First Report - Soil health
Select Committee
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
HC 245
5 December 2023
Recommendations
7 results
7
Deferred
Para 38
Publish the National Action Plan for Pesticides and a regularly updated Land Use Framework.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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.
8
Deferred
Para 39
Develop binding targets for improving soil health and amend the Environment Act by 2028.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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.
17
Deferred
Para 64
Publish an ELMs evaluation programme and annual report detailing uptake, feedback, and soil health impact.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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.
20
Deferred
The next Environmental Improvement Plan, due by 2028, should incorporate this action plan.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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.
23
Deferred
Para 80
Using improved soil health and soil management data, as well as its evaluation of the...
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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.
24
Deferred
Para 81
In the agricultural sector, the regulatory baseline should be designed to work in tandem with...
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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.
28
Deferred
Para 95
Set up a 2024 soil remediation taskforce to tackle barriers and fund solutions.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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.
Conclusions (5) Observations and findings — click to expand
4
Conclusion
Deferred
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 easy to use, cost-effective, and meet an approved standard, to …
Government Response Summary
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.
9
Conclusion
Deferred
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 should ensure that soil health plays a role in their …
Government Response Summary
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.
16
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 63
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 than previous environmental management schemes to gain the benefits of …
Government Response Summary
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.
21
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 78
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 protected. This situation is likely to get worse as Cross …
Government Response Summary
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.
29
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 99
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 to be seen if these are enough to bring about …
Government Response Summary
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.