Recommendations & Conclusions
36 items
1
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
We are pleased that the Government is developing a set of soil health indicators and a soil health baseline. Data, and a common approach to measuring soil health, is essential for setting targets, tracking progress, evaluating the ELM schemes and understanding the merits of different interventions. The Government should develop …
Government response. The government confirmed that national soil monitoring is underway through the tNCEA programme since 2022, aiming for a soil health baseline by 2028, and will publish provisional updates from 2024, a progress report on indicators by June 2024, and a …
2
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Acknowledged
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 as water and air quality. The Government should also finalise …
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 …
3
Conclusion
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
The soil health baseline will not be established until 2028 and determining trends from that data will potentially take longer still. Given the importance of soil health, we feel it is essential to take steps now to use existing soil data and identify priority areas of concern. Furthermore, unlike the …
Government response. The government highlighted ongoing efforts through the tNCEA programme, including projects like the England Ecosystem Survey and England Peat Map, and the Environment Agency's Big Soil Stocktake launched in November 2023, which aim to collect comprehensive soil data and inform …
4
Conclusion
First Report - Soil health
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. 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 …
5
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
In order to gain an insight into recent trends, the Government should also, by 2026, commission and publish an analysis of existing soil health data held by third parties This should be used to inform future policy development, including incoming iterations of ELM schemes. (Paragraph 26) Soils strategy and leadership
Government response. The government is conducting its own national soil monitoring program (tNCEA) which began in 2022, aiming for a comprehensive baseline by 2028 to inform future policy, rather than committing to commissioning analysis of third-party data by 2026.
6
Conclusion
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
There is a lack of leadership and focus on soil health in Government policy. The awaited land use framework could certainly help but, given that the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) and the Environment Act targets are already the central focus of policy and scrutiny, we believe that it would be …
Government response. The government states the current EIP already links soil health to other goals and includes an existing commitment to bring 40% of agricultural soil into sustainable management by 2028, increasing to 60% by 2030. They will review the EIP in …
7
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Deferred
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 soils, and the trade-offs between different outcomes, such as increased …
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 …
8
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Deferred
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 indicators, and giving a clear but realistic indication of how …
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.
9
Conclusion
First Report - Soil health
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. 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 …
10
Conclusion
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
The Government’s Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes are an important economic incentive to protect and restore natural assets, such as soils. Until private ecosystem marketplaces are fully regulated and established for a variety of soil health benefits, ELM schemes will be the main tool for encouraging the restoration of soil …
Government response. The government stated the expanded SFI already includes soil improvement actions and committed to monitoring scheme effectiveness for economic barriers, considering further actions if needed. They also committed to defining 'sustainable soil management' in a clear, practical way with stakeholder …
11
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Acknowledged
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. These could include enabling access to more upfront grants, 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 …
12
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
By 2026, payment rates for the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship schemes should be increased and calculated on the basis of income foregone, costs and an additional uplift for the public goods potentially provided. These payment rates should be developed using data collected under the Natural Capital and Ecosystem …
Government response. The government states that payment rates for SFI and CS schemes were increased on 1 January 2024, calculated based on income foregone plus costs. Updated rates and their independently verified methodology have been published, and the government intends to introduce …
13
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
We are also concerned that significant numbers of farmers may struggle to access ELMs and so be unable to improve their soils. We are concerned about access for non-arable farmers, small-scale farmers, the horticultural sector, those with common land grazing rights and, in particular, tenant farmers. While we welcome the …
Government response. The government has introduced specific measures like the SFI Management Payment and adapted SFI rules to remove barriers for tenant and smaller farmers, showing increased uptake. It commits to introducing 16 new actions with a 3-year duration and exploring further …
14
Conclusion
First Report - Soil health
Acknowledged
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 that are known to protect and enhance soils. The role …
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.
15
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted in Part
Using an analysis of recent soil health trends, the Government should set out, by 2026, long-term plans for how ELM schemes will become more ambitious for soils. This should include: a) Putting all basic actions known to improve soils into the SFI if evidence suggests that the economic drivers are …
Government response. The government states the SFI already incorporates many soil actions and will consider adding more, while exploring ways to adapt CS. They recognize the value of defining "sustainable soil management" and aim to do so with stakeholder engagement. However, they …
16
Conclusion
First Report - Soil health
Deferred
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. 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.
17
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Deferred
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 data collected by farmers and enable them to feedback into …
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 …
18
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted in Part
ELMs and the establishment of private ecosystem marketplaces do not tackle all the fundamental economic drivers of unsustainable soil management within the supply chain. We would like to see the Government set out how it will deal with the poor profitability within the sector, which is a barrier to more …
Government response. The government details existing grants, a new £25 million Nutrient Management Theme, and plans a consultation on fertiliser regulations to boost the supply and access of diverse organic inputs. However, the response does not specifically set out how it will …
19
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted in Part
By mid-2025, the Government should develop an action plan setting out how it will make organic inputs a more economical choice for farmers. This should include measures that boost the availability and diversity of organic inputs to achieve soil health targets and ensure the organic recycling and agricultural sectors have …
Government response. The government details existing grants, like the £200m Slurry Infrastructure Grant, and a new £25 million Nutrient Management Theme launching in spring 2024, to support novel fertilisers and organic input development. They will also consult on fertiliser regulations. However, the …
20
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Deferred
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 of profitability in the sector and unsustainable consumer and retailer …
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 …
21
Conclusion
First Report - Soil health
Deferred
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. 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.
