production and our environmental targets. The Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in...