Soil Health

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 7 Dec 2022 Closed: 23 May 2024 Parliament page
This inquiry is analysing the Government’s role in preventing further soil degradation and restoring soils across England, including through its Environmental Land Management Schemes and Soil Health Action Plan for England, expected in early 2023. To inform this inquiry, the EFRA Committee launched a farmer survey on soil health . … Read more
25 Recommendations
11 Conclusions
1 Report
6 Oral sessions
2 Letters
6 Events
Activity timeline 16 events
21 May
2024
Correspondence
23 Apr
2024
Correspondence
21 Mar
2024
Report published
5 Dec
2023
Report published
18 Jul
2023
Oral evidence
18 Jul
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
13 Jun
2023
Oral evidence
13 Jun
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 5, Palace of Westminster
24 May
2023
Oral evidence
24 May
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 6, Palace of Westminster
9 May
2023
Oral evidence
9 May
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 6, Palace of Westminster
Oral evidence sessions 6 sessions
18 Jul 2023
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Oral evidence
Fiona James · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Rt Hon Mark Spencer · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Sion McGeever · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
13 Jun 2023
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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Dr Eleanor Reed · Natural England Professor John Gilliland OBE · Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Tony Grayling · Environment Agency
24 May 2023
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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Dr Jane Gilbert, Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management Dr Martin Blackwell · Rothamsted Research Helen Browning · Soil Association Jenny Grant · Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) John Williams · ADAS Professor David Spurgeon · UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) Professor Karen Johnson · Durham University
9 May 2023
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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
James Robinson · Nature Friendly Farming Network James Woodward · Sustain Alliance Professor Pippa Chapman · University of Leeds Richard Bramley · National Farmers Union (NFU)
3 May 2023
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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
James Robinson · Nature Friendly Farming Network Mr James Woodward · Sustain Alliance Professor Pippa Chapman · University of Leeds Richard Bramley · National Farmers Union (NFU)
7 Mar 2023
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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Dr Jacqueline Hannam · British Society of Soil Science Martin Ballard · Society for the Environment Mr Graeme Willis · CPRE - The Countryside Charity Mr Kyle Lischak · ClientEarth Mr Matthew Orman · Sustainable Soils Alliance Professor Bridget Emmett · UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Title HC No. Published Items Response
First Report - Soil health HC 245 5 Dec 2023 36 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
3 results
Clear
2 Recommendation Acknowledged
First Report - Soil health
Ringfence funding for long-term soil health monitoring and finalise indicators by December 2024.
The Government must ringfence the funding for the soil health monitoring programme to ensure a long-term commitment to this precious national resource. This funding should be on the same scale as funding for the monitoring of other critical assets such … Read more
Government Response
The government encourages farmers to monitor their own soil health, noting existing SFI payments for soil assessment, and intends to publish further tools and guidance later this year to enable consistent data collection, but did not commit to ringfencing funding or finalising indicators by December 2024.
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11 Recommendation Acknowledged
First Report - Soil health
Commission and publish a review of financial barriers to sustainable farming by 2025.
By 2025, the Government should commission and publish a review considering what financial barriers, including upfront investment costs, are preventing more sustainable farming systems. Based on these findings, the Government should develop, alongside the industry, measures to combat the problem. … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledged its statutory commitment under the Agriculture Act 2020 to report on the impact and effectiveness of agricultural schemes and stated it is currently reviewing how best to meet that commitment, but did not specifically commit to commissioning and publishing a review of financial barriers by 2025.
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14 Conclusion Acknowledged
First Report - Soil health
Current ELM scheme soil measures lack ambition and essential actions for enhancement.
We are pleased to see soils being targeted specifically as part of the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. While these measures are a good start, the measures in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) are basic and lack essential actions … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the importance of soil health, states SFI already incorporates actions, and commits to monitoring effectiveness, exploring options for CS, and aiming to define 'sustainable soil management' with stakeholder engagement.
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Government Response AI assessment · 36 of 25 classified
Accepted 13
Accepted in Part 6
Acknowledged 3
Deferred 12
Not Addressed 2
Total 25 recs + 11 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
21 May 2024 Correspondence from the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries relating to the Committee's Soil Health report, dated 15 May 2024
Parliament page
23 Apr 2024 Correspondence to the Secretary of State regarding the Government's response to the Soil Health Report, dated 17 April 2024
Parliament page