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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce legislation banning all harvesting of peat; and if not, why not.

We have taken action to tackle domestic extraction of peat; the National Planning Policy Framework, first published in 2012, ends the granting of new licences for peat extraction. Peat extraction in England will therefore end when the remaining licenses expire.

The Government continues to be committed to phasing out the use of peat in horticulture in England. The biggest user of peat is the amateur sector and this is an important part of our policy focus. We signalled to the industry that if we have not seen sufficient movement to peat alternatives by 2020, then we would look at further measures that could be taken, and we are currently considering what these potential further measures could look like.