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 encourage farmers to increase their use of solar panels; and whether she is providing specific funding designed to achieve that aim.

Protecting our environment, backing British farmers and delivering long-term energy security with more renewables is at the heart of HM Government’s manifesto. The Net Zero Strategy sets out a clear vision for a sustained increase in deployment of renewable generation capacity in the 2020s and beyond. In addition, The British Energy Security Strategy set out a series of bold commitments to support and accelerate this as part of a decisive shift away from expensive fossil fuels

HM Government recognises the need to preserve our most productive arable farmland as best as possible. The National Planning Policy Framework sets out clearly that local planning authorities should consider all the benefits of the best and most versatile agricultural land, when making plans or taking decisions on new development proposals. Where significant development of agricultural land is shown to be necessary, planning authorities should seek to use poorer quality land in preference to that of a higher quality.

On farm, the Farming Investment Fund seeks to encourage farmers to invest in technologies with improved energy-use efficiency and use of renewable energy. The Farming Innovation Programme supports industry-driven research into innovative technologies. It is funding projects that explore renewable energy sources.