Written questions by Morton.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme on farmers who had planned to transition to the new land management practices under the Environmental Land Management scheme; and what plans his Department has to support those farmers.

On 11 March 2025, we published forecasts which suggest that Average Farm Business Income has risen in 2024/25 across all farm types with the exception of cereal farms. This follows a fall in income for most farm types in 2023/24, after some exceptional highs in the two preceding years. This Government is proud to have secured the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history, with £5 billion being spent to support farmers over a 2-year period. 50,000 farm businesses are already in agri-environmental schemes. SFI is an important offer, but it is part of a wider package. We remain committed to investing in agri-environment schemes. We plan to launch the new Higher Tier scheme later this year; Capital Grants will re-open in summer 2025; we continue to move forward with Landscape Recovery; and we are increasing payment rates for Higher Level Stewardship agreement holders to recognise their ongoing commitment to delivering environmental outcome. Funding from the farming budget also supports the provision of advice within the sector. The Farming Advice Service can assist farmers to review what advice and guidance is available to meet their business needs.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of fly-tipping have been reported in the 2024-25 financial year.

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents to Defra, which are published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. Data for the 2023/24 reporting year is available at this link. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is still being collected.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his department conducted an impact assessment before the decision to close the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme was made.

We publish regular statistics on Farm Business Income broken down in various ways. Farming evidence packs have been recently updated including key statistics and farm performance. These set out an extensive range of data to provide an overview of agriculture in the UK. We will continue to carry out appropriate and timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development. On the 11 of March 2025, we published forecasts which suggest that average Farm Business Income has risen in 2024/25 across all farm types with the exception of cereal farms. This follows a fall in income for most farm types in 2023/24, after some exceptional highs in the two preceding years. Across England, 50,000 farm businesses are already in agri-environmental schemes. We will open up initial applications for CS Higher tier and a revised ELM capital grants offer later in the Summer.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to take steps to protect green belt land from fire risks when developing battery energy storage systems.

The Government agrees with the need to have robust measures in place to manage the risks associated with facilities that use large numbers of lithium-ion batteries. The Health and Safety Executive regulates grid-scale lithium-ion batteries within a robust regulatory framework which requires Battery Energy and Storage Systems (BESS) designers, installers, and operators to take the necessary measures throughout all stages of the system’s construction, operation and decommissioning to ensure its health and safety. Defra is considering further options, including environmental permitting, for managing the environmental and public health risks from fires at BESS sites.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle unregulated fishing activities in the South West Atlantic Ocean.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that fishing activities on the high seas in the South West Atlantic are appropriately regulated. This is necessary to safeguard stocks and their significant contribution to the Falkland Islands’ economy as well as the wider marine environment. Defra continue to liaise closely with the Falklands Islands Government on these issues, and to seek progress on addressing gaps in fisheries management and data collection within relevant international fora including the United Nations and Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support farmers in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency, in the context of proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief.

We are clear that the vast majority of those claiming Agricultural and Business Property Relief will not be affected by our reforms. Three quarters of estates will continue to pay no inheritance tax at all, while the remaining quarter will pay half the inheritance tax that most people pay, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free. This is a fair and balanced approach, which means farmers in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency and across the country will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done, while we fix the public services we all rely on. Further support for farmers was revealed by the Secretary of State at February 2025’s NFU conference. This includes a £110 million investment in innovation, equipment, and technology, an increase in Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) payment rates, an extension of the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme for another year until March 2026, an update on the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway’s coverage, and announcements on the reopening of the Capital Grants scheme and on the roll out the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) scheme. The Secretary of State also announced an extension of the Seasonal Worker visa route for five more years and new requirements for Government catering contracts to favour high-quality, high-welfare products that local farms and producers are well placed to serve, and reiterated the Government’s commitment to uphold and protect our high environmental and animal welfare standards in future trade deals This will all support farmers in the Aldrige-Brownhills constituency and across the country in delivering public goods for the environment and a profitable farming sector and unlocking rural growth.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the weight-based model for calculating extender producer responsibility fees.

The Government has now published a first set of pEPR illustrative base fees. We are assessing industry’s feedback, including on the importance of accounting for the weight and volume of packaging materials, to ensure our methodology is based on the best a...

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the introduction of a bottle deposit and return scheme in England.

This Government is committed to delivering the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in October 2027, as agreed with the devolved Governments of the UK, and in accordance with the Joint Policy Statement published in April 2024. The DRS will reduce litter, increase ...

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed Extender Producer Responsibility scheme on sustainable glass producers.

The 2022 Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) impact assessment made an assessment of the impact of introducing the scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment covers glass, but does not split the assessment by sector...

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of new illustrative fees for the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on glass as an infinitely recyclable material.

The 2022 Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) impact assessment made an assessment of the impact of introducing the scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment covers glass, but does not split the assessment by sector...

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to manage the potential impact of implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on glass manufacturers.

As part of the Government’s commitment to implement Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) and the benefits it will deliver, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is working alongside the Department for Business and Trade t...