Written questions by Heylings.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that domestic timber production does not adversely impact biodiversity and habitat creation targets.

We encourage woodlands in England to be planted and managed in compliance with the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) which is an agreed UK wide approach to sustainable forest management. In commercial woodlands which are managed in line with the UKFS or where specific biodiversity positive actions are taken, biodiversity benefits can be gained. We will continue to look at how all kinds of woodlands can contribute to our biodiversity targets through the upcoming Land Use Framework.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Tree Action Plan intends to support the restoration of ancient woodland, particularly on smaller plantations on ancient woodland sites or sites that are harder to restore.

The Government will continue to support the restoration of ancient woodland. Woodlands as small as 0.5ha are now eligible for the Countryside Stewardship supplements “Manage and restore Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWs)” and “Manage native woodland including Ancient Semi-Natural Woodlands”, ensuring support is available to landowners and managers of smaller ancient woodlands. In 2025, we also updated our Countryside Stewardship offer by simplifying our baseline Woodland Improvement grant. These steps will help to bring more of our smaller ancient woodlands into restoration and management.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of EIP25 targets for improving plantations on ancient woodland soils with Forestry England’s 2044 target on PAWS restoration.

The Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 (EIP25) target and Forestry England’s Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) restoration target are compatible. The EIP25 target for improving PAWS is strategic, setting a national ambition to enhance biodiversity and resilience across these irreplaceable habitats. Forestry England’s 2044 PAWS restoration target is more granular, requiring measurable improvement in Semi-Natural Scores. These objectives are entirely aligned: both aim to restore ecological integrity and native woodland character. Early soil eDNA investigations by Forestry England indicate that PAWS restoration works to restore soil health.

Food and Rural Affairs, where saplings planted to meet EIP25 interim targets will be sourced from.

Defra’s Nature for Climate Fund continues to invest working to increase the availability of domestically grown saplings for woodland creation through its Sector Capacity project. Forestry Commission publish annually the Tree Supply Report and Tree Nursery Directories to bring visibility to the market and work closely with the nurseries to assess trends in the market. There is an increasingly strong supply of trees from across the UK and beyond, as highlighted in the Tree Supply Report. Through the Tree Supply Report, we estimate that over 161 million trees were grown in Great Britain in 24/25, 1,000,000 more than the previous year. This has built up resilience in our seed and tree supply, improving ability to meet the interim target of reaching 16.5% tree canopy and woodland cover by 2050. The Nature for Climate Fund funded grants this financial year of up to £7.8 million capital investment in tree production through the Tree Production Capital Grant; £7.8 million supporting innovation in tree production through the Tree Production Innovation Fund and £871K supporting tree seed sourcing through the Seed Sourcing Grant. We have also invested in Forestry England developing a state-of-the-art new Seed processing unit at Delamere. As well as processing seed for use in the nation’s forests, this facility will continue to make surplus seed from a limited number of species available to the private sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, what governance structures are in place to coordinate delivery of the Oxford-Cambridge Forest across local authority boundaries; and whether she plans to establish a dedicated coordination body.

The exact location of the new forest in the Oxford-Cambridge Corridor is subject to design work and discussion with partners. Further detail will be provided in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department are taking to ensure that the restoration of ancient woodland through agri-environment schemes is accessible to small landowners.

Woodlands as small as 0.5ha are now eligible for the Countryside Stewardship supplements “Manage and restore Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWs)” and “Manage native woodland including Ancient Semi-Natural Woodlands”, ensuring support is available to landowners and managers of smaller ancient woodlands. In 2025, we also updated our Countryside Stewardship offer by simplifying our baseline Woodland Improvement grant. These steps will help to bring more of our smaller ancient woodlands into restoration and management.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 91533 on Brownfield Sites: Biodiversity, whether she plans to consult further on the definition of (a) small and (b) medium sites before final decisions on the future of Biodiversity Net Gain.

The Government response to the ‘Improving biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development’ consultation and the impact assessment will be published in due course. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published in May a working paper on site thresholds for planning purposes, including a potential new category of medium development. They are assessing the response to this working paper.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 91533 on Brownfield Sites: Biodiversity, whether the full impact assessment will be published prior to her response to the consultation.

The Government response to the ‘Improving biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development’ consultation and the impact assessment will be published in due course. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published in May a working paper on site thresholds for planning purposes, including a potential new category of medium development. They are assessing the response to this working paper.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 91533 on Brownfield Sites: Biodiversity, if she will ensure adequate Parliamentary scrutiny of that impact assessment before final decisions on the future of Biodiversity Net Gain.

