Written question asked by Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative) on Thursday, 12 February 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 February 2026. It was answered by Ian Murray (Labour) on Friday, 27 February 2026 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Thatched Roofing
- Question
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2026 to question 111279 on Thatched Roofing, what steps is she taking to increase the number of thatching-straw growers in the UK.
- Answer
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Agricultural policy is the responsibility of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Government has allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament, investing more than £2.7 billion a year in farming and nature recovery. This includes the Government's Paludiculture Exploration Fund, which has been exploring opportunities to support multi-functional crops on rewetted lowland peatlands. One of the twelve trials, the Broads Authority's "FibreBroads", funded a series of workstreams including fibre products for building materials such as reed for thatch, as well as fibreboards and acoustic panels from other wetland crops.
DCMS supports thatching-straw growers through the work of Historic England, Government statutory advisors on the historic environment and arms length body of DCMS. Historic England is hosting a thatching-straw growers’ workshop on 11 March 2026, in Marlborough Wiltshire. The event is aimed at thatch straw growers, and will be a unique opportunity for them to meet one another, share knowledge, and hear updates from Historic England on the work being done to support the production of thatching straw. If you wish to find out more about the event and related issues you can contact the National Specialist Services Team at Historic England on nationalspecialistservices@historicengland.org.uk.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 113332
- Session
- 2024-26
- Related items
- Grouped for answer
- Yes
- Subjects
- Agriculture Materials Thatched roofing
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2026-02-27 14:44:32 +0000
- URI
- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2024-26/113332
- In Indexing
- http://indexing.parliament.uk/Content/Edit/1?uri=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2024-26/113332
- In Solr
- https://search.parliament.uk/claw/solr/?id=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2024-26/113332