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
12 results
Clear
4 Conclusion Deferred
First Report - Soil health
Adapt ELM schemes by 2025 to fund comprehensive, standardised soil testing and data collection.
By 2025, Defra should adapt the Environmental Land Management schemes to fund the testing and assessment of all key physical, chemical and biological soil attributes decided by the soil health indicators project. These schemes should only support tests that are … Read more
Government Response
The government's response committed to producing a Land Use Framework in 2024 and mentioned other policy initiatives like Local Nature Recovery Strategies and a National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides, completely deflecting from the recommendation to adapt ELM schemes to fund soil health testing by 2025.
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7 Recommendation Deferred
First Report - Soil health
Publish the National Action Plan for Pesticides and a regularly updated Land Use Framework.
By May 2024, the Government must publish the new National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides and its Land Use Framework. The Framework should provide clear guidance and leadership to stakeholders on the most effective uses for types of … Read more
Government Response
The government deflected by referring to the Agricultural Transition Plan Update (Jan 2024) which broadly covers barriers to farmers adopting environmental land management, rather than committing to publish the National Action Plan for Sustainable Use of Pesticides and the Land Use Framework by May 2024.
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8 Recommendation Deferred
First Report - Soil health
Develop binding targets for improving soil health and amend the Environment Act by 2028.
Once a soil baseline and health indicators are in place, the Government must work with industry and academia to develop a set of binding and measurable targets for improving soil health in England, based primarily on the agreed soil health … Read more
Government Response
The government's response focused entirely on increasing payment rates and introducing premiums for SFI and Countryside Stewardship schemes, rather than addressing the recommendation to develop binding soil health targets and amend the Environment Act by 2028.
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9 Conclusion Deferred
First Report - Soil health
Incorporate new soil health targets into the EIP and expand ELM scheme participation by 2040.
The 2028 Environmental Improvement Plan should incorporate and develop these new soil health targets and ensure that soil improvement features across all related sectors, particularly construction, planning and agriculture. Goals for biodiversity, waste, food security, land use and net zero … Read more
Government Response
The government's response outlined measures to improve accessibility for smaller and tenant farmers in ELM schemes, such as SFI Management Payments and adapted tenancy rules, but did not address the recommendation regarding the 2028 EIP, new soil health targets across sectors, or definitions of sustainable soil management.
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16 Conclusion Deferred
First Report - Soil health
Establish an effective monitoring and evaluation programme for all ELM schemes.
It is disappointing that the Government has not acted on our previous calls for a set of measurable targets and an evaluation programme for the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. The impact of ELM scheme must be monitored more effectively … Read more
Government Response
The government's response detailed the Environment Agency's work on regulating the safe and sustainable spreading of manures and waste-derived soil conditioners, including reviews and new frameworks by 2026/27, completely unrelated to the recommendation for an ELM evaluation programme.
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17 Recommendation Deferred
First Report - Soil health
Publish an ELMs evaluation programme and annual report detailing uptake, feedback, and soil health impact.
By the end of 2024, the Government should publish an evaluation programme for ELMs. This should be designed alongside the soil health indicators so that they can consistently measure progress on soil health. It should also use anonymised and aggregated … Read more
Government Response
The government's response focused on measures to address contaminated soil, including a £78m Land Remediation Pathfinder Scheme, revised guidance for construction sites by summer 2024, and piloting a Soil Reuse and Depot scheme by December 2026, rather than committing to publishing an ELM evaluation programme or annual report by the end of 2024.
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20 Recommendation Deferred
First Report - Soil health
The next Environmental Improvement Plan, due by 2028, should incorporate this action plan.
The next Environmental Improvement Plan, due by 2028, should incorporate this action plan. It should also set out how the Government will address other drivers in the wider food supply chain that encourage poor soil management. These include a lack … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed that advice-led approaches help tackle soil damage and detailed its use of earth observation techniques to identify land management risks and target advice to farmers, but did not address the recommendation to incorporate an action plan into the 2028 EIP or define sustainable soil management for assurance standards and ecolabelling.
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21 Conclusion Deferred
First Report - Soil health
Current soil regulations contain significant gaps both within and particularly outside of agriculture.
Current soil regulations contain significant gaps both within and particularly outside of agriculture. Historically, regulations have seen soil as a medium and vector for the pollution of other natural assets, so a wide array of soil health aspects are not … Read more
Government Response
The government did not commit to a new soil protection legislative framework, instead outlining existing and planned initiatives focused on providing funding, advice, and skills training to farmers for nutrient and pest management, and developing a Green Jobs Plan.
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23 Recommendation Deferred
First Report - Soil health
Using improved soil health and soil management data, as well as its evaluation of the...
Using improved soil health and soil management data, as well as its evaluation of the success of the ELM schemes, the Department should work with industry, academics and regulators on a more robust regulatory baseline for soils. These regulations should … Read more
Government Response
The government states it is currently reviewing the regulatory baseline for soil health and will consider findings from the Office for Environmental Protection, but does not commit to a new regulatory framework, legislation, or specific timelines as recommended.
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24 Recommendation Deferred
First Report - Soil health
In the agricultural sector, the regulatory baseline should be designed to work in tandem with...
In the agricultural sector, the regulatory baseline should be designed to work in tandem with ELM schemes. Initially it should incorporate most of the soil health actions in the Sustainable Farming Incentive, with all ELM schemes becoming more ambitious on … Read more
Government Response
The government states it is currently reviewing the regulatory baseline for soil health and will consider findings from the Office for Environmental Protection. It does not commit to the recommended five-year review cycle for regulations and ELMs or to the long-term aim of preventing soil degradation through regulation.
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28 Recommendation Deferred
First Report - Soil health
Set up a 2024 soil remediation taskforce to tackle barriers and fund solutions.
The Government should set up a soil remediation taskforce in 2024 to tackle the barriers to soil remediation. This should consider the role that new technologies Soil health 53 can play with hard-to-remediate soils, as well as the provision of … Read more
Government Response
The government defers establishing a soil remediation taskforce, stating it is committed to urban soil management and is currently focused on publishing revised guidance for construction sites, piloting a Soil Reuse and Depot scheme by December 2026, and assessing a soil bank system before considering the need for a taskforce.
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29 Conclusion Deferred
First Report - Soil health
Current voluntary soil reuse initiatives may require mandatory regulation for effectiveness.
We are pleased to see that the Government has announced plans to reduce the amount of soil sent to landfill. These reforms are an update to guidance and the trialling of soil storage sites, which stakeholders welcome but it remains … Read more
Government Response
The government plans to publish revised guidance for soil use on construction sites by summer 2024 and pilot a Soil Reuse and Depot scheme by December 2026. They explicitly state they will assess the effectiveness of these voluntary approaches before considering any regulatory models to make codes of practice mandatory.
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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