The Government response to the ‘Improving biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development’ consultation and the impact assessment will be published in due course. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published in May a working paper on site thresholds for planning purposes, including a potential new category of medium development. They are assessing the response to this working paper.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to make sites below 0.5 hectares exempt from Biodiversity Net Gain.

The Government response to the ‘Improving biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development’ consultation and the impact assessment will be published in due course. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published in May a working paper on site thresholds for planning purposes, including a potential new category of medium development. They are assessing the response to this working paper.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 91533 on Brownfield Sites: Biodiversity, when the full impact assessment will be published.

The Government response to the ‘Improving biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development’ consultation and the impact assessment will be published in due course. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published in May a working paper on site thresholds for planning purposes, including a potential new category of medium development. They are assessing the response to this working paper.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to identify how the UK can meet the latest World Health Organization air quality guidelines, including reducing PM2.5 to 10 micrograms per cubic metre and NO2 to 20 micrograms per cubic metre by 2030.

The Government has made rapid progress in reducing PM2.5 concentrations and we will be setting new interim targets for 2030 in the forthcoming Environmental Improvement Plan. The World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines will continue to inform our evidence when considering next steps. The Government continues to work with local authorities to deliver air quality measures to meet legal limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and improve the health of their residents.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reducing PM2.5 to 10 micrograms per cubic metre.

We have made rapid progress in reducing PM2.5 concentrations and we will be setting new interim targets for 2030 in the forthcoming Environmental Improvement Plan.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that her Department meets the latest World Health Organization air quality guidelines, including the interim targets of 20 micrograms per cubic metre for NO2 and 10 micrograms per cubic metre for PM2.5 by 2030.

The Government has made rapid progress in reducing PM2.5 concentrations and we will be setting new interim targets for 2030 in the forthcoming Environmental Improvement Plan. The World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines will continue to inform our evidence when considering next steps. The Government continues to work with local authorities to deliver air quality measures to meet legal limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and improve the health of their residents.

Food and Rural Affairs, what analysis her Department has undertaken to review the cost created by Improving the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain for minor, medium and brownfield development consultation for the ecology and nature sectors in the UK.

A Government response to the ‘Improving biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development’ consultation will be published in due course. The Government will also publish a full impact assessment setting out all relevant costs and benefits.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that funding delivered through the Fisheries and Coastal Growth Fund supports sustainability in fisheries.

The Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund is a £360m investment over the next 12 years in the UK’s fisheries and seafood sector, and coastal communities. The fund aims to support the next generation of fishers and breathe new life into our coastal economies. We are currently engaging with stakeholders to help shape the fund, ensure funding is targeted where it matters most, and to assess the best strategy for delivering impactful and sustainable investment. This includes a series of industry webinars and an online survey, and we welcome input from representatives from environmental NGOs and academia. Options to be funded are still under consideration and will be developed with due regard to the Environmental Principles Policy Statement, to balance immediate impact with long-term sustainability.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 29 October 2025 to question 83898, how many (a) pelagic trawls over 24m and (b) demersal seines over 10m enrolled as volunteers to design and test Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) systems; and how long the design and testing phase of the REM rollout will take.

Defra is currently working with one volunteer vessel from Fishery A, pelagic trawls over 24m. No volunteers have come forwards from Fishery B, demersal seines over 10m. The volunteer early adopter phase of each REM project will continue until the project objectives and monitoring objectives are met.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 29 October 2025 to question 83891, if she will publish details of grants to the fishing and seafood sector from 2025, including details of vessels receiving funding and the nature of on-board improvements.

Defra is committed to ensuring transparency on the use of public funds. In England, details of grant awards to the fishing and seafood sector are already published on Gov.uk. Publications are updated regularly and made in line with legal obligations, including data protection and commercial confidentiality. As we are in the process of awarding grants for Fisheries and Seafood Scheme for 2025, these awards will be published in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to bring forward legislation to formalise the license variation requiring English fishing vessels under 12m to operate iVMS while at sea.

A Statutory Instrument is scheduled to be laid once the Marine Management Organisation's rollout of IVMS has concluded.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether all catches are recorded and accounted for in UK fisheries.

To ensure fishing catches are accurately recorded and accounted for, all English vessels must record their catches either in a logbook or, for vessels under 10 metres, using the Catch Recording application. These systems provide an accurate picture of how much fish is being taken from English waters. Compliance with this requirement is monitored through analysis of data and vessel inspections. Fisheries control and enforcement are devolved matters, with each Devolved Administration responsible for conducting inspections within its respective waters.