Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many peat works the Government has bought out in each of the last five years; and how much the Government spent on buying out peat works in each of the last five years.

The Department is aware of one purchase of peat works between 2011 and 2016 involving the compulsory purchase of land to enable its restoration as an internationally important peat bog habitat, including its designation as a Special Area of Conservation under the Habitats Directive.

The final amount of the settlement is subject to a commercial-in-confidence agreement. Ancillary negotiations with other adjacent landowners are underway but have yet not concluded.