Written questions by Dillon.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that (a) statutory Biodiversity Net Gain initiatives are implemented fully and (b) local authorities are provided with sufficient resources to monitor long-term habitat improvements.

Local planning authorities (LPAs) are provided with funding for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), including £10 million for this current financial year. The Government also funds the Planning Advisory Service to help LPAs meet their BNG obligations. LPAs can charge for monitoring activity through the legal agreements into which the developer enters .

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government provides a) grants or b) matches-funding to encourage private businesses, landowners, and farmers in West Berkshire to participate in habitat creation and restoration.

On 1 December, the Government published our revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP25) – a clear roadmap for restoring nature. This is our long-term plan for improving the natural environment and enjoyment of it. EIP25 includes prioritised actions to help meet the ambitious Environment Act targets and sets an interim target to create or restore 250,000 hectares of a range of wildlife-rich habitat outside of protected sites by December 2030. The Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund, funded by Defra and delivered by the Environment Agency, has provided grants to over 130 projects across England to attract private investment for nature recovery. These projects are plotted on an interactive map available on the Ecosystem Knowledge Network’s website: https://ecosystemsknowledge.net/neirf/neirf-project-directory-2/.

Food and Rural Affairs, what mechanism is in place to funnel Biodiversity Net Gain funding from developers into county-wide nature recovery partnerships, such as the Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Partnership.

Land managers, including Local Nature Recovery partnerships (LNRPs), can sell biodiversity units to those developers who cannot achieve 10% Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) onsite and need to go off-site. The BNG metric also provides an incentive to achieve off-site biodiversity gains in areas of strategic significance, as set out in the relevant Local Nature Recovery Strategy. The Local Investment in Natural Capital programme, funded by Defra and delivered by the Environment Agency, has provided grants of over £1 million to five local and combined authorities to create a pipeline of investable projects and develop capacity and capability to crowd in finance from private sources, including from developers. Learnings from this programme will provide guidance to Local Nature Recovery Strategies in these areas on how best to attract and allocate BNG funding and will be available to all LNRPs upon the conclusion of the programme in 2026.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help support farmers and landowners in West Berkshire to participate in the Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

The Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) was published in October 2025. Responsible authorities have been steered to involve farmers and landowners in preparation of their LNRS. LNRSs will help farmers and landowners to choose which agri-environment scheme options are suitable for their land. However, having land mapped in an LNRS does not compel farmers or landowners to make changes to how they use or manage their land – this will continue to be their choice.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether there will be simplified a) permit systems or b) funding mechanisms provided to streamline i) community groups, ii) small landowners or iii) local conservation networks' involvement in habitat creation.

We are setting the conditions for more private investment to flow into domestic nature recovery, including by exploring how we can further incentivise the private sector to pay for nature’s services - through a Call For Evidence on Expanding the role of the private sector in nature recovery; and ensuring the integrity of UK nature markets by sponsoring the British Standards Institution to develop a suite of UK Nature Investment Standards.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of long-term lags between developers-funding and achievement of full habitat development under biodiversity offsetting.

The biodiversity net gain metric includes a temporal risk multiplier which takes into account the average time lag between the start of habitat works and the target outcome. This ‘time to target’ multiplier recognises and takes account of the time it takes to create different habitats and factors those into metric calculations.

Food and Rural Affairs, what support the Government plans to provide for a) community-led or b) small-scale habitat creation initiatives in areas such as West Berkshire.

The Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) sets local priorities for biodiversity and environmental improvement and proposes where action is most needed. The LNRS will guide coordinated action for nature, including through community-led and small-scale habitat creation initiatives.

Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department has issued to businesses on how they can contribute to local habitat restoration projects.

Defra has published biodiversity net gain (BNG) guidance on how a business can get involved with providing biodiversity units to developers who need to go off-site for BNG. This can either be through selling units independently on land owned, or working with partners to create habitat banks. Land managers can also combine biodiversity units with other environmental payments for the same piece of land. In addition, Projects for Nature connects corporate donations with government-screened nature recovery projects across England, which can support the delivery of our statutory biodiversity targets.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government is providing additional support to crayfish companies affected by recent changes to licensing requirements.

The current licensing requirements have been in place since 2019, and there have been no recent changes. To help businesses adjust at the time, the Government allowed a two-year transition period for licensed exports of live signal crayfish, where import was legal in the destination country. This temporary measure gave businesses time to develop alternative markets such as processed or frozen products.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her department plans to consider a legally binding target to increase the proportion of food that is UK-grown and eaten in Britain.

