Every parliamentary written question tabled by Wendy Morton this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 81–100 of 102 · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adding penalty points to the driver’s licences of people convicted of (a) fly-tipping and (b) littering from a vehicle.
Local authorities already have powers to stop, search and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers. We will consider the benefits of allowing penalty points to be added to the driving licence of people convicted of fly-tipping in due course.
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2025 onto Question 40498 on Food Supply, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of food security in UK; and what steps he is taking to increase this.
Food security is national security. We need a resilient and healthy food system, that works with nature and supports British farmers, fishers and food producers. The UK has a resilient food supply chain and is equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. We produce 62% of all the food we need, and 75% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, but the United Kingdom Food Security Report 2024 shows that food security cannot be taken for granted. Strengthening food security by supporting our farmers and food producers is a top priority for this Government. Our Plan for Change sets out how we are focused on supporting our farmers, supporting rural economic growth and boosting Britain’s food security.
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2025 to Question 38604 on Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of farmers whose applications were ready for submission but missed out due to the short notice about the scheme's closure.
This Government inherited an uncapped scheme aimed at mass participation of farm businesses, despite a finite farming budget. In order to ensure we acted in a financially responsible way we took the decision to stop accepting new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) applications. We needed to ensure fair access to the scheme and avoid creating a sudden increase in the level of demand. This Government’s commitment to farmers and the vital role they play to feed our nation remains steadfast. Since we launched the SFI in 2022 Defra have worked closely with the farming sector to develop the SFI and we will continue to do so for the reformed the SFI offer, which we expect to publish more information about in summer 2025.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support local government to help tackle flytipping and littering.
Local councils have wide ranging enforcement powers to help them tackle littering and fly-tipping. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 to fly-tippers and £500 to those who litter, prosecution action and, in the case of fly-tipping, vehicle seizure. We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are currently seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to issue statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance. We have committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course. Defra also chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders, such as local authorities and the Environment Agency, to promote and disseminate good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping. Various practical tools are available from their webpage which is available here.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is he taking to support participation in the Great British Spring Clean initiative.
I was proud to speak at the launch event of the Great British Spring Clean in parliament in February. It is encouraging to see that there are a growing number of public-spirited individuals and community groups tackling litter all over the country. I also joined a litter pick with Defra officials and Keep Britain Tidy on 1 April where we cleaned part of the Regent’s Canal in partnership with the Canal and River trust. We will continue to use our influence to encourage as many people and business as possible to take part in such events.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Birmingham bin strikes on neighbouring constituencies.
The Government is aware of the disruption caused by the bin strikes and the associated public health risks to the residents of Birmingham. While Birmingham City Council continues to lead the response, cross-Government mechanisms have been activated to ensure a coordinated response, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in the lead and Defra supporting.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the relative potential impact of the implementation of the extended producer responsibility scheme on the (a) glass and (b) plastic industries.
In October 2024, the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment did not split the assessment by sector.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ensuring the extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme meets the needs of industry.
The UK Government has assessed the potential merits of ensuring the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme meets industry needs through a range of measures. The scheme was developed with input from an industry-led advisory steering group which continues to guide its development and implementation. The four UK Governments have committed to the appointment of a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO). PackUK engaged with packaging material specialists to inform fee development, while exemption thresholds were introduced to protect smaller businesses from disproportionate impacts. To ensure cost efficiency, PackUK is responsible for delivering value for money for producers and managing costs effectively. Additionally, the Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM) was developed collaboratively with stakeholders from across the value chain to support fair and transparent fee modulation. Clear communication channels have also been established to enable businesses to raise concerns and provide feedback. The ongoing collaboration between industry and PackUK demonstrates the continued effort to engage with and meet the needs of businesses, ensuring that the EPR scheme remains both effective and commercially viable.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Government's net zero policies on food supply from British producers.
This Government is committed to delivering net zero by 2050 while ensuring that the transition to more climate friendly practices goes hand in hand with food security and farm profitability. Alongside the recently announced Food Strategy, we will deliver a credible plan to decarbonise food and farming. As part of this, we will work with farmers to assess opportunities to drive economic growth and support British farming whilst protecting the environment. This includes accelerating the uptake of innovative technologies to increase productivity and efficiency in the agriculture sector that will support food production as well as reduce emissions.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure UK food security.
Food security is national security. We need a resilient and healthy food system, that works with nature and supports British farmers, fishers and food producers. That is why this Government will introduce a new deal for farmers to boost rural economic growth and strengthen Britain's food security. The UK has a resilient food supply chain and is equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. We produce 62% of all the food we need, and 75% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. Food security is built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains. The UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade, and recent developments.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive on the effectiveness of the Environmental Land Management scheme.
Defra has closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for the submission of new applications, but existing agreements will continue. We now have over 37,000 live SFI agreements. 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.
Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has for participation at the 2025 UN Ocean Conference by (a) officials and (b) Ministers.
