Written questions by Farron.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the annual farming budget is for (a) 2025–26 and (b) 2026–27; and how the spending is broken down for each year.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to take legislative steps to ensure food self-sufficiency does not fall below its current level.

In the recently published Land Use Framework, the Government made a clear, long-term commitment to maintain overall food production in England by increasing farm productivity and profitability. The Government will support this ambition through a range of ...

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to increase domestic production of plant proteins for direct human consumption in the UK.

The Government is monitoring scientific developments in alternative proteins and supporting UK Research and Innovation-funded initiatives such as the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre. Sector Growth Plans (SGPs) will take a sector approach to...

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the report by Science for Sustainable Agriculture entitled UK Food Security – Outlook to 2050, publish

In the recently published Land Use Framework, the Government made a clear, long-term commitment to maintain overall food production in England by increasing farm productivity and profitability. The Government will support this ambition through a range of ...

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 31 May 2026 on Preparing for a future Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement with the European Union: Business readiness informatio

The Government invited views from businesses and stakeholders on the UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement through a Call for Information, to understand awareness of the agreement and how it may affect them. The Government is analysing response...

Food and Rural Affairs, how many businesses in each sector are included within the Government's estimate that up to 500,000 businesses may be affected by a future UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement.

The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement agreement affects in some way: most of the 209,000 farm holdingsmost of the 20,000 food and drink manufacturing businessesmany of the approximately 170,000 food and beverage services (not including accommodation)ap...

Food and Rural Affairs, what financial assistance the Government plans to make available to businesses required to make operational or regulatory changes as a result of a future UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanita

The Government is working to support businesses to prepare for future changes to sanitary and phytosanitary arrangements with the European Union. Negotiations are ongoing. An agreement will make agrifood trade with our biggest market easier, cutting costs...

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of small and medium-sized enterprises that may need to make changes to production processes, certification, labelling, IT systems or

The precise impacts of the agreement will depend on the outcome of the negotiations. As technical negotiations progress, this Government expects to follow normal processes for any necessary legislative changes and assess impacts accordingly. This Governme...

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the total cost to businesses of complying with any new certification, labelling, IT system, and regulatory requirements arising from a future U

The precise impacts of the agreement will depend on the outcome of the negotiations. As technical negotiations progress, this Government expects to follow normal processes for any necessary legislative changes and assess impacts accordingly. Defra officia...

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency allows National Highways to discharge untreated toxic run-off into the River Lune.

The EA works closely with the National Highways Agency to minimise the environmental risk from surface water outfalls from public highways.

Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons the Environment Agency is not measuring pollution, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons, from motorway outfalls into the River Lune at Tebay.

If the Environment Agency is notified of pollution in watercourses such as the river Lune, then this is dealt with as a pollution incident and investigated and /or attended on a risk basis. Regarding the Lune at Tebay, the Environment Agency is already actively considering how additional monitoring could support their investigations.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the Environment Agency requiring National Highways to apply for permits to operate outfalls into the River Lune.

The Environment Agency (EA) is able to use its enforcement policy and sanctions on those that pollute the environment. As the EA needs to prioritise its resource on tackling sources with the greatest environmental risk it is taking a collaborative approach in working with National Highways to mitigate the impact from their highest risk outfalls.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many waste crime officers are currently employed by the Environment Agency; and how many large-scale illegal waste sites have a designated waste crime officer assigned to them.

There are 331 full-time employees directly involved in waste crime. This number includes officers in the Area and National operational teams who respond to illegal waste sites, prevent and disrupt waste crime at sites in England, prevent illegal exports of waste to other countries, conduct criminal investigations and combat fraud and money laundering related to waste regimes. The Environment Agency does not designate a waste crime officer to individual sites. Instead, teams work together to respond to reports of illegal waste sites.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the adequacy of the volume of food held in storage for use in a national emergency.

