Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 126
In order to drive down further the excess levels of phosphate and nitrates on agricultural...
Recommendation
In order to drive down further the excess levels of phosphate and nitrates on agricultural land, annual chemical assessments will be required. Where appropriate, farmers ought to be supported to assess the existing phosphorus and nitrogen status of their land before spreading either farmyard manure or sewage sludge from water companies. The new Environmental Land Management Scheme provides an opportunity to provide financial help to farmers for measures to reduce progressively the input of phosphates and nitrates that cannot be taken up by crops.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government states that the water industry is required to install continuous monitors upstream and downstream of all its sewage discharges and the Environment Agency will supplement this, and that the development of sensors is largely a matter for manufacturers.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
126
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
The Government agrees with the recommendation that incentivising and providing support for progressive action, such as through existing and future agri-environment schemes, is required to improve the condition of our water bodies. The Government has already committed to prioritise water quality in the delivery of the new schemes. The Secretary of State set out, in his Written Ministerial Statement in December 2021, that water quality is one of the primary high-level priorities for the new environmental land management schemes. Restoring England’s streams and rivers is one of two themes that the Landscape Recovery scheme will focus on during its first round of applications, and, in the first year of the schemes, the Sustainable Farming Incentive will focus on actions to reduce nutrient leaching and protect soils. As part of the development of the new environmental land management schemes, Defra have been working closely with experts in Natural England and the Environment Agency to ensure that these schemes will support farmers to improve water quality. For example, as outlined in the December 2021 update on the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, standards on nutrient management and water body buffer zones, among a range of others, are under consideration.
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