Written questions by Spencer.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce inland flooding.

The Environment Agency (EA) has a strategic overview role for all sources of flooding and works closely with local authorities to reduce flood risk and provide advice and guidance to support communities to be better equipped and prepared for flooding. Between 2024 and 2026 the Government is investing £2.65 billion to build and maintain flood and coastal erosion risk management defences. Delivered schemes will better protect around 52,000 properties from flooding and coastal erosion, with maintenance activities benefiting a further 14,500 properties. The EA also provides the Check for flooding service, giving information on flood alerts and warnings as well as a 5-day forecast. Its flood warning system directly alerts 1.6 million properties in England who are registered to receive flood warnings.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the risk of river bank failure in cases of heavy rainfall.

The Environment Agency (EA) maintains a wide range of flood and coastal risk management (FCRM) assets, which reduce the risk of flooding to people and property. These assets include embankments, pumping stations and flood gates. The EA inspects and reports on the condition of flood risk management assets in England. This includes our own and third-party assets that work together to protect people and property. Where assets are below required condition then the EA assesses their structural integrity and if there is concern, they make plans to repair those assets. Occasionally the EA is required to exercise their emergency powers to undertake urgent work to repair failing or failed assets that pose a risk to serious flooding. This year, approximately £200 million is allocated for asset management, with an additional £72 million repurposed to support the maintenance and repair of our most critical assets. Together, these measures significantly enhance our ability to manage flood risks and ensure public safety.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support landowners with riparian rights.

Working with partners and stakeholders, the Environment Agency (EA) published new guidance for riparian landowners in 2024 on Your Watercourse: rights and roles. This new, easily accessible guidance aims to increase riparian landowners understanding of their roles and responsibilities. The guidance is assisting local teams in raising public awareness at events and during in person conversations with riparian owners. Information is also available on GOV.UK on both riparian ownership, maintenance and permitting. The EA has also delivered learning sessions with regional advisors from the National Farmers Union and Country Land and Business Association, allowing them to better advise their members on riparian responsibilities. Some works by riparian owners may require a formal permission from the relevant authority before they can be carried out. This is to ensure that impacts on flood risk, land drainage and the environment can be managed. Information about this is also available on GOV.UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Independent review of flood insurance in Doncaster led by Amanda Blanc, published on 14 April 2020, if he will publish the raw data of the BMG quantitative survey of consumers and businesses.

The department has no plans to publish this data. Conclusions, research methodology and materials for the 2022 review of affordability and availability of flood insurance can be found here. Conclusions, research methodology and materials for the Independent review of flood insurance in Doncaster can be found here.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's Review of affordability and availability of flood insurance to help evaluate the effectiveness of FloodRe, published in October 2022, if he will publish the raw data of the BMG quantitative survey of households.

The department has no plans to publish this data. Conclusions, research methodology and materials for the 2022 review of affordability and availability of flood insurance can be found here. Conclusions, research methodology and materials for the Independent review of flood insurance in Doncaster can be found here.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help support farmers following the closure of 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 2-year period. Defra has closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for the submission of new applications, existing agreements will continue. Every penny in all existing SFI agreements will be paid to farmers, and outstanding eligible applications that have been submitted will be processed. We will provide further details about the reformed SFI offer once the Spending Review has been completed. Whilst we are developing the reformed SFI offer, other schemes will still be available. 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, what steps he is taking to help support farmers following the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive to new applicants.

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, what steps he is taking with the (a) Country Land and Business Association, (b) National Farmer's Union, (c) Tenant Farmers Association and (d) other industry bodies to help support working farms.

The Government is working to ensure farming becomes more profitable. That is the best way to make farming businesses viable for the future and ensure the long-term food security this country needs. We regularly meet and discuss Defra’s policies with a range of farming stakeholders, including the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), the National Farmers Union (NFU), and the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA). Since appointment, the Secretary of State has spoken at 4 farming conferences, and had 5 meetings with the CLA, 7 with the NFU and 13 with other organisations. We will continue to listen to farmers’ concerns to ensure their views are heard.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Immediate measures to step up safeguards against African swine fever from Europe, published on 26 September 2024, to help prevent an outbreak of African Swine Fever in the UK, whether additional funding has been allocated to (a) Border Force and (b) Port Health Authorities to help implement the measures.

Defra has made additional funding of £1.9 million available to Dover District Council for the Port Health Authority, for the remainder of this financial year (2024 to 2025), to support Border Force to conduct safeguarding checks on the illegal import of products of animal origin. This is in addition to the £1.2 million already committed. This total funding of £3.1 million is based on the existing staffing costs provided by Dover Port Health Authority. This funding is only for this financial year. Defra has also contributed operational equipment to support Border Force with relevant checks.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) likelihood of an African Swine Fever outbreak in the UK and (b) economic impact of such an outbreak.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Epping Forest, on 28 October 2024 PQ 10798.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the new Border Target Operating Model (a) generally and (b) at tackling the illegal import of products of animal origin.