The third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3), co-hosted by France and Costa Rica in June, will be at a critical time for the ocean and a stocktake of progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water. The UK is supportive of an action-orientated UNOC and looks forward to the event. Defra is leading on the planning for UK attendance at the Conference and is considering along with other relevant departments appropriate official-level attendance in line with UK priorities for UNOC. Formal invitations from the co-hosts have been shared and Defra is considering appropriate Ministerial attendance.
Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to provide additional financial support to local authorities to meet the cost of disposing of fly-tipped waste.
Defra has no current plans to provide additional financial support to local authorities to meet the cost of disposing of fly-tipped waste. We are considering how we can support local authorities to tackle fly-tipping in other ways. Indeed, we are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory enforcement guidance to help local authorities run an effective enforcement service which deters people from dumping waste in our communities. Revenue from fixed penalty notices must also be spent on enforcement or cleaning up fly-tipping. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities, such as fly-tipping. Funding announced by the Chancellor at the Autumn Budget and through the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement will provide over £5 billion of new funding for local services over and above local council tax.
Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of fly-tipping have been reported in the 2024-25 financial year.
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents to Defra, which are published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. Data for the 2023/24 reporting year is available at this link. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is still being collected.
Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department had discussions with (a) farming groups and (b) stakeholders prior to the decision to close the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme.
The high uptake of the scheme means it is fully subscribed. The decision to close the scheme to new applications was taken at that point. We could not give any advance notice because we needed to ensure fair access to the scheme and avoid creating a sudden increase in the level of demand. Since we launched the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) in 2022 we have worked closely with the farming sector and stakeholders to develop and improve the offer to make sure it worked for as many different farmers and land types as possible. We will continue to do this in order to develop the reformed SFI offer.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme on farmers who had planned to transition to the new land management practices under the Environmental Land Management scheme; and what plans his Department has to support those farmers.
On 11 March 2025, we published forecasts which suggest that Average Farm Business Income has risen in 2024/25 across all farm types with the exception of cereal farms. This follows a fall in income for most farm types in 2023/24, after some exceptional highs in the two preceding years. 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. 50,000 farm businesses are already in agri-environmental schemes. 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 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, whether his department conducted an impact assessment before the decision to close the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme was made.
We publish regular statistics on Farm Business Income broken down in various ways. Farming evidence packs have been recently updated including key statistics and farm performance. These set out an extensive range of data to provide an overview of agriculture in the UK. We will continue to carry out appropriate and timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development. On the 11 of March 2025, we published forecasts which suggest that average Farm Business Income has risen in 2024/25 across all farm types with the exception of cereal farms. This follows a fall in income for most farm types in 2023/24, after some exceptional highs in the two preceding years. Across England, 50,000 farm businesses are already in agri-environmental schemes. We will open up initial applications for CS Higher tier and a revised ELM capital grants offer later in the Summer.
Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to take steps to protect green belt land from fire risks when developing battery energy storage systems.
The Government agrees with the need to have robust measures in place to manage the risks associated with facilities that use large numbers of lithium-ion batteries. The Health and Safety Executive regulates grid-scale lithium-ion batteries within a robust regulatory framework which requires Battery Energy and Storage Systems (BESS) designers, installers, and operators to take the necessary measures throughout all stages of the system’s construction, operation and decommissioning to ensure its health and safety. Defra is considering further options, including environmental permitting, for managing the environmental and public health risks from fires at BESS sites.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle unregulated fishing activities in the South West Atlantic Ocean.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that fishing activities on the high seas in the South West Atlantic are appropriately regulated. This is necessary to safeguard stocks and their significant contribution to the Falkland Islands’ economy as well as the wider marine environment. Defra continue to liaise closely with the Falklands Islands Government on these issues, and to seek progress on addressing gaps in fisheries management and data collection within relevant international fora including the United Nations and Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support farmers in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency, in the context of proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief.
We are clear that the vast majority of those claiming Agricultural and Business Property Relief will not be affected by our reforms. Three quarters of estates will continue to pay no inheritance tax at all, while the remaining quarter will pay half the inheritance tax that most people pay, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free. This is a fair and balanced approach, which means farmers in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency and across the country will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done, while we fix the public services we all rely on. Further support for farmers was revealed by the Secretary of State at February 2025’s NFU conference. This includes a £110 million investment in innovation, equipment, and technology, an increase in Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) payment rates, an extension of the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme for another year until March 2026, an update on the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway’s coverage, and announcements on the reopening of the Capital Grants scheme and on the roll out the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) scheme. The Secretary of State also announced an extension of the Seasonal Worker visa route for five more years and new requirements for Government catering contracts to favour high-quality, high-welfare products that local farms and producers are well placed to serve, and reiterated the Government’s commitment to uphold and protect our high environmental and animal welfare standards in future trade deals This will all support farmers in the Aldrige-Brownhills constituency and across the country in delivering public goods for the environment and a profitable farming sector and unlocking rural growth.