Written questions by Vickers.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve flood defences in high-risk areas.

We inherited flood defences in their worst state on record – the condition of key flood defences in England was at the lowest it had been since the Financial Year 2009/10. Delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change, we’re investing a record £2.65 billion over two years (2024/25 and 2025/26) to improve flood resilience by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. At the Spending Review on 11 June, the Government announced a further record £4.2 billion investment over three years (2026/27 to 2028/29). This is a 5% increase on the current average. The Government’s Infrastructure Strategy announced £7.9 billion capital commitment into flood defences for the next 10 years, to March 2036. We launched a consultation on 3 June on proposals to reform the way we fund flood and coastal defences. This will ensure funding for flood defences is distributed more effectively across the country – protecting properties across all communities, including high-risk areas.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support farmers transitioning to sustainable land management.

We are providing farmers and land managers with the support needed to help restore nature, which is vital to safeguard our long-term food security and build resilience to climate change. There are currently record numbers of farmers taking part in farming schemes such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive. As of April 2025, these schemes supported 885,000 hectares of arable land being farmed without insecticides; 330,000 hectares of low input grassland being managed sustainably; and 85,000 kilometres of hedgerows being protected and restored. In the recent spending review, we allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament, the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history. This means:Funding for the Environmental Land Management Schemes paid to farmers will increase by 150% from £800 million in 2023/24 to £2 billion by 2028/29.Overall farmers and land managers will benefit from an average of £2.3 billion a year through the Farming and Countryside Programme.And up to £400 million from additional nature schemes, including those for tree planting and peatland restoration.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve water quality in (a) rivers and (b) coastal areas.

The levels of water pollution are unacceptable. That is why cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas is a priority for the Government. We are taking action to address agricultural pollution and support farm businesses. We are, as a priority, working with farmers and environmental groups to improve farm pollution regulations to ensure they are simple and effective. We are also doubling funding for Environment Agency farm inspections to work with farmers to raise standards and have issued amended Statutory Guidance on the Farming Rules for Water to set clearer expectations on enforcing the rules. We continue to invest in our farmers through Environmental Land Management schemes. Additionally, water companies are investing over £11 billion in PR24 (2025-2030), to improve nearly 3000 storm overflows across England and Wales.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle agricultural pollution in protected areas.

This Government is firmly committed to safeguarding every aspect of our natural environment, including through reducing agricultural pollution. This approach aims to protect all areas, including our most protected areas.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many farms have applied for grants under the Environmental Land Management Scheme in the last 12 months.

The Rural Payments Agency published their Annual Report and Accounts for 2024-25 on 17 July 2025, which includes the most recent verifiable summary of Environmental Land Management scheme uptake. Following the success of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 23 scheme, the SFI 24 Expanded Offer was launched in June 2024 where customers were invited to apply via an Expressions of Interest exercise similar to its predecessor. Once the scheme was opened to the wider public, 18,080 applications were submitted by 11 March 2025 when the scheme was closed to further applications. 12,081 livestock farmers applied for agreements worth £4.6 million for a vet to visit their farm for an Animal Health and Welfare review. As of January 2025, there were approximately 45,000 live Countryside Stewardship agreements. This total includes over 13,500 Capital only agreements and around 31,500 Revenue agreements, of which just over 20,000 also include Capital options. This figure includes approximately 7,948 new Capital agreements received for the 2024 scheme year. ** Farm Businesses can apply for multiple Grants under the Environmental Land Management Scheme. The RPA ARA includes information up to 31 March 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of introducing mandatory food waste reporting on food prices.

There are no plans to assess the potential impact of introducing mandatory food waste reporting on food prices. This Government has announced plans to publish a Circular Economy Strategy for England and is committed to transitioning to a circular economy – one that stimulates growth, reduces waste, and alleviates pressure on household bills. As this work is developed, evidence from across the economy will be considered as the interventions that may be needed are evaluated. This includes for the potential introduction of a mandatory food waste reporting requirement for large food businesses. As with all policies, if the policy were to be taken forward, a detailed assessment of costs and benefits would be published as part of the legislative process.

Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's policy is on genetic editing to prevent diseases in (a) plants and (b) livestock.

The secondary legislation necessary to implement the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 for plants in England has successfully passed through Parliament and was passed into law on 13 May 2025. Through this enabling regulatory framework, crops with a range of beneficial traits including increased disease resistance can be developed more quickly. The Government is considering the requirements for a regulatory framework for precision bred animals as outlined in the Act. This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the quantity of illegal food products that have entered the UK in the last six months.

It is not possible to estimate the amount of illegal food products which have evaded border checks and entered the UK in the last six months. Data supplied by Border Force to the end of 2024 indicates that it detained and seized 137,000 kilograms of illegal animal products and 18,000 kilograms of illegal plants and plant products at the UK border in the last six months of 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase biosecurity.

Biosecurity is paramount – it underpins safe food; protects human, animal and plant health; and supports a prospering economy and trade. This Government will be decisive and take the necessary action to protect our country from new and emerging and notifiable disease threats. We have in place robust measures to maintain and improve our ability to understand, detect, prevent, respond and recover from outbreaks. We monitor new and emerging threats to our biosecurity through our Veterinary Risk Group, Plant Heath Risk Group and the Human and Animal Infections Risk Surveillance Group, and our strong surveillance network provides an early warning system to detect signs of disease, pests or other threats such as antimicrobial resistance. This Government will act quickly to prevent pests and diseases entering the country by putting restrictions in place at the border. Our disease contingency plans are regularly reviewed to ensure they remain fit for purpose and that we have the necessary capacity and capability to respond to outbreaks should they occur. As part of this, the Government is committed to delivering a National Biosecurity Centre at the Animal and Plant Health Agency Weybridge campus - a world leading science centre protecting people and animals from disease outbreaks. We are also promoting best practice while providing practical support to livestock keepers in England through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent changes he has made to the Capital Grants scheme.

Defra announced on 24 February 2025 that the standalone Capital Grants scheme will re-open in summer 2025. We will introduce maximum grant thresholds for 4 groups of capital items in the standalone capital offer, from summer 2025. The thresholds will be £25,000 for water quality, air quality and natural flood management and £35,000 for boundaries, trees, and orchards. We will confirm the date that the standalone Capital Grants scheme will re-open and announce any further changes to the scheme in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to encourage people to buy UK produce.

Defra is working in partnership across the food system, the Government and four nations to develop an ambitious new food strategy which delivers a food system we can be even more proud of. It will help protect our British traditions, unlock the food sector’s economic potential, strengthen food security, tackle obesity and protect our planet for future generations. Alongside, Defra is considering the policy options available to deliver on the Government's ambition for at least half of all food procured by the public sector to be, where possible, locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards, and to make it easier for British suppliers to bid for a share of the £5 billion spent annually on public sector catering contracts. To that end, the Government will conduct the first ever review of food currently bought in the public sector, including where it is bought from.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had meetings with commercial farm owners on proposed changes to inheritance tax relief.

I have visited farms across the country and met with a number of commercial farm owners since my appointment, and have discussed the inheritance tax relief with those who both support and oppose the changes.

Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for introducing mandatory food waste reporting.

In our manifesto, the Government committed to reducing waste by moving to a circular economy. The Secretary of State has convened a Small Ministerial Group on Circular Economy and a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts across government, industry, academia, and civil society has been established to help develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England and a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the Government will make on a sector-by-sector basis. Preventing food waste will be a key part of this work and we will consider the evidence for action right across the economy to evaluate what interventions may be needed as we develop the strategy.