Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Government's planning policies on large-scale solar farms on food (a) production and (b) security in England.
The total area used for solar farms is very small, and – even in the most ambitious scenarios – solar farms will occupy less than 1% of the UK’s agricultural land, causing minimal impact on food production. We produce 62% of all the food we need, and 75% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. Food security is built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production and imports through stable trade routes. Imports supplements domestic production, ensuring that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. As we face up to the challenge of the energy transition, we must plan for how we use land in this country to ensure a proper balance between food security, nature recovery and clean energy. We will publish a Land Use Framework for England to help find this balance, working in tandem with our spatial energy plan. Solar power is crucial to achieving net zero, providing an abundant source of cleaner, cheaper energy on the mission towards 2030. We do not believe that the rollout of solar power poses a threat to food security.