Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether an assessment has been made of the potential impact of expanding (a) onshore wind and (b) solar energy on the availability of agricultural land.

Current planning policies guide developments away from using Best and Most Versatile agricultural land where possible. Developers will submit information on land use and classification when seeking planning consent, and this information will be taken into account by decision makers. However, Government does not set a prescriptive approach and as such does not hold this information.