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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of new environmental regulations, such as the Clean Air Strategy and Farming Rules for Water, on the future of the dairy sector in England.

Defra develops regulations with the involvement of stakeholders from the affected industry.

Before the Farming Rules for Water were introduced in 2018, an impact assessment was produced and a consultation conducted to ensure the effect of the regulations on specific farming sectors, including dairy, were taken into account. The assessment concluded that overall, and for the dairy sector specifically, the benefits of actions required under the rules outweigh the associated costs.

Defra has recently produced statutory guidance for the Environment Agency on how aspects of the Farming Rules for Water should be applied over the coming years. This guidance was developed in line with the original impact assessment. Representatives of the farming industry, including dairy farmer groups, were closely engaged in development of the guidance to ensure that the analysis of impacts on farming sectors was robust.

Full impact assessments will also be published alongside all regulatory policies to implement the Clean Air Strategy when they are introduced.