Written questions by Farron.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the emissions reductions required in (a) agriculture, (b) land use and (c) waste to deliver the sixth carbon budget.

The extent of emissions reductions required by Defra sectors in order to deliver the Government’s overall Carbon Budgets is determined by a cross-Government decision making process led by DESNZ. Underpinning this is the UKTM (UK Times Model). This takes assumptions on the ‘baseline’ trajectory for emissions informed by the annual Emissions and Energy Projections and seeks to determine what interventions can achieve the lowest cost pathway to achieving Net Zero, accounting for the Government’s energy and growth plans. The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan provides the specific estimates on the extent of emissions reductions required in Defra sectors.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) limit values, (b) objectives and (c) targets to control concentrations of pollutants in ambient air in England.

Limit values, national objectives and long-term targets complement each other and are all recognised as necessary in delivering cleaner air.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce concentrations for pollutants in ambient air once the relevant limit value has been achieved.

Under the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 where levels of pollutants are below the set limit values, they must continue to be maintained. We have also set a Population Exposure Reduction Target for PM2.5, which will continue to reduce peoples’ average exposure across the country. The Government is committed to working with local authorities and stakeholders to continue reducing air pollution and its harmful effects.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether concentrations of nitrogen dioxide are allowed to exceed the annual mean limit value once achieved throughout a zone or agglomeration.

Under the Air Quality Standards Regulations (2010), there is a requirement to meet annual mean limit values for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) of 40μg/m3. This is an ongoing requirement and does not expire once the limit value has been met in a single reporting year.

Food and Rural Affairs, which five pollutants in ambient air in England have seen the largest reduction in concentrations since Directive 2008/50/EC was introduced.

Trends on air pollutant concentrations can be found in Defra’s annual compliance reporting here.

Food and Rural Affairs, what standards exist in statutory regulations for controlling concentrations of pollutants in ambient air in England.

The key legislation that details how and where air pollutant concentration standards apply in England are the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 and the Environment Act Targets (Fine Particulate Matter) Targets (England) 2023. Requirements for local air quality management are set out in the Environment Act 1995 requiring local authorities to review and assess air quality concentrations in their areas.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether there have been any formal complaints to the Office for Environmental Protection on exceedances of the nitrogen dioxide annual limit value in the UK.

As an independent public body set up to hold public authorities to account, the OEP does not routinely share information regarding specific complaints with Defra unless those complaints relate directly to Defra and are considered eligible by the OEP. To date, the OEP has notified us of one complaint in relation to this topic. The OEP publishes a quarterly complaints report on their website providing an overview of the complaints received and ongoing enforcement activity. They also publish information relating to individual casework where investigations have been launched and resolutions achieved.

Food and Rural Affairs, (a) where and (b) how standards apply in statutory regulations to control concentrations of pollutants in ambient air in England.

The key legislation that details how and where air pollutant concentration standards apply in England are the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 and the Environment Act Targets (Fine Particulate Matter) Targets (England) 2023. Requirements for local air quality management are set out in the Environment Act 1995 requiring local authorities to review and assess air quality concentrations in their areas.

Food and Rural Affairs, where the limit values set in the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2016 to control concentrations of particulate matter (PM10) in ambient air apply.

The limit values set in the Air Quality Standards Regulations (2010) to control concentrations of particulate matter (PM10) in ambient air apply across the UK. Compliance with the limit values is assessed through a combination of monitored and modelled data, with non-compliance being determined if any one location breaches the limit value.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the Mayor of London’s report entitled London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone One Year Report, published on 7 March 2025.

Poor air quality continues to be the biggest environmental risk to human health. Whilst responsibility for air quality and transport is devolved in London, we welcome the progress made there to address air pollution and improve people’s health. Local and devolved authorities are best placed to determine the most effective route to improving air quality in their cities. We are committed to working with them to improve the air we breathe.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) calls and (b) emails his Department received from the media on (i) 5 March 2025 prior to the publication of the report entitled Report: Air Quality Information System Review: Final Report and Recommendations and (ii) the previous seven days.

The Air Quality Information System (AQIS) review outputs were published on the 6 March 2025. This comprehensive expert-led review has recommended changes to how the risks of air pollution are communicated to the public and Government has already started work to make air quality part of everyday conversations. Defra did not receive any media queries about AQIS on 5 March or in the seven days leading up to that date. A notice was released on gov.uk: Better alerts to make air quality part of everyday conversation - GOV.UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether weather warnings were issued ahead of the high air pollution episode expected in the South East on 10 March 2025.

