Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 17 March to 119860, how many and what proportion of Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements had an annual value of over £100,000.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Between January 2025 to December 2025, there were 45,295 Sustainable Farming Incentive Agreements. 863 of these agreements had an annual value of over £100,000, which is 1.91% of the overall agreements.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 the removal of 31 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) actions on the projected average value of an SFI agreement.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The purpose of streamlining the offer is not to reduce overall support for the sector, but to ensure funding is focused on actions that deliver the greatest value for food production and the environment.
The SFI26 offer includes 71 actions rather than 102, reflecting the removal of options that had low uptake or delivered limited environmental or productivity benefit. This ensures a simpler, fairer and better-targeted scheme. We have also introduced an annual agreement value cap of £100,000 to help spread funding across more farms and widen participation.
Payment rates remain based on income-foregone-plus‑costs, and many actions continue to offer attractive returns. By improving accessibility and value for money, SFI26 supports long‑term farm profitability while enabling more businesses to benefit from agreements.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in the last year for which figures are available, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements had a value of over £100,000.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
From January 2025 to December 2025, there were 45,295 SFI Agreements. 6,439 of these had an agreement value of over £100,000 for the full 3-year lifetime of the agreement, which is 14.22% of the overall agreements.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in the last year for which figures are available, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements included the GRH6 action.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Between January 2025 to December 2025, there were 19,824 SFI 24 Agreements. 663 of these agreements included the GRH6 action, which is 3.34% of the overall agreements.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to introduce a replacement for the UK Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme to ensure continued investment in UK horticulture and maintain competitiveness with European growers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Future support for the horticulture sector is being considered alongside Defra’s work to simplify and rationalise agricultural grant funding, ensuring that grants deliver the most benefit for food security and taxpayer value. Our new Farming and Food Partnership Board, bringing together industry and government leaders, will also develop tailored growth plans for sectors including horticulture.
We are already doing a great deal to support the sector. Of at least £200 million allocated to The Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) through to 2030, to date nearly £40 million—representing 26% of total awards—has been granted to research projects benefiting the sector offering targeted opportunities for fruit and vegetable businesses to become more profitable, resilient, and sustainable. Further opportunities for farmer and grower led trials to test ideas and solutions are also now available in FIP via ADOPT grants.
Wider Government support includes: our five-year extension to the Seasonal Worker visa route, providing much needed stability and certainty to businesses; as well as extending the easement on import checks on medium risk fruit and vegetables ahead of the new SPS agreement deal with the EU.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish the Farming Profitability Review.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Baroness Batters will present her report to the Defra Secretary of State at the end of October for consideration.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 reduction in yields of main cereal crops in 2025 on farm profitability.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Cereals are internationally traded commodities, and their supply chains are dynamic and responsive to global market developments.
The Government has closely monitored the 2025 harvest and continues to engage regularly with industry stakeholders to assess any implications this may have on the cereals sector. In addition, the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG) provides early warning of atypical market movements by tracking trends in prices, inputs, and trade.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to re-open the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding. Further details about the reformed SFI offer will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 Spring Statement 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the funding of the Farming and Countryside Programme on the net number of hectares of farmland farmed in a nature-friendly way.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We are increasing the budget for sustainable farming and are investing more than £2.7 billion a year in farming and nature recovery.
Funding for the Environmental Land Management Schemes paid to farmers will increase by 150% from £800 million in 2023/24 to £2 billion by 2028/29.
As a result of the Government’s determination to get more farmers to participate, there are now 50,000 farm businesses and half of all farmed land now managed under our schemes – with more money being spent through these schemes than at any point.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency is taking steps to (a) control and (b) report on the potential risk of toxic contamination from the use of (i) recycled Energy Recovery Facilities incineration ash residue and (ii) Air Pollution Control Residue in building materials.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As was the case when he was Secretary of State for Defra, the ash residue from energy recovery facilities is normally processed into incinerator The bottom ash aggregate (IBAA). IBAA can only be used under the terms of a regulatory position statement (RPS) or a permit issued by the Environment Agency (EA).
The EA have risk assessed the use of IBAA. The RPS sets out placement limitations which allows use of IBAA whilst retaining protection of the environment. If the RPS cannot be met, a site-specific permit and risk assessment is required. Where a permit is issued there is a requirement to report.
Air Pollution Control Residue can only be used as a building material when that material has met the criteria for end-of-waste, which is assessed on a case-by-case basis. This requires that the material must be of no significantly greater risk to the environment or human health than the non-waste-derived equivalent.