We have no plans for a legally binding food production target. In 2024 we were 65% self-sufficient for all food; 77% for food we can produce here – a balance that has been stable for many years. As we develop plans to support delivery of the food strategy outcomes, we are focussed on securing resilient domestic production that supports good growth and enhances domestic food security.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support the financial sustainability of small-scale abattoirs.

Defra recognises the important role small-scale abattoirs play in supporting local livestock producers and maintaining a resilient and competitive food supply chain. Defra works closely with the smaller abattoir industry including through the Small Abattoirs Working Group and the Small Abattoirs Task and Finish Group. These groups bring together government and industry representatives on a regular basis to address issues such as regulation, operational efficiency and access to skilled labour. In doing so, they provide a forum for identifying the challenges and opportunities that the sector faces, and for collaborating on practical solutions to support the sustainability, viability and resilience of small and medium sized abattoirs.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the speed of the roll out of the Environmental Land Management Scheme.

Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes remain at the centre of our offer for farmers and nature, putting us on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector. The Department now has more than half of farmers in an ELM scheme, including over 44,500 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreements. It is our ambition to reopen SFI in the first half of 2026. Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier opened for applications in September 2025 through a controlled rollout. Two pioneering Landscape Recovery projects have now started long-term delivery on the ground. We are on track to spend the committed £1.8bn, the largest figure ever, on ELM schemes in 2025/26.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions has she held with UK a) wholesale suppliers b) distributors and c) the farming community on supporting UK agricultural and horticultural supply chains.

The Secretary of State has many discussions with a range of stakeholders. The Government’s commitment to farming and food security is steadfast, which is why we've allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. Defra regularly engages with a farmers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and distributors through a range of forums to discuss issues affecting the food supply chain.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect swans from harm caused by catapults in Newbury constituency.

The Government takes crimes against wildlife seriously, including those involving the use of catapults to cause harm to swans, in Newbury or anywhere else in the country. Although catapults are not listed as prohibited weapons in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, within this legislation there are a range of offences around deliberate attempts to kill, injure or inflict harm on wild birds. The Government therefore believes sufficient legislation is already in place to protect them from targeted use of catapults. Defra is also a principal funder of 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. However, Defra recognises the misuse of catapults is causing great concern to some local communities and are working with the Home Office to find solutions to this problem with the aim of increasing protection to our wildlife from crimes involving these weapons.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on improving rural broadband coverage for farming communities.

Defra officials are in regular contact with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and continue to work closely with the department on connectivity issues facing rural and farming communities. Project Gigabit is the Government’s programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans. This includes farms and other rural businesses.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Farming Resilience Fund in supporting farmer wellbeing.

An evaluation of the Farming Resilience Fund has been completed and is due for publication before the end of this year. The survey includes a question on impact of the scheme on farmers' wellbeing.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to specialist mental health support for farmers in rural areas.

Defra is supporting farmers’ access to specialist mental health services through funding the Farmer Welfare Grant, which is designed to offer tailored support as well as prevent further cases of poor mental health by helping to build resilience within farming communities. The Department of Health and Social Care are investing to give mental health the same priority as physical health. This includes hiring 8,500 new mental health support workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment closer to home, including in rural communities. One recipient, the Farming Community Network, is using the funding to expand their FarmWell platform. This online resource provides free business and personal resilience advice on topics including mental health, isolation, depression and suicide.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the economic contribution of small-scale, family-run farms to local economies in England.

Defra does not collect data which classifies whether farms are family-run and does not hold any data on the economic contribution of small-scale, family run farms to local economies in England.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of the Environment Agency’s new flood warning service for older people.

The Get flood warnings service was designed with input from many users including older adults and those with access needs to ensure good accessibility for all. Their feedback led to improvements like clearer navigation, screen reader compatibility and combining flood alerts and warnings onto one page. Older people can still use the 24-hour Floodline helpline, which offers general support and an accessible route for people who prefer not to go online. Floodline staff can help users sign up and manage their accounts, and people can nominate a friend or family member to receive warnings on their behalf. The service meets the GOV.UK Service Standard, meaning it is designed to be inclusive and accessible to all.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the public receive (a) timely and (b) relevant information on flood risks.

The Environment Agency (EA) aims to issue flood alerts and warnings 30 minutes to 12 hours before flooding. The EA regularly reviews and improves its warning service, including better forecast models, adjusted thresholds for triggering alerts and warnings, and faster digital processing. This autumn, the EA will update the ‘Get flood warnings’ service to make it easier to use, more flexible, and more reliable, with clearer and more consistent messaging. The EA is also exploring artificial intelligence to deliver quicker, more accurate warnings and improve how flood risks are communicated to help people prepare.