Defra continues to monitor and review the impact of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), including the Border Control Post at Sevington. We are working closely with industry, trade partners and enforcement agencies to minimise disruption and costs to trade, while continuing to protect our biosecurity. The effectiveness of the import controls has been demonstrated throughout September and October by the interception at Sevington of 34 consignments of plants infested with Pochazia Shantungensis, a fruit tree pest native to China but now present in mainland Europe. The consignments were destroyed, preventing the potential for a damaging outbreak for UK fruit growers. The BTOM is designed to assure the biosecurity of legal, commercial imports. Illegal imports of products of animal origin are dealt with through intelligence led checks, conducted at the border by Border Force, in Border Force facilities, with the assistance of Port Health Authorities.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled African swine fever: how to spot and report the disease, updated on 27 September 2024, whether he plans to ban all personal imports of (a) pork and (b) pork products.

Preventing an outbreak of African swine fever in the UK is one of Defra’s key biosecurity priorities. The Department keeps policy on personal imports under constant review and works closely with the devolved governments on contingency planning and preventing an incursion from possibly infected goods. We have already strengthened controls on personal imports of pork and pork products from the EU through the measures we introduced in September. We are working to develop a long-term policy on personal imports of products of animal origin and animal by-products, taking account of international examples.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the eligibility criteria was for the expanded Farming Recovery Fund.

Defra is aware of the ongoing challenges farmers have been facing following the winter storms and the wet weather in late 2023 and early 2024. Defra is committed to maintaining food production and supporting thriving farm businesses as well as protecting communities from flooding. All spending commitments will be confirmed in the spending review. This includes the Farming Recovery Fund, more information on the expanded Farming Recovery Fund will be made available soon.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to support for landowners to maintain stretches of waterways on their land to help mitigate future flooding risk.

All farmers and land managers are encouraged to manage the land in a way that supports and enhances the environment while reducing impacts on others, such as climate risks. Where there is a watercourse, riparian landowners are required under common law to keep watercourses clear of anything which could cause an obstruction to the flow of water on their land, or downstream if washed away. This includes maintenance of the bed and banks, as well as any trees or shrubs growing on the banks. They must also ensure that any structures such as culverts, trash screens and mill gates are cleared of debris and allow the flow of water. The new Environmental Land Management schemes aim to help the environment while supporting farming and food production. These will include support for farmers and land managers to adopt Natural Flood Management approaches in a way that reduces flooding and coastal erosion risks to local communities.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support flood defence and preparedness works in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich.

The Environment Agency (EA) serves as a Category 1 responder, offering flood warning services and managing various flood management projects. Post-2023 floods, Suffolk’s flood warning areas were refined for enhanced accuracy, with changes effective from November. The EA partners with local groups to boost community resilience and planning. Hydraulic modelling studies by the EA, due for completion in Spring/Summer 2025, will ensure maintenance activities remain suitable for Framlingham, Wickham Market, Debenham, and Needham Market. Needham Market’s ongoing Property Flood Resilience (PFR) projects involve 24 properties, with installations set for January 2025, and 43 additional properties surveyed in October 2024 for winter 2025 installations. Feasibility studies for flood risk interventions in Framlingham and Wickham Market will start in Spring 2025. The Alde & Ore flood risk model updates are planned for FY 27/28, pending funding. Suffolk County Council oversees a £5,000 Flood Recovery Framework grant, with 127 applications received and 39 fully paid. The EA operates Rattlesdon and Gipping reservoirs, aiding downstream communities, and continues to engage with landowners for Natural Flood Management opportunities.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with the Environment Agency on clarifying its position relating to the ability of landowners to maintain stretches of waterway on their land to help reduce flooding.

The Environment Agency has proactively engaged riparian landowners setting out responsibilities, where there might be exemptions and how they can get help. This has already reached several communities affected in Storm Babet – in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency the letter has been sent to: FramlinghamDebenhamNeedham MarketWickham MarketCharsfieldParhamFramsdenHachestonSomershamGreat Bealings

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing levels of funding to help (a) support residents who experienced flooding during Storm Babet in 2023 and (b) mitigate against the risk of flooding in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency.

Following Storm Babet, the Flood Recovery Framework was activated by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. Alongside this, the Property Flood Resilience Grant Scheme was activated by Defra. A post activation review of the Flood Recovery Framework is underway and we expect this to report later this year. Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. The Government is determined to turbocharge the delivery and repair of flood defences, improve drainage systems and develop natural flood management schemes. We are investing over £1.25 billion this year to scale up national resilience through building new and improving existing flood defences. In the current floods investment programme, there are over 150 property flood resilience schemes planned, which will better protect over 4,000 homes. The Government is reviewing the investment programme to get it back on track after the pace slowed due to the impacts of inflation and delays with the supply chain. Decisions on future spending will be made at the spending review later this month.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Suffolk County Council on the costs of implementing section 19 actions in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency.

S19 recommendations are far reaching and span across several organisations. If all recommendations were to be implemented the cost in central Suffolk and North Ipswich would be in the tens of millions. Efficiency is gained through close partnership working, for example between Suffolk County Council (SCC) and the Environment Agency (EA). The EA has been working closely with SCC and will continue to work together for the communities impacted.