The best agricultural land should be prioritised for food
production – Energy Security Secretary told Parliament today
(Wednesday 15 May).
As the Prime Minister set out earlier this week, in the face of
heightened global instability, the government is taking steps to
strengthen food security as part of the UK's national resilience.
That includes protecting ‘Best and Most Versatile' (BMV) land, ensuring large solar
projects avoid this higher quality land where possible. Instead,
they should be developed on brownfield land, contaminated land,
industrial land, and lower quality agricultural land so as not to
compromise the UK's food security.
Solar power will continue to play an important role in delivering
cleaner, cheaper and more secure energy – with a more than 4-fold
increase in solar deployment expected by 2035, up to 70GW.
To reach that goal, the Energy Security Secretary has reinforced
the weight of planning policy and the need for solar to be
delivered in a sensible way – ensuring developers and planning
authorities consider the cumulative impact solar projects can
have on local communities, especially where they are facing a
high volume of applications.
She also announced plans to expand the Renewable Energy Planning
Database to include up-to-date data on the type of land used
by existing and planned solar projects, allowing government to
track use of high-quality agricultural land more easily. Entries
will then provide robust information that can be considered as
part of the planning process.
Energy Security Secretary said:
As the Prime Minister set out this week, rising threats around
the world mean we must have a renewed emphasis on our security.
That means protecting our food security whilst also delivering
the cheap energy we need.
We are taking further steps today to make sure we can get that
balance right. I want to see more solar on rooftops and where
that's not possible, for agricultural land to be protected; and
for the cumulative impact on local villages to be considered
where they are facing a high number of solar farm
applications.
We will make sure we reach our solar targets in a sensible
way that delivers clean, cheaper energy but does not compromise
our food security.
Agricultural Land Classification Soil Surveys are currently
carried out by soil consultants on behalf of developers, although
the format of these can vary across projects and there isn't a
specific accredited body in place to oversee this process. To
ensure there is greater consistency and certain standards are
always met in these surveys, the government is exploring options
to introduce an independent certification scheme. This should
ensure that data is recorded and presented in a more consistent
and objective way – helping government more closely monitor how
agricultural land is being classified.
The government is taking pressure off the countryside and away
from the country's best agricultural land by making it easier to
deploy rooftop solar. Recent changes to permitted development
rights will cut red tape and make it easier and cheaper to put
solar panels on the rooftops of commercial buildings - including
on farm buildings, warehouses, factories and carparks.
Earlier this year, the government also launched the second round of the
Improving Farm Productivity grant, making between £15-25
million available to farmers for the installation of rooftop
solar and other equipment to help farms reduce fossil fuel use
and improve their energy resilience.
Solar remains a British success story with around 16GW deployed
across the UK – 99% of which was installed since 2010. As of
December 2023, over 1.2 million homes have solar PV installed.
According to government data, there were more than 160,000
domestic installations in 2023, the most in a calendar year since
2015.
The government has also made it cheaper for solar panels to be
installed on homes and charitable buildings, which currently
benefit from a zero rate of VAT until March 2027.
Further plans to roll out more solar across social housing and
the public sector will be set out in the upcoming Solar Roadmap –
helping more schools, colleges, hospitals, and other buildings
supply themselves with clean and cheap solar power:
