Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of potential barriers to rural workforce housing on farm labour availability.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government regularly reviews and publishes data relating to rural housing on GOV.UK: Housing Statistics for Rural England - GOV.UK. The Government gives all due consideration to this data, including implications for the rural workforce, when formulating policy.
In relation to seasonal workers via the visa route, there are no housing barriers identified for this cohort as accommodation is provided as part of the conditions of their sponsor, in the main part as on-farm caravan accommodation.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what monitoring mechanisms her Department plans to use to track progress on water efficiency in domestic properties in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the water resources management plan (WRMP) process, it is a statutory requirement for water companies to produce an annual review of their plans. The annual review sets out delivery of each WRMP component, including progress on water efficiency in domestic properties. The annual review report and data is submitted to the Environment Agency and technically assessed. Outcomes from the annual review are also used to monitor progress against the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 water efficiency target to reduce the amount of water used per-person.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how her Department plans to enforce compliance with proposed stormwater management measures in Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for ensuring compliance. The EA has strengthened regulation of the water industry through new dedicated regulation and enforcement teams. Its Thames and East Anglia Areas have completed over 2,400 inspections since April 2025.
The EA has visited 7 Anglian Water assets since April and has followed up on the two minor non-compliances identified. It is planning to visit a further 13 Anglian Water assets in the Buckingham and Brackley area before the end of March 2026.
Stewkley Sewage Treatment Works (STW) and Quainton Sewage Pumping Station, both operated by Thames Water Utilities Limited, were inspected in May 2025 and January 2026, respectively. No major compliance issues were identified, and the operator agreed actions to resolve minor non-compliances found.
Stewkley STW is a high-spilling storm overflow site: measures are in place to investigate and reduce spill frequency under the Water Industry National Environment Programme (PR24) during AMP8 (2025-2030).
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what metrics her Department plans to use to evaluate the effectiveness of water conservation programmes in rural areas of Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the water resources management plan (WRMP) process, it is a statutory requirement for water companies to produce an annual review of their plans. The annual review sets out delivery of each WRMP component, including the effectiveness of water efficiency measures for domestic and non-domestic water company customers in rural areas. Outcomes from the annual review are also used to monitor progress against the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 which sets out England’s long term water efficiency strategy and includes metrics to reduce domestic and non-domestic water use.
For water users with their own source of supply, the Environment Agency regulates abstraction through the issuing of abstraction licences. The Environment Agency monitors the use of these licences to ensure they meet their licence conditions and do not risk damage to the environment.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of water resilience in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency in the context of climate change projections.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Anglian Water, as the water and wastewater provider for Milton Keynes and Buckingham, has the responsibility to assess the adequacy of water resilience in the context of climate change.
Anglian Water’s water resources management plan 2024 (WRMP24) evaluates the risk and possible impact of climate change and sets out likely implications for water supplies. Anglian Water has conducted a detailed assessment of climate change for each water resource zone (WRZ) in its area. The outcome of the assessment has been incorporated into Anglian Water’s WRMP24 forecasts and options are included to meet supply deficits caused by the impacts of climate change.
Anglian Water’s WRMP24 was reviewed by the Environment Agency and was published in September 2024.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's report entitled Rural Economic Bulletin, updated on 10 December 2025, what assessment she has made of recent rural employment trends in Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Official Statistics Rural-Urban Classification classifies Buckinghamshire as an intermediate urban authority, having between 20% and 35% of its population within rural areas. The Department has employment figures for Buckinghamshire as a whole.
Between 2020 and 2022 the proportion of the working-age population in Buckinghamshire who were employed rose from 77.7% to 81.6% before falling back to 80.5% in 2024. Data for Buckinghamshire for the 5 most recent years is published within Defra’s Rural Economic Bulletin Supplementary Data Tables. Worksheet AD contains the percentage of the working-age population who were employed for every local authority in England across the period 2006 to 2024.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what work has been done to model the impact of climate variability on farm profitability projections.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Results from Defra’s annual Farm Business Survey provide an assessment of how the weather and other factors have influenced farm profitability in the previous year. These are published at: Farm Business Survey - GOV.UK
Last year we published Baroness Batters’ Farming Profitability Review, which offers a clear assessment of the challenges facing farmers alongside 57 recommendations for strengthening farm businesses. We are grateful for this substantial piece of work, which is rooted in years of experience and provides important evidence to guide our approach. We will now carefully consider the findings and recommendations.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what mechanisms will be used to prioritise recommendations in the Farming Profitability Review.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are considering the 57 recommendations set out in the Farming Profitability Review. So far, we have announced the creation of a new Farming and Food Partnership Board, whose objective will be to strengthen food production at home and ensure policy delivers real change for farmers; and changes to planning rules to place greater emphasis on food production, making it easier for farmers to develop infrastructure such as reservoirs, greenhouses, polytunnels and farm shops. We are also stepping up action on supply chain fairness, and have announced a new SFI offer for 2026, which will be more focussed, more transparent and fairer so that as many farmers as possible can benefit from it. We will set out a fuller response later this year.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data her Department holds on farmer-reported barriers to accessing private finance.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government regularly and actively engages with farmers to listen to their views and understand their concerns, including barriers to accessing private finance, and take their feedback into account. Defra has built up a good understanding of the main issues through our farming programmes, our investment readiness support, and evaluations. The recently published Review of Farming Productivity by Baroness Minette Batters has also provided us with additional insights and recommendations on how to unlock finance.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what analysis has been undertaken of the relative profitability trends in the (i) arable and (ii) livestock sectors since 2020.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s Farm Business Survey collects information on average Farm Business Income (the output generated by the farm business minus total farm costs, essentially net profit).
The survey covers farm businesses in England with a Standard Output of more than £21,000. Whilst it captures the majority of agricultural activity, it excludes smaller businesses (which account for 2% of output).
Table 1 of the Farm Business Income dataset shows average Farm Business Income, at current prices and in real terms, by type of farm (arable and livestock) for 2004/05 to 2024/25: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691d8c2fd140bbbaa59a29e5/fbs_farmbusinesincome_timeseries_2024_25.ods.