The UK does not have national food stockpiles or current plans to create these. The UK has a resilient food supply chain that is well equipped to deal with potential disruption. This high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources including strong domestic production and imports through stable trade routes. Defra published the second edition of the UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) in December 2024. The UKFSR sets out an analysis of statistics relating to food security, serving as an evidence base to inform Government policy and public understanding. It tracks trends in domestic production, import reliance, inflation, and supply chain. The next UKFSR will be published in 2027. The annual UK Food Security Digest is published in the years between the UK Food Security Report, with the first one released in December 2025. It covers a selected range of priority indicators that are of high interest and/or highly variable.

Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to develop food storage and distribution capacity for use in national emergencies.

The UK does not have national food stockpiles or current plans to create these. The UK has a resilient food supply chain that is well equipped to deal with potential disruption. This high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources including strong domestic production and imports through stable trade routes. Defra published the second edition of the UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) in December 2024. The UKFSR sets out an analysis of statistics relating to food security, serving as an evidence base to inform Government policy and public understanding. It tracks trends in domestic production, import reliance, inflation, and supply chain. The next UKFSR will be published in 2027. The annual UK Food Security Digest is published in the years between the UK Food Security Report, with the first one released in December 2025. It covers a selected range of priority indicators that are of high interest and/or highly variable.

Food and Rural Affairs, what penalties she plans to bring in for waste companies that persistently breach their operating licence.

The Government’s new Waste Crime Action Plan commits to making fuller use of existing Environment Agency (EA) powers so that high-risk waste sites can be stopped early before they escalate. Earlier EA interventions using Fixed Penalty Notices will deter those enabling waste crime. Permit suspensions and wider use of restriction notices will require operators to halt activity immediately where risks arise. The Waste Crime Action Plan also includes action to reform the Carrier, Broker, Dealer regime. These reforms will move the regulation of waste management and transport from a light-touch registration system into environmental permitting. This will introduce tougher background checks for operators and up to 5 years imprisonment for those who break the law.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the level of national water storage capacity.

The Environment Agency’s National System Simulation Model, which includes 90% of England’s supply system, shows the current national total storage capacity of 2.03 billion cubic metres for public water use.Havant Thicket reservoir is currently under construction and a further 9 new reservoirs are planned by water companies. These are expected to provide an additional water supply of over 700million litres per day by 2050.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many illegal waste sites are known to the Environment Agency in each English district in the most recent year for which data is available; and what estimate she has made of the total number of large-scale illegal waste sites, including those not officially recorded.

The Environment Agency (EA) has provided the attached dataset which shows the number of illegal wastes sites by Local Authority Area as of 7 October 2025, from the total of 517 sites active at that time. The EA does not hold a view on what would make a site large scale because it assesses risk posed by sites. There are 151 sites that it considers to be higher risk sites. The number of illegal waste sites will change as sites are stopped and new sites are found. The EA is unable to report on anything in relation to sites not officially recorded.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the level of surplus water availability during periods of expected drought.

Water companies must plan for secure supplies during severe droughts, without the need for emergency restrictions. The 2024/2025 annual review of water company data showed that England has an overall surplus. However, this is less than expected in half of areas. Regulators are working closely with water companies to improve progress on delivering new water supplies and managing water demand reductions in response to this.

Food and Rural Affairs, what was the cost to the public purse of landfill site regulation, monitoring, and remediation over the last five years.

The Environment Agency (EA) regulates permitted landfill sites on a full cost‑recovery basis. The costs of regulation are met by the landfill operators, primarily through annual subsistence charges which are paid by permit holders. These charges cover routine inspections and audits, assessment of monitoring and reporting requirements and ensuring that sites are properly closed and remediated at the end of their operational life. Where the EA is required to undertake additional or non‑standard regulatory activity, landfill operators are required to pay supplementary charges to cover the full cost of that work. As a result, the regulation of permitted landfill sites should not impose an ongoing cost on the public purse. Any additional costs would arise only in exceptional circumstances, such as enforcement action where cost recovery is not possible and intervening in cases where a site has been abandoned and the permit disclaimed. The EA does not currently hold figures for these additional costs.