Written questions by Hayes.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting protected geographical status for Lincolnshire sausages.

This would require an application and would be subject to the normal process.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support farmers no longer able to apply for the Sustainable Farming Incentive.

This Government is proud to have secured the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history, with £5 billion being spent to support farmers over a two-year period. Following the announcement that Defra has closed SFI for the submission of new applications, outstanding eligible applications that have been submitted will be processed. SFI is an important offer, but it is part of a wider package. We remain committed to investing in agri-environment schemes. 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; and we are increasing payment rates for Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement holders to recognise their ongoing commitment to delivering environmental outcome. Funding from the farming budget also supports the provision of advice within the sector. The Farming Advice Service can assist farmers to review what advice and guidance is available to meet their business needs.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many properties received Farming Recovery Payments in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire in (i) 2023 and (ii) 2024.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) can confirm that no payments were made to properties under the Farming Recovery payments in a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire in (i) 2023 RPA can confirm that 1889 payments were made to properties under the Farming Recovery payments in a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire in (ii) 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to support recycling (a) efforts and (b) infrastructure in Lincolnshire.

We are improving recycling services across England through our 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. From 1 January 2025 the cost of managing household packaging when it becomes waste was transferred from taxpayers to producers placing that packaging material on the market. PackUK will make payments to local authorities (Approximately £1.4 billion across the UK) to cover the cost of the efficient and effective management of household packaging waste. In England, these payments will help local authorities to fund improvements to household recycling collections, enabling the consistent collection of all dry materials from every household. Additionally, through Simpler Recycling we have disbursed around £318 million of transitional funding to local authorities to support roll out of weekly food waste collections across England. In February 2025, Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) published a Recycling Infrastructure Capacity Analysis with anticipated waste arisings and associated infrastructure needs to 2035; this will support industry and decisions on investment in necessary infrastructure.

Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of food procured by his Department is sourced in the UK.

Defra does not hold information on where food procured by the department is sourced from. However, for the first time ever, as announced in January and starting right away, the Government will review food currently bought in the public sector and where it is bought from. This work will be a significant first step to inform any future changes to public sector food procurement policies and help make it an equal playing field for British farmers to bid into the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of available sites for biodiversity net gain credits in Lincolnshire.

The national Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) register now lists 46 gain sites, covering over 1300 hectares of area habitats in England. Defra also know that there are many more BNG units available in the private market, which will be added to the register. Defra have funded the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) to support Local Planning Authorities with developing local markets, and there are also a growing number of designated responsible bodies, who are able to enter into legal agreements to enhance land for nature with landowners in England.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to put the Government’s target for 50% of public procurement for food to be locally sourced on a statutory footing.

We are committed to opening up public sector supply chains to a wider range of companies, particularly small and medium-sized (SME) businesses, including farmers. Increasing the diversity of supply will better support local economies, increase resilience, and encourage food producers to innovate. We are considering the policy options available to deliver these aims. Any future policies will be informed by the review of the provenance of food sourced by the public sector, announced recently.

Food and Rural Affairs, for what purposes the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country. Cefas has used artificial intelligence for applying computer vision and machine learning tools to automate data collection processes. This technology enables us to analyse very large quantities of images and videos that would be impossible to achieve manually. Specific applications include: Analysing real-time images of zooplankton and phytoplankton to assess the state of the marine environment.Assessing drone-captured images of beaches to determine the scale and nature of plastic pollution.Supporting fisheries stock assessments through Remote Electronic Monitoring by analysing industry-captured images of catch.Analysing video footage to identify and count Sea Pen stocks to inform their management.

Food and Rural Affairs, for what purposes the Environment Agency has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country. The Environment Agency uses artificial intelligence for a number of purposes: We use ‘Hello Lamp Post’, an AI powered chat bot to support our work by sharing information with the public about our role, the benefits our assets provide, information specific to our flood defence projects, and to engage the public in conversations about resilience and adaptation to flooding and coastal change. We have been part of Microsoft Copilot trials investigating the role it can play in achieving productivity gains across the Environment Agency. We also have several ongoing theoretical investigations and practical pilot projects to explore further uses of AI and Machine Learning within the Environment Agency. We draw from a range of existing government guidance to inform our usage and development of AI solutions. This includes the AI playbook for UK Government, Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Framework, the Data Ethics Framework, the AI Opportunities Action Plan and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard. We also have access to the Government Digital Service, part of the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, for expert advice.

Food and Rural Affairs, for what purposes the Animal and Plant Health Agency has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country. In the last 12 months, APHA have participated in a cross-government trial of Microsoft Co-pilot. The trial involved a small number of APHA staff using Microsoft Co Pilot to test functionality and identify opportunities for improving how services are delivered. Participants were from the project delivery profession and used the co-pilot software to summarise meeting actions, transcribe key points, and to develop presentations. The insights from these trials are being collated across Defra and are informing future years’ business planning conversations.

Food and Rural Affairs, for what purposes the Forestry Commission has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country. Forest Research, an agency of the Forestry Commission, is primarily trialling Machine Learning to automate some of the basic tasks currently performed by scientists to support its specialist work. This algorithmic learning can be trained using established and mature techniques on new and existing datasets to classify complex, multidimensional data. This is carefully considered and monitored for accuracy and performance and viewed in the context of evolving practice and recommendations of secure, sustainable and ethical Artificial Intelligence.

Food and Rural Affairs, for what purposes the Veterinary Medicines Directorate has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has not used AI within any business processes to aid decision making regarding the quality, safety or efficacy of the lifecycle of veterinary medicines within the last 12 months. The VMD submitted a nil return to Cabinet Office regarding the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) on 30 August 2024. The VMD can draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform AI usage. For example, the Generative AI Framework, the Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Framework, the Data Ethics Framework, the AI Opportunities Action Plan and the ATRS. The Directorate also has access to the Government Digital Service, part of the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, for expert advice.