22
Conclusion
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
A new soil protections framework will be a major project and rely on data that is not yet available, suitable definition(s) of ‘sustainable soil management’, and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. We also recognise that it is also a difficult time for farmers during the transition away from …
Government response. The government did not commit to a future regulatory baseline for soil protection, instead detailing ongoing efforts to improve the accessibility and usefulness of advice and guidance for farmers participating in existing SFI schemes.
23
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Deferred
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 be in line with any future soil health targets and …
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.
24
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Deferred
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 soils. As the ELM schemes become more ambitious, so too …
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 …
25
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
Soil contamination is a well-known yet not well-understood problem. There has been a longstanding and unacceptable failure to remediate historical soil contamination that acts as a barrier to nature recovery. As for contamination through agricultural inputs, the Government should also improve controls and protocols—both for their production and application—to give …
Government response. The Environment Agency is actively investigating sludge quality and reviewing regulatory delivery for organic inputs like sewage sludge and composts. New ‘end of waste’ Resource Frameworks and amended permits are due by 2026/27, directly addressing the call for improved controls …
26
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
By the end of 2025, the Government and Environment Agency should review the current regulations for the production, testing and application of organic inputs to make sure that are delivering enough protections against soil contamination. This review should set out a plan for closing any gaps in protections by 2026/27.
Government response. The Environment Agency is reviewing regulatory delivery for various organic inputs, including sewage sludge and composts, and plans to introduce new ‘end of waste’ Resource Frameworks and amended permits by 2026/27, aligning with the recommended review and action plan timeline.
27
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted in Part
The national soil monitoring programme should aim to gain a better understanding of the scale of soil contamination. To spur progress on nature recovery targets, this information should identify problematic areas that local authorities and developers are encouraged to remediate. Contamination data should also be used to develop Extended Producer …
Government response. The government is developing a £78m Land Remediation Pathfinder Scheme to support local authorities in remediating contaminated land. While the national soil monitoring program is collecting data on some inorganic contaminants, it is not currently collecting data on organic contaminants …
28
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Deferred
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 funding to either developers, local authorities or regulators to tackle …
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 …
29
Conclusion
First Report - Soil health
Deferred
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. 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 …
30
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
By 2027, the Government should review progress with the Soil Reuse and Depot scheme and revised construction codes of practice. This should include a consultation with stakeholders on whether these voluntary codes should become mandatory and regulated by an independent body or the Environment Agency. The revised 2028 Environmental Improvement …
Government response. The government commits to publishing revised construction guidance by summer 2024 and piloting a Soil Reuse and Depot scheme by December 2026. These initiatives will include assessment of voluntary approaches with stakeholder engagement before considering any regulatory models, aligning with …
31
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted in Part
The Environment Agency and the Rural Payments Agency should continue to take an initially supportive approach when monitoring compliance, given the low levels of engagement and the fact that most farmers want to do the right thing for their soils. Follow ups will be essential to ensure that compliance breaches …
Government response. The government agrees with advice-led approaches and states enforcement occurs when advice is not acted upon. It highlights the use of earth observation technology for more efficient inspections and targeted advice, building on a successful pilot, but does not explicitly …
32
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Not Addressed
More monitoring will mean that these agencies need to be fully resourced. In the case of the Environment Agency, where funding for monitoring usually comes via the Environmental Permitting regulations, the Department needs to come up with ways of driving up this funding. This could be achieved by putting more …
Government response. The government states it uses advice-led approaches and technology, such as earth observation, to enable more efficient inspections and targeted advice for soil damage prevention. However, the response does not address the specific recommendation to increase funding for agency monitoring …
33
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Not Addressed
The EA and the RPA should continue with the “supportive” approach to compliance monitoring. By the end of the agricultural transition in 2028, however, Defra and these institutions should publish a clear and transparent regime of comprehensive site visits and other actions that they will take to help farmers comply …
Government response. The government advocates for advice-led approaches and efficient inspections using earth observation technology to identify land management risks. However, the response does not commit to publishing a comprehensive regime of site visits by 2028, ensuring routine visits every few years, …
34
Conclusion
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
There are gaps in local knowledge and skills when it comes to soil health and soil management across the economy. As environmental outcomes become more embedded in policy through agricultural, planning, construction and other reforms, it is vital that consultants and advisors as well as land managers are well-prepared to …
Government response. The government accepts the need for improved soil health knowledge and skills, outlining multiple actions including mandating industry standards for SFI funding, providing free business advice until March 2025, supporting the Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture, introducing an agriculture T-Level, …
35
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted
By 2026, the Government should publish a review into the skills and training available to support key initiatives for nature recovery across all relevant sectors. This review should analyse the training, guidance and advisory services available in the agricultural sector and set out a plan for improving their quality by …
Government response. The government outlines multiple initiatives to improve skills and training, including mandating industry standards, funding business advice, working with the Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture, and introducing an agriculture T-Level. It also commits to publishing a Green Jobs Plan later …
36
Recommendation
First Report - Soil health
Accepted in Part
The review should also identify where guidance documents for sustainable farming— including sustainable soil management—could be better synthesised and made more specific to particular settings. Working closely with respected organisations such as the AHDB, the Government should invest in research projects to develop guidance and decision-making support tools for the …
Government response. The government details its ongoing efforts to refine and improve accessibility and specificity of guidance through user testing, supplementary products, and online tools. However, it does not commit to investing in research for decision-making tools or subsidising collaborations and knowledge …