Political Engagement
At our parliamentary launch, in 2017 then Secretary of State for Defra, the Right. Hon. Michael Gove charged us with ‘holding government to account on soil health’.
We have done so ever since through an ongoing dialogue with government, relevant departments - Defra, BEIS and the Treasury, Lords and MPs and the relevant arm’s-length bodies – the Environment Agency and Natural England. We plan to expand this engagement to include the relevant bodies and individuals in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Our Champion, MP for Taunton Dean, Rebecca Pow, was a vital source of support and advice during the early days of our existence, and continues to champion the importance of soil health in her capacity as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at Defra.
Our work on government’s 2024 environmental priorities
Soils and the 2024 Budget
In light of the 2024 Budget announcement of 30th October, by the new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, the SSA has analysed the implications for the farming sector, with a focus on identifying how the Budget will impact English Soils and Soils Policy.
Included in our observations are how changes to Agricultural Property relief (APR) and Inheritance Tax may in turn affect the uptake of ELMs, and also how access to private market funding could play a role in generating investment in soils.
Briefing to MPs: Soils and Why They Matter
Following the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' announcement outlining the government’s environmental priorities shortly after the 2024 General Election, we have taken this opportunity to set out our recommendations on how soil can help the government achieve 4 of its 5 ambitions.
These recommendations are in line with the conclusions of the EFRA Soil Health Inquiry, as well as the recently-published Office for Environmental Protection’s report (of August this year) and additional reports from the Environment Agency, National Farmer’s Union, and Soil Association.
General Election 2024
Our Call to Action
With a General Election on the horizon, we have developed our Call To Action alongside UKSoils and BES which outline eight clear asks that we must be incorporated into the farming and environment policy and manifesto development of the major parties.
The Call to Action reflects the most basic steps needed to protect and improve our soils – pragmatic, proportionate and targeted to the areas where government leadership can have the greatest impact - regulations, incentives, guidance and research.
Our work on England's Environment Bill:
House of Commons Briefing Note to Support Soil Specific Amendment to the Environment Bill (Oct 2021)
We collaborated with the Soil Association and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust to urge MPs to support amendment 2 to the Environment Bill which places "soil health and quality" as one of the Bill’s priority areas for the setting of long-term environmental targets.
Summary of the Lords' Debates on Soil-Related Amendments (Oct 2021)
Two soil-related amendments were debated in the House of Lords in September and compelling points where made as to why soils should be better reflected in the Bill. We outlined why this matters and what we learnt from these debates in the following document.
Report Stage Briefing Note (Sept 2021)
We collaborated with the Soil Association and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust to lobby and brief peers to table amendments or support amendments to include the soil in the Environment Bill.
Our work with Defra on the 25 Year Environment Plan:
2019 Election Manifestos
In the run up to the 2019 election we wrote to the Conservatives, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats and Green Party to ask them to include a concrete commitment to sustainably managed soils by 2030.
Soil Health Indicators: Workshop report (Nov 2018)
Defra asked SSA to convene stakeholders and experts to examine how to develop a healthy soils indicator for the 25 YEP, the only subject-specific workshop to be requested by the department
Healthy Soils as a Headline Indicator: A Rationale (Nov 2018)
The SSA Science Panel propose ‘healthy soils’ as a headline indicator within the 25 YEP: any policy instrument that fails to recognise and prioritise soil’s pivotal role risks failing in its core objectives.
Soils in the 25 YEP: Recommendations to Defra (Oct 2018)
Following the Soil Health Indicators workshop, and at Defra’s request, we presented the department with a set of soil health indicators developed by the SSA Science Panel.
Parliamentary event on soils in the 25 Year Environment Plan (March 2018)
We convened a parliamentary event focusing on soils in the 25 Year Environment Plan. Speakers included Minister for Farming George Eustice and Zac Goldsmith MP.
Further political engagement
Working with the Defra Environmental Land Management (ELM) (Nov 2019)
We submitted a parliamentary question through our champion Rebecca Pow MP asking for further clarification on whether soil will be classified as a public good under ELM. We collaborated with NIAB and Yeo Valley on two trial proposals with soil health at the heart, and are waiting to hear if these have been accepted as part of the scheme’s pilot design phase.
Letters of support from government ministers (May 2019)
We received two letters of support from government ministers: Michael Gove, then SOS at Defra and Greg Clark, then SOS at BEIS.
Collaboration with the Environment Agency on their State of our Environment: Soil report (June 2019)
We collaborated with the Environment Agency on their recent State of our Environment: Soil report launched at the inaugural meeting of the Devon & Cornwall Soils Alliance.
Our parliamentary launch event at Portcullis House, Westminster (Oct 2017)
Our parliamentary launch event was hosted by our champion Rebecca Pow MP and featured speakers from government including then Secretary of State Michael Gove and Baroness Young of the House of Lords.