Horticultural peat: letter to Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Letter from Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, discussing the intention to ban the sale of peat in horticulture.
To: Emma Reynolds MP, Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
From: Jim Fairlie MSP, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity
Dear Emma,
I am writing in relation to our shared intention to ban the sale of peat in horticulture, and to urge you to bring forward legislation on a cross-UK basis.
As I explained when I raised this issue with UK Counterparts at the Oxford Farming Conference last week, there is significant cross-party appetite for clarity and progress on this issue, evidenced most recently during current progress of our Natural Environment Bill in the Scottish Parliament. There is a widespread desire to move away from peat in a fair, structured way, working with the industry to put a clear roadmap in place that will provide much needed guidance, clear goals and the certainty that a sector dependent on reliable growing media for successive generations of products requires.
As I set out in my letter of 11 October 2024 to your predecessor, Steve Reed MP, a collaborative cross-UK approach is desirable for several reasons. The mutual recognition requirements of the UK Internal Market Act (UK IMA) potentially hinder the ability of Scottish Government – or any devolved government or the UK Government – to put in place effective unilateral measures on this matter, requiring either an IMA exclusion to be established or temporal alignment of national provisions.
It remains my view that temporal alignment would be most efficiently and effectively achieved through the development of joint UK legislation. This would address barriers created by the UK IMA, would bring benefits in terms of fulfilling WTO obligations, and would deliver a consistent and aligned cross-UK approach that would benefit the horticulture sector which already operates across borders.
I am committed to a joint approach ensuring a level the playing field for Scottish growers and growers across other UK nations.
I was pleased to see in DEFRA’s recent Environmental Improvement Plan a commitment to legislate for a peat sales ban when parliamentary time allows. I would urge you to make good on that promise and bring forward a legislative proposal at the earliest opportunity, that – for all the reasons outlined above – covers wider GB or UK needs, noting again the potential need for some provisions to be Scotland-specific.
As our draft Climate Change Plan 2026-40 makes clear, healthy Scottish peatlands are good not just for Scotland, but for the whole UK. Our leading commitments on peatland restoration make an essential contribution to the UK’s climate targets. I was therefore disappointed by the recent reply from the UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband MP, to my Cabinet colleague Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy, Gillian Martin MSP, in relation to increased funding for peatland restoration in Scotland. As Mr Miliband notes, peatlands are a devolved matter, and we are already spending substantial sums of money on restoration in Scotland from within the Scottish budget. However, given Scotland has over two thirds of the UK’s peatlands by area, and given the scale of our targets and delivery, we are contributing disproportionately towards the UK effort. It would therefore seem reasonable to expect the UK Government to pay its fair share and specifically recognise and fund peatland restoration in Scotland. I would welcome a separate conversation on this.
However, returning to the immediate matter at hand, I look forward to meaningful discussion on a peat sales ban at the scheduled EFRA-IMG on 5 February and will again advocate a collaborative approach and collective, decisive action to bring much-needed clarity on intent and timescales to the industry. I would also welcome a clear public statement from the UK Government setting out an indicative timetable for introducing this legislation, to provide much‑needed certainty for the sector and for devolved administrations.
I am copying this letter to Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs in Wales and Andrew Muir MLA, Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland, as well as the Scottish Government Rural Affairs and Islands Committee and Ed Miliband MP, UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Yours sincerely
Jim Fairlie, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity
