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 4 April to Question 174455 on Horticulture: Peat, what guidance her Department issues on whether constituted allotment associations are professional growers with respect to the ban on peat based products and the delayed timeline for removal of peat from professional growing operations.

The Government proposes to restrict and ultimately ban the sale of peat and peat-containing products used in horticulture in England by 2030 with restrictions on professional use after 2026. The purpose of the proposed technical exemptions will be to allow time for professional growers, operating on a commercial basis, to overcome technical barriers to adopting peat-free growing media. Whether an organisation is operating on a professional, and therefore commercial, basis will be a matter for individual organisations to assess.