Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with food retail organisations on the impact of inflation on the price of (a) christmas pudding, (b) potatoes, (c) cranberry sauce, (d) brussels sprouts or (e) parsnips.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra has regular discussions with retailers about a range of issues, including the impact of food price inflation.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an estimate of the potential impact of avian flu on the change in the cost of a turkey since the 2021-22 financial year.
Answered by Mark Spencer
There are many factors, including the impact of Avian Influenza, that will influence the cost of a turkey. To support the seasonal poultry sector, Defra announced on 28 October a flexibility to marketing rules in England so that farmers who breed turkeys, geese, ducks or capons for the Christmas market have the option to slaughter their flocks early and freeze these products, which can then be defrosted and sold to consumers between the period 28 November and 31 December 2022. These changes have given farmers certainty over business planning and have helped secure the supply of turkeys this Christmas.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department has spent on flood defences since 2019.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Information on HM Government spending on Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCRM) is publicly available: Central Government Funding for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management in England, March 2022.
Environment Agency FCRM Capital Programme government spend since 2018/19:
2018/19 £m | 2019/20 £m | 2020/21 £m |
453 | 501.3 | 610.4 |
Note these figures are for Environment Agency FCRM Capital programme spend only.
(Source: Central Government Funding for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management in England, March 2022)
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the total number of farms in England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Statistical estimates of the number of commercial agricultural holdings in England in each of the last five years are shown in the table below.
Commercial holdings are those registered with the Rural Payments Agency for payments or livestock purposes and with significant levels of farming activity (as recorded in responses to the Defra June Survey of Agriculture or the Cattle Tracing System). Holdings are only included if they have more than five hectares of agricultural land, one hectare of orchards, 0.5 hectares of vegetables or 0.1 hectares of protected crops, or more than 10 cows, 50 pigs, 20 sheep, 20 goats or 1,000 poultry.
Year | Number of commercial holdings |
2017 | 105,925 |
2018 | 106,035 |
2019 | 106,100 |
2020(a) | 107,079 |
2021 | 105,220 |
(a) It was not possible to run a full-scale June Survey in 2020 due to the Coronavirus outbreak. A small-scale survey was run instead to allow us to produce national estimates of key crop areas and livestock populations. As a result, it was not possible to update the survey population and figures for 2020 are less robust and should be treated with caution.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what percentage of stock buybacks in the last financial year were made by water companies.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
There are three publicly listed water companies operating in England: United Utilities; Pennon Group; and Severn Trent. Listed water companies publish details of their decisions relating to share issuance and repurchasing in their annual reports.
These reports are available online (links below):
United Utilities - United Utilities Group PLC - Year in Review 2022 (annualreport2022.com)
Pennon Group - Pennon Group PLC - Annual Report and Accounts 2022 (pennon-group.co.uk)
Severn Trent - Results, reports and presentations | Investors | Severn Trent Plc
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 Grade (a) 4 and (b) 5 land would be suitable for building of solar farms.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Agricultural Land Classification uses grades 1 to 5 to determine the quality of agricultural land. A combination of climate, topography and soil characteristics and their unique interaction determines the limitation and grade of the land. The highest quality agricultural land is known as ‘Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land’, defined in the National Planning Policy Framework and Natural England’s guide to assessing development proposals on agricultural land as land in grades 1, 2 and 3a.
Grades 4 and 5 fall outside this definition as they are classed as poor and very poor-quality agricultural land respectively. This means that the land has severe limitations, which significantly restricts the range and level of yield of crops. Defra does not hold data on the generic suitability of grades 4 and 5 for solar farms.
The development of large-scale ground-mounted solar photovoltaic farms is regulated through the planning system. Planning policy is clear that there is preference to use poorer-quality agricultural land over higher quality. There is also a need through planning guidance to show that any development of agricultural land is necessary.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals on tackling deforestation in supply chains.
Answered by Scott Mann
We have put into statute world-leading due diligence legislation, through the Environment Act, to help tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains.
Between December 2021 and March 2022, we ran a consultation to seek views on the detail of regulations that will implement the Environment Act provisions and published a summary of responses to this consultation on 1st June 2022.
We are committed to implementing due diligence provisions at the earliest opportunity, through secondary legislation.