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 press notice entitled Nation to benefit from two new national forests backed by £1 billion investment in tree planting, published on 5 November 2025, what her planned timetable is for planting trees.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We intend to announce further details on the planned timetable for the OxCam corridor national forest in due course. Details of the competition for the third new national forest will also be published in due course.
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 press release entitled Nation to benefit from two new national forests backed by £1 billion investment in tree planting, published on 5 November 2025, what proportion of trees planted will be native species.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The design of the new forests will be led by delivery partners on the ground, so exact species mix is not known at this time. The woodlands created will be designed for multiple functions including recreation, flood management, timber production and wildlife habitat – the species will be selected to reflect these functions will differ from site to site.
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 steps she is taking to ensure smaller food and drink producers in Buckinghamshire can access government support for reducing trade barriers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our global network of 16 agrifood and drink attachés are breaking down market access barriers and creating new export opportunities, delivering benefits to businesses in Buckinghamshire and across the UK. So far this year we have pulled down 41 trade barriers, estimated by industry to be worth nearly £100 million to the British food and drink sector. We work closely with industry to identify and resolve barriers, taking into account value and sectoral priorities. Barriers are identified and prioritised at national level but importance to local economies is taken into account. Our attaches focus on removing regulatory barriers for the agri-food and drink sector, including access for animal and plant products, as well as addressing issues such as labelling and other technical barriers to trade which can hinder exports. Together with market access secured through Free Trade Agreements, such as the recent agreement with India, this opens the door to British businesses to capitalise on strong global demand for British produce.
Businesses in Buckinghamshire can report a barrier directly through the online report a barrier service or via their trade association to Defra market access groups for each commodity category. There are a range of SME targeted tools and support available through the Business Growth Service via business.gov.uk to help businesses sell abroad and find the best country for their product. Additional support can be accessed through the UK Export Academy, which is a free training programme for UK businesses looking to grow their international sales.
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 proportion of support for reducing trade barriers relates to non-tariff barriers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our global network of 16 agrifood and drink attachés are breaking down market access barriers and creating new export opportunities, delivering benefits to businesses in Buckinghamshire and across the UK. So far this year we have pulled down 41 trade barriers, estimated by industry to be worth nearly £100 million to the British food and drink sector. We work closely with industry to identify and resolve barriers, taking into account value and sectoral priorities. Barriers are identified and prioritised at national level but importance to local economies is taken into account. Our attaches focus on removing regulatory barriers for the agri-food and drink sector, including access for animal and plant products, as well as addressing issues such as labelling and other technical barriers to trade which can hinder exports. Together with market access secured through Free Trade Agreements, such as the recent agreement with India, this opens the door to British businesses to capitalise on strong global demand for British produce.
Businesses in Buckinghamshire can report a barrier directly through the online report a barrier service or via their trade association to Defra market access groups for each commodity category. There are a range of SME targeted tools and support available through the Business Growth Service via business.gov.uk to help businesses sell abroad and find the best country for their product. Additional support can be accessed through the UK Export Academy, which is a free training programme for UK businesses looking to grow their international sales.
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 she has made of the potential impact of trade facilitation interventions on export volumes from Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our global network of 16 agrifood and drink attachés are breaking down market access barriers and creating new export opportunities, delivering benefits to businesses in Buckinghamshire and across the UK. So far this year we have pulled down 41 trade barriers, estimated by industry to be worth nearly £100 million to the British food and drink sector. We work closely with industry to identify and resolve barriers, taking into account value and sectoral priorities. Barriers are identified and prioritised at national level but importance to local economies is taken into account. Our attaches focus on removing regulatory barriers for the agri-food and drink sector, including access for animal and plant products, as well as addressing issues such as labelling and other technical barriers to trade which can hinder exports. Together with market access secured through Free Trade Agreements, such as the recent agreement with India, this opens the door to British businesses to capitalise on strong global demand for British produce.
Businesses in Buckinghamshire can report a barrier directly through the online report a barrier service or via their trade association to Defra market access groups for each commodity category. There are a range of SME targeted tools and support available through the Business Growth Service via business.gov.uk to help businesses sell abroad and find the best country for their product. Additional support can be accessed through the UK Export Academy, which is a free training programme for UK businesses looking to grow their international sales.
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 proportion of support for reducing trade barriers has been allocated to food and drink producers in Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our global network of 16 agrifood and drink attachés are breaking down market access barriers and creating new export opportunities, delivering benefits to businesses in Buckinghamshire and across the UK. So far this year we have pulled down 41 trade barriers, estimated by industry to be worth nearly £100 million to the British food and drink sector. We work closely with industry to identify and resolve barriers, taking into account value and sectoral priorities. Barriers are identified and prioritised at national level but importance to local economies is taken into account. Our attaches focus on removing regulatory barriers for the agri-food and drink sector, including access for animal and plant products, as well as addressing issues such as labelling and other technical barriers to trade which can hinder exports. Together with market access secured through Free Trade Agreements, such as the recent agreement with India, this opens the door to British businesses to capitalise on strong global demand for British produce.
Businesses in Buckinghamshire can report a barrier directly through the online report a barrier service or via their trade association to Defra market access groups for each commodity category. There are a range of SME targeted tools and support available through the Business Growth Service via business.gov.uk to help businesses sell abroad and find the best country for their product. Additional support can be accessed through the UK Export Academy, which is a free training programme for UK businesses looking to grow their international sales.
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 criteria she uses to prioritise businesses in accessing support for reducing trade barriers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our global network of 16 agrifood and drink attachés are breaking down market access barriers and creating new export opportunities, delivering benefits to businesses in Buckinghamshire and across the UK. So far this year we have pulled down 41 trade barriers, estimated by industry to be worth nearly £100 million to the British food and drink sector. We work closely with industry to identify and resolve barriers, taking into account value and sectoral priorities. Barriers are identified and prioritised at national level but importance to local economies is taken into account. Our attaches focus on removing regulatory barriers for the agri-food and drink sector, including access for animal and plant products, as well as addressing issues such as labelling and other technical barriers to trade which can hinder exports. Together with market access secured through Free Trade Agreements, such as the recent agreement with India, this opens the door to British businesses to capitalise on strong global demand for British produce.
Businesses in Buckinghamshire can report a barrier directly through the online report a barrier service or via their trade association to Defra market access groups for each commodity category. There are a range of SME targeted tools and support available through the Business Growth Service via business.gov.uk to help businesses sell abroad and find the best country for their product. Additional support can be accessed through the UK Export Academy, which is a free training programme for UK businesses looking to grow their international sales.
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 she plans to assess progress towards establishing the proposed UK–EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary zone under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This autumn we expect to start the detailed negotiations on the SPS agreement, as well as the other commitments from our summit in May
Defra has established a programme to deliver the work required to implement a UK-EU SPS agreement. This is already part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio, with regular progress reporting into the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.
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 steps her Department plans to take to ensure that farmers in Buckinghamshire can transition smoothly from Countryside Stewardship to the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On the 15 October 2025 we announced a one-year extension to more than 5,000 farmers with Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreements expiring on 31 December this year.
This targeted, time-limited extension is being offered whilst we develop the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive for 2026, refresh the Environmental Improvement Plan and administer the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier.
We will publish the 2026 information on the Sustainable Farming Incentive in due course.
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 estimate she has made of the additional hectares of farmland in Buckinghamshire that will remain under agri-environment schemes as a result of the extension to Countryside Stewardship.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are 6474 hectares of farmland in Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreements in Buckinghamshire which are due to expire on 31 December 2025. The majority of these will be offered a one-year extension.