Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 104
Healthy soils are essential to biodiversity; and yet the data and indicators to measure soil...
Recommendation
Healthy soils are essential to biodiversity; and yet the data and indicators to measure soil health do not exist to the degree required to ensure effective monitoring. Without credible arrangements for monitoring and measuring soil health, the Biodiversity in the UK: bloom or bust? 117 Government will not meet the soil health commitments made in its own 25 Year Environment Plan. The Government must therefore urgently address this large data gap.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response discusses gigabit broadband connectivity and the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, which is entirely unrelated to the recommendation on addressing the soil health data gap.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
104
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
Accept in principle. Healthy soils are vital for food security, climate resilience, biodiversity and water quality. That is why the 25 Year Environment Plan commits us to improving the health of our soils. We are developing our approach to soil health monitoring and are working with our arm’s length bodies (ALBs), including Natural England and the Environment Agency, on the development of a national soil health monitoring scheme, and how this will support a baseline against which to monitor progress. In line with the Environment Bill, we will bring forward a legally binding target for soil health, and will continue to work with experts to develop a robust, long-term target on soils and associated interim targets. We also continue to invest in improving the evidence base, including through our strategic research programme, and we are working with landowners to improve the health of agricultural soils as we transition to new farming schemes. We are currently analysing the findings of the 2019 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) pilots, which explored methods of payment and other aspects of scheme delivery. Publication of the findings is due shortly and will inform the further development of the SFI.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