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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has he made of the factors causing (a) agriculture, (b) forestry and (c) fishing businesses to close since 5 July 2024.

Defra is aware of the Office for National Statistics' quarterly business openings and closures data. There are many factors unrelated to government policy that might explain why businesses would be shown as "closing" in the data source, including purely statistical factors.

Defra monitors data on the number of farm businesses registered with Defra for England published here Structure of the agricultural industry in England and the UK at June - GOV.UK.

This Government is committed to supporting economic growth. We continue to work closely with our agriculture, fishing, seafood and forestry sectors to ensure they are vibrant, profitable, and sustainable.