Pollution notifications were issued on Defra’s UK-Air website, via the Defra UK-Air X feed and through email alerts that individuals and organisations can subscribe to. The daily air quality forecast provided by the Met office also provided information on the expected air pollution levels for that day.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing the system for forecasting air pollution episodes.

As part of the Air Quality Information System review an evaluation of the Daily Air Quality Index (DAQI), including the provision of the forecast, was carried out. This evaluation found that the forecast was accurate and provided precise representation of real-world air quality conditions at a UK regional level. Some areas for improvement were identified and Defra are discussing with the Met Office how to take these forward.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects all areas of the UK to comply with the nitrogen dioxide annual mean limit.

Defra uses a combination of national-scale modelling and on the ground monitoring to assess nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations in England each year. Evidence shows that NO2 concentrations have reduced substantially in recent years, however a reporting zone is still considered to be exceeding the NO2 limit value if a single location remains above the limit value. The cities, agglomeration and non-agglomeration zones exceeding the NO2 limit value in 2023, and the predictions of when they will become compliant with the limit value, are based on data from Defra’s national modelling and monitoring networks, and additional local monitoring data gathered by cities and towns in England and held by the Joint Air Quality Unit. 13 cities in England exceeded the annual mean limit value for NO2 in 2023. These were: BirminghamLondonReadingBradfordManchesterSheffieldBristolNewcastle-upon-TyneStoke-on-TrentCoventryNottingham LiverpoolPortsmouth 15 out of 31 reporting zones in England were non-compliant with the annual mean NO2 limit value in 2023. This included 2 of the 8 non-agglomeration zones (South East and Eastern) and 13 of the 23 agglomeration zones. The 13 non-compliant agglomeration zones were: Bristol Urban AreaNottingham Urban AreaTynesideCoventry/BedworthPortsmouth Urban AreaWest Midlands Urban AreaGreater London Urban AreaReading/Wokingham Urban AreaWest Yorkshire Urban AreaGreater Manchester Urban AreaSheffield Urban Area Liverpool Urban AreaThe Potteries Predicting when locations that are currently exceeding will comply with the limit value is inherently uncertain. We don’t hold up-to-date detailed modelled projections to predict the impact of all current policies on future NO2 concentrations, however current indicative estimates suggest the majority of locations will become compliant with the limit value within the next four years. By 2029, we estimate all zones will be compliant except Bristol Urban Area, Sheffield Urban Area, The Potteries, West Midlands Urban Area and Tyneside. These correspond to Bristol, Sheffield, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham, all of which we estimate will become compliant by 2032, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. We expect Newcastle-upon-Tyne will be the last city to become compliant due to a localised hotspot. There is considerable uncertainty in current estimates for when this location will become compliant, but we estimate this will be by 2045, at the latest. As the road traffic fleet continues to transition to zero emission vehicles this date is likely to come forward.

Food and Rural Affairs, when each (a) city, (b)(b) zone and (c) agglomeration in England which exceeded the nitrogen dioxide annual mean limit value in 2023 will comply with that limit.

Defra uses a combination of national-scale modelling and on the ground monitoring to assess nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations in England each year. Evidence shows that NO2 concentrations have reduced substantially in recent years, however a reporting zone is still considered to be exceeding the NO2 limit value if a single location remains above the limit value. The cities, agglomeration and non-agglomeration zones exceeding the NO2 limit value in 2023, and the predictions of when they will become compliant with the limit value, are based on data from Defra’s national modelling and monitoring networks, and additional local monitoring data gathered by cities and towns in England and held by the Joint Air Quality Unit. 13 cities in England exceeded the annual mean limit value for NO2 in 2023. These were: BirminghamLondonReadingBradfordManchesterSheffieldBristolNewcastle-upon-TyneStoke-on-TrentCoventryNottingham LiverpoolPortsmouth 15 out of 31 reporting zones in England were non-compliant with the annual mean NO2 limit value in 2023. This included 2 of the 8 non-agglomeration zones (South East and Eastern) and 13 of the 23 agglomeration zones. The 13 non-compliant agglomeration zones were: Bristol Urban AreaNottingham Urban AreaTynesideCoventry/BedworthPortsmouth Urban AreaWest Midlands Urban AreaGreater London Urban AreaReading/Wokingham Urban AreaWest Yorkshire Urban AreaGreater Manchester Urban AreaSheffield Urban Area Liverpool Urban AreaThe Potteries Predicting when locations that are currently exceeding will comply with the limit value is inherently uncertain. We don’t hold up-to-date detailed modelled projections to predict the impact of all current policies on future NO2 concentrations, however current indicative estimates suggest the majority of locations will become compliant with the limit value within the next four years. By 2029, we estimate all zones will be compliant except Bristol Urban Area, Sheffield Urban Area, The Potteries, West Midlands Urban Area and Tyneside. These correspond to Bristol, Sheffield, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham, all of which we estimate will become compliant by 2032, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. We expect Newcastle-upon-Tyne will be the last city to become compliant due to a localised hotspot. There is considerable uncertainty in current estimates for when this location will become compliant, but we estimate this will be by 2045, at the latest. As the road traffic fleet continues to transition to zero emission vehicles this date is likely to come forward.

