Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps has she taken to consider the impact of the amount of budget assigned to SF126 on [i] levels of demand and [ii] the ability for farmers to business plan for long term environmental delivery.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra expected strong demand for SFI26 Window 2 and increased funding before and during the application window, bringing the budget to £253 million. The Government plans to offer SFI in 2027 and is working to bring forward the 2027 offer as early as possible. The Government is also considering lessons from SFI26, including alternatives to first-come, first-served allocation, and has committed to stabilising the main design of SFI for the duration of this Parliament.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2026 to Question 32911 on Offshore Industry: Falkland Islands, if she will list the (a) dates and (b) people in attendance of her discussions on the Falkland Islands and the Sea Lion Field with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs in the last 12 months.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2026 to Question 32911 on Offshore Industry: Falkland Islands, if she will list the (a) dates and (b) people in attendance of her discussions on oil and gas drilling with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs in the last 12 months.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will have discussions with foundation strategic authorities and mayoral strategic authorities on a communications strategy which sets out the reasons for the introduction of an overnight visitor levy; and how the levy will support local growth.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government will provide non-statutory guidance to support foundation strategic authorities and mayoral strategic authorities that are considering introducing an overnight visitor levy. It will be for strategic authorities to decide whether to introduce a levy in their area, following consultation, and to set out how revenues would support local growth and other local priorities.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 the DEFRA Farming Blog article dated 16 June 2025, what assessment has she made about how the budget for SFI26 schemes aligns with Government ambitions to increase funding for farmers under the ELM schemes to £2 billion by 2028/29.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
SFI is funded through the wider farming budget, to which the Government has committed an average of £2.3 billion per year until 2028/29. In 2026/27, indicative funding includes £1.95 billion for Environmental Land Management schemes. The farming budget is managed as a single portfolio rather than a collection of ring-fenced scheme budgets. SFI26 Window 2 had a budget of £253 million for new agreements.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to WPQ 28048 answered on 8 September 2026 about 'Fruit, Horticulture,' with reference to the National Drought Group [i] when will the next meeting of the Group take place and [ii] are there opportunities for external stakeholders to feed in topics for discussion.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
[i] The next National Drought Group (NDG) will be 19 October 2026
[ii] On 21 October 2026, the Agriculture, Environment & Land Management sub-group meeting will be held. This is the collation forum for agricultural and horticultural stakeholders to feed into, which can then be escalated to main NDG.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 the DEFRA Farming Blog article dated 16 June 2025, what assessment has she made about how the budget for SFI26 schemes aligns with Government ambitions to invest more than £2.7 billion in sustainable farming and nature recovery a year from 2026/27 to 2028/29.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
SFI26 Window 2 had a budget of £253 million for new agreements, representing a total of £759 million over three years. The Government has committed an average of £2.3 billion a year for farming until 2028/29, with funding decisions for future SFI offers made within the overall farming budget. Future decisions will take account of affordability, value for money, demand and the contribution schemes make to farming and environmental objectives.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 determine a plan for SFI27 that will cover expiring agreements and support farmers to deliver environmental improvements.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government plans to offer SFI in 2027, in keeping with the Farming Roadmap 2050. Detailed scheme arrangements and timings will be published once design and delivery planning have been completed. Defra is exploring alternatives to first-come, first-served allocation and will consider fairness, accessibility and deliverability when designing the next offer.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps has she taken to determine a timescale for farmers to apply for SFI26 whose environmental agreements expire after February 2027.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Eligible farmers who did not obtain an SFI26 agreement will have another opportunity to apply in 2027. Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier remains available through its expression-of-interest process for appropriate land and activities. Defra is working to bring forward the 2027 SFI offer as early as possible and details will be published in due course.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to WPQ 28048 answered on 8 September 2026 about 'Fruit, Horticulture,' with reference to the National Drought Group, [i] who are the members of the Group, [ii] when did the Group last meet and [iii] what were the conclusions of the meeting.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
[i] The National Drought Group (NDG) includes the Environment Agency, government, Met Office, regulators, water companies, the NFU, Canal & River Trust and conservation organisations.
[ii] On 15 October 2026.
[iii] Members agreed to continue coordinated drought action, support farmers, and water users, and maintain water-saving communications.