Food and Rural Affairs, for what purposes the Rural Payments Agency has used AI in the last 12 months.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country. The Rural Payments Agency participated in a Central Digital and Data Office led cross-government trial of Microsoft’s AI tool called M365 Copilot, which uses generative AI. This trial started on 7 November and ended on 31 December. M365 Copilot was used for limited tasks, such as note-taking or summarising information, to assess how AI can support day-to-day productivity. RPA have a limited number of licences to explore this capability further. All content produced by Co-pilot AI is checked by a human for accuracy. RPA are not currently using Copilot for customer interactions. The Rural Payments Agency have undertaken AI pilots to support remote sensing, monitoring land, and intelligence on flood detection to deliver environmental outcomes for Defra. Two projects are now operational that use AI and satellite imagery to classify crop types across England and a system to detect flooding on agricultural land. We publish information about algorithmic tools we develop, where they are used in decision-making processes that affect members of the public, using the Algorithm Transparency Recording Standard. The new Government will now examine the findings to inform the next stages of the strategy.

Food and Rural Affairs, for what purposes OFWAT has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.

Your question refers to the time before the current Government, but Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the new Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how Britain delivers public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.Ofwat has conducted a trial of licenced generative AI, making sure it has considered and mitigated security concerns. Ofwat draws on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform AI usage.Ofwat also has access to the Government Digital Service, part of the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, for expert advice.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help (a) farmers and (b) food producers use sustainable farming methods in (i) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (ii) Lincolnshire.

This Government’s commitment to farmers and food producers remains steadfast. We will always champion British farming to boost rural economic growth, strengthen food security and improve the environment. Defra has allocated £5 billion for the farming budget over two years. This will include the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history: £1.8 billion for environmental land management schemes. This enables us to keep momentum on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector, with the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and Landscape Recovery all continuing. This funding will deliver improvements to food security as well as the environment, in the South Holland and the Deepings constituency and more broadly across Lincolnshire and the rest of the country.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to help tackle illegal waste in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

The Environment Agency (EA) works with a range of professional partners to tackle all waste crime. In Lincolnshire the EA jointly chairs the Lincolnshire Environmental Crime Partnership made up of Local Authorities and professional partners like the Fire Service and NFU. The local EA enforcement team is currently investigating a site near Holbeach St Johns in South Holland, Lincolnshire where bales of shredded, wrapped landfill waste have been deposited and stored illegally.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help protect seabird populations from offshore wind turbines.

The Government’s Offshore Wind Environmental Improvement Package’s aim is to support the acceleration of offshore wind consenting, while continuing to protect the marine environment. The package is setting out new approaches to delivering mitigation and compensation for the environmental impacts of offshore wind developments at a strategic level. As part of this, Defra is piloting innovative approaches to mitigation. This includes a turbine blade painting pilot looking at reducing the avian collision risk from offshore wind. Defra is also working collaboratively with Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies, environmental Non-Governmental Organisations, the offshore wind industry across the UK, and Devolved Governments to develop a range of strategic compensation measures for the habitats and species most likely to be affected by offshore wind impacts, including seabirds.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the quantity of best and most versatile agricultural land.

The current estimate of the quantity of best and most versatile agricultural land is 42% of agricultural land. Grades 1 and 2 together form about 21% of all farmland in England; Subgrade 3a also covers about 21%. The last publicly available estimate of BMV land was published in a Natural England Technical Information Note in 2009. It can be foundavailable here: The new Government recognises the importance of accurately identifying BMV land, and work is currently underway to develop a new strategic-scale map to replace the 1960s provisional Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) map. The updated map will align with current ALC guidelines and include the subdivision of Grade 3 land into subgrades 3a and 3b, which is not reflected in the provisional map. This project is expected to be completed by spring 2025, providing a more accurate and up-to-date assessment of land quality to inform future land use decisions.

Food and Rural Affairs, for what purposes (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have used AI in the last 12 months.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the new Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country. As of January 2025, officials are exploring AI tools in a number of areas, although this work is still a proof-of-concept and not a live system. Officials are also exploring deep learning for peatland mapping to aid CO2 reduction and machine learning to automate marine species identification. We draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform our AI usage. For example, Generative AI Framework, Data Ethics Framework, AI Opportunities Action Plan and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of flooding have been reported in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire in the last five years.

Lead Local Flood Authorities are required to conduct formal Section 19 investigations when flood incidents meet specific criteria, such as the number of properties internally flooded, the nature and frequency of flooding, and the impact on critical infrastructure. However, not every flooding incident qualifies for this investigation threshold. The Environment Agency collaborates closely with Lincolnshire County Council to gather evidence that supports their recommendations. Over the past five years, communities in Lincolnshire, particularly in the South Holland and the Deepings constituency, have faced some significant flooding, affecting residential and commercial properties, as well as essential infrastructure. Since early 2019, there have been 1,860 properties flooded across Lincolnshire, with 135 of those in South Holland and the Deepings. In response, the Environment Agency partners with the Local Resilience Forum and engages with affected communities to build resilience against future flooding events. Notable areas experiencing severe impacts include Surfleet Sluice, where residential properties lie within a flood storage area, complicating the Environment Agency’s ability to manage floodwaters. Additionally, the Crowland and Cowbit Flood Storage Reservoir has suffered from high River Welland flows, which damaged embankments and led to flooding. Fortunately, repairs to this damage have now been completed.