To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the effect on farmers in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency of the costs associated with meeting the slurry storage requirements under the proposals for nitrate vulnerable zones. (176735)

The regulatory impact assessment (RIA)¹, which was circulated with the consultation document on the implementation of the Nitrates Directive in England, provides details of my Department’s assessment of the potential cost to farmers of the proposed measures under the revised Action Programme options. The RIA includes an assessment of costs associated with meeting the slurry storage requirements.

I am currently considering the consultation responses received.

¹ Available via http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/waterpollution-nitrates/partialria-nitrates.pdf