Written question asked by Andrew Jones (Conservative) on Monday, 5 December 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 7 December 2011. It was answered by James Paice (Conservative) on Thursday, 15 December 2011 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Farms: Regulation

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress her Department has made on reducing the administrative demands placed on farmers by environmental regulations.

Answer: The Government have introduced the one-in, one-out rule, meaning that no new domestic legislation imposing costs on business can be introduced without the identification and removal of existing regulations with an equivalent value. Since January 2011, only two measures impacting the farming sector have been introduced. Both are of a deregulatory nature, with a net saving of approximately £730,000 per annum.In my written statement of 3 November 2011, Official Report, columns 40-41WS, I announced the publication of the interim response to the independent Farm Regulation Task Force. We will publish a final response in early 2012.We also aim to reduce burdens placed on farmers by environmental regulations under the Red Tape Challenge Environment Theme, on which an announcement will be made in the spring, and the Water and Marine Theme, which will be launched in February.

Secondary information