Food and Rural Affairs, which (a) cities, (b) zones and (c) agglomerations in England exceeded the nitrogen dioxide annual mean limit value in 2023.

Defra uses a combination of national-scale modelling and on the ground monitoring to assess nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations in England each year. Evidence shows that NO2 concentrations have reduced substantially in recent years, however a reporting zone is still considered to be exceeding the NO2 limit value if a single location remains above the limit value. The cities, agglomeration and non-agglomeration zones exceeding the NO2 limit value in 2023, and the predictions of when they will become compliant with the limit value, are based on data from Defra’s national modelling and monitoring networks, and additional local monitoring data gathered by cities and towns in England and held by the Joint Air Quality Unit. 13 cities in England exceeded the annual mean limit value for NO2 in 2023. These were: BirminghamLondonReadingBradfordManchesterSheffieldBristolNewcastle-upon-TyneStoke-on-TrentCoventryNottingham LiverpoolPortsmouth 15 out of 31 reporting zones in England were non-compliant with the annual mean NO2 limit value in 2023. This included 2 of the 8 non-agglomeration zones (South East and Eastern) and 13 of the 23 agglomeration zones. The 13 non-compliant agglomeration zones were: Bristol Urban AreaNottingham Urban AreaTynesideCoventry/BedworthPortsmouth Urban AreaWest Midlands Urban AreaGreater London Urban AreaReading/Wokingham Urban AreaWest Yorkshire Urban AreaGreater Manchester Urban AreaSheffield Urban Area Liverpool Urban AreaThe Potteries Predicting when locations that are currently exceeding will comply with the limit value is inherently uncertain. We don’t hold up-to-date detailed modelled projections to predict the impact of all current policies on future NO2 concentrations, however current indicative estimates suggest the majority of locations will become compliant with the limit value within the next four years. By 2029, we estimate all zones will be compliant except Bristol Urban Area, Sheffield Urban Area, The Potteries, West Midlands Urban Area and Tyneside. These correspond to Bristol, Sheffield, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham, all of which we estimate will become compliant by 2032, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. We expect Newcastle-upon-Tyne will be the last city to become compliant due to a localised hotspot. There is considerable uncertainty in current estimates for when this location will become compliant, but we estimate this will be by 2045, at the latest. As the road traffic fleet continues to transition to zero emission vehicles this date is likely to come forward.

Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department decided to cap the Sustainable Farming Incentive at £1.05 billion for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 financial years.

As of 11 March, £1.05 billion had been paid to farmers or committed for payment through existing agreements or submitted applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) The SFI is an important offer, but it is part of a wider package which is why Defra must manage the farming budget flexibly to respond to demand, and achieve our intended outcomes for farm productivity, environment, climate and animal health and welfare.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's blog post entitled Update on the farming budget, published on 12 March 2025, whether the £2.4 billion budget for the 2025-26 financial year will be used for farming; whether the split between budget lines is subject to change; and whether any other factors might affect the size of the budget.

We remain committed to investing £5 billion of funding in the farming budget this year and next (£2.6 billion for 24/25 and the £2.4 billion for 25/26, as previously announced), are on track to deliver that having responded to a number of demands in year. We monitor forecasts against the current year budget on an ongoing basis and respond accordingly to maximise the amount that can be delivered. Furthermore, we have a full understanding of commitments into future years arising from multi-annual agreements. We monitor the uptake of our demand led schemes which have a budgetary impact on future years (such as SFI) on a regular basis, increasing the frequency of this as the level of commitment approaches the budget available in future years. The farming blog published on Wednesday 12 March set out Defra’s spend over the next two years (24/25 and 25/26). These are not ring-fenced figures and have the potential to change. Defra manages the farming budget flexibly to respond to demand, and achieve our intended outcomes for farm productivity, environment, climate and animal health and welfare

Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) applicants and (b) successful applicants to the Countryside Stewardship fund there have been in each year since 2015.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been (a) allocated and (b) spent under the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund in each year since 2015.

Awaiting answer.