Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of funding for the National Park Authorities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The government is providing £45.2 million of core funding to the 10 National Park Authorities, with a capital uplift of up to £15 million to support their contribution to protecting 30% of land by 2030. In challenging financial circumstances, this uplift in capital investment is recognition of the vital importance of national parks to government priorities. We have also extended programmes such as Farming In Protected Landscapes, providing £30 million to support projects in our National Parks and Protected Landscapes, until March 2026.
In addition to investing in these important landscapes we are also working with Protected Landscapes organisations to identify additional sources of funding and foster innovation to ensure their future for generations to come.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what notifications of changes to revenue grants for financial year 2025-6 have been sent to National Park Authorities (a) on and (b) since 2 April 2025.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Letters were issued to all National Park Authorities (including the Broads Authority) in early April confirming Defra’s intent to continue grant funding for the financial year 2025/26. The letters also set out the provisional revenue and capital grant allocation for each authority.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator supports (a) profitability and (b) resilience in the (i) food and (ii) farming sector.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to implement reforms for rights of way included in the Deregulation Act 2015 to provide (a) clarity and (b) certainty for land managers.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are reviewing the rights of way reform programme alongside our policies for delivering improved access to nature for all users.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of new Sustainable Farming Incentive of agreements on the rural economy.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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. SFI is an important offer, but it is part of a wider package - across England, 50,000 farm businesses and over half of farmed land are already in agri-environmental schemes.
The department publish regular statistics on Farm Business Income. 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. On the 11th 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.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to provide an Answer to Question 26922 on Waste Disposal: Monitoring, tabled on 28 January 2025.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
An answer to Question 26922 was published on 27 February 2025. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he has made towards his Department's target of 50% of food procurement in the public sector being locally sourced.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At January’s Oxford Farming Conference, as part of the Government’s New Deal for Farmers, the Government announced a series of reforms, including, where possible, backing British produce. It was also announced that for the first time ever, the government will review food currently bought in the public sector and where it is bought from. This work will start right away and be a significant first step in understanding how to capitalise on the Government’s purchasing power: informing any changes to public sector food procurement policies in due course.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on the introduction of the Digital Waste Tracking Service.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The introduction of a digital waste tracking service will play an important role in supporting our transition to a Circular Economy that protects our natural resources and mitigates the effects of their extraction and disposal.
Having listened to feedback from our stakeholders across the waste sector and following a review of our original plans and timelines, we are developing plans to allow us to prepare for implementation, allow for greater levels of engagement and training with those concerned and ensure better system development and testing.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to mandate food waste reporting.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to setting a clear roadmap to a circular economy – a future where our resources are used as efficiently and productively as possible for as long as possible, and waste is reduced. Defra is reviewing policies to address the challenges associated with tackling food waste in the supply chain.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
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 support family farmers.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s commitment to British farmers, including family farms, remains steadfast. We will always champion British farming to boost rural economic growth, strengthen food security and improve the environment.
In the Budget announced last month, the Government committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production: £1.8 billion for environmental land management schemes in 2025/26. This enables us to keep momentum on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector.
We’re also optimising our farming schemes, so they work efficiently for all farmers, food security and the environment, especially for those that are too often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenanted farms.