Transparency data

Defra Statistical Work Programme 2026/27

Published 3 September 2026

Introduction

This publication sets out Defra’s statistical work plan for 2026/27, based on our current understanding of existing and rapidly emerging user needs.

Defra, in partnership with its agencies and arms’ length bodies, publishes a broad range of statistics and data on the environment, food, farming, marine and rural communities. 

Defra statistics are produced and published in line with the 3 principles of the Code of Practice for Statistics:

• Trustworthiness – by committing to the highest standards of integrity and transparency
• Quality – by regularly assessing our methodology and exploring opportunities to improve processes and methods
• Value – by remaining engaged with the main users and stakeholders of our Official Statistics

This annual work programme is required under practice 8.2 of the Code of Practice for Statistics.

You can contact Defra’s Statistics Head of Profession team at: StatisticsHoPdefra@defra.gov.uk.

Our statistics

Defra publishes regular and ad hoc statistics which provide accurate and impartial information across our main portfolios:

1. Environment
2. Food and Farming
3. Marine
4. Rural

We are committed to providing accurate and impartial information to inform the judgements and decisions made by the public, by organisations and by government, guided by the principles set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

A calendar of all official statistics published and planned by Defra can be found on the Statistics Release calendar. Defra also publishes a full list of statistical publications for Defra group.

Developing Defra’s statistics

User engagement

Defra engages with users of our statistics on an ongoing basis to help understand how our statistics are used and the decisions they inform. In 2025, we reviewed and updated our User Engagement Strategy, and created a “Best practice” guide for producers of statistics. Our strategy sets out how we aim to enhance our relationship with our customers and use feedback to develop and improve our statistics portfolio. During 2026/27, we will continue to embed these principles across our portfolio.

Technical developments

New approaches and tools can improve our data, processes and dissemination of statistics, helping to increase efficiency, drive up quality and adding more value and insight to the data.

In recent years, Defra has introduced Reproducible Analytical Pipelines (RAP) in several areas to improve the underlying processes that produce statistics. These statistical outputs are now produced in more robust and efficient ways. During 2026/27 we will continue to build awareness and capability for RAP within the statistical community through a range of methods including centralised communications and guidance.

In 2026/27 we will review guidance and processes that ensure the quality of our statistics, including statistical disclosure control.

We will continue to disseminate best practice and learning through our successful learning and development seminar series.

Embedding the code of practice

Since publication, we have promoted the new Code across the Department, especially to those outside the analytical community highlighting the new Standards for the Public Use of Statistics, Data and Wider Analysis.

During 2026/27 we will continue these promotion activities. Our statisticians will be encouraged to review their publications against the updated code.

Planned changes to published statistics:

Defra plans the following changes to published statistics in 2026/27:

Farming and agri-environment statistics

Publication	Details of development
Farm business survey	A new measure is being introduced into the farm household income publication which will provide a more accurate estimate of the disposable income of farm households. This will be used to assess the impact of the agricultural transition on farming families. The frequency of the machinery investment on farms publication will be reduced to every other year as the data does not vary quickly over time. Users will be consulted through events and an in-person seminar day to celebrate and promote the 90th year of the Farm Business Survey.
Farm practices survey	The survey results will be simplified to one dataset with a timeseries of high-level results and less detailed breakdowns by farm type, size and region. This is in response to user feedback that the dataset is currently too complex and a higher-level overview would add more value.
Livestock populations	From 2026 onwards, livestock publications will be published in dataset format only. Users are being consulted on the need for UK level December livestock populations.
Soil nutrient balances	The methodology will be improved to incorporate the data and models used to calculate the UKs Greenhouse gas and Ammonia inventories. A comparison will be made to the current methods to demonstrate the level of change, if any.
Bioenergy Crops in England and the UK	This publication will stop. This was a compendium publication sourced from a range of published data sources. The last publication was in February 2026.
Agri-environment scheme uptake	The new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme reopens in 2026. We will publish uptake statistics including additional geographical breakdowns following user engagement.

Food statistics

Publication	Details of development
UK Food security digest	The digest was first published in December 2025. We will review the content to reduce overlap with other publications and publish a 2026 update.

Animal health and welfare statistics

Publication	Details of development
Bovine Tb Statistics	The commentary will be reviewed to make it more accessible to a range of users. Improvements will be made to signposting of accompanying interactive dashboard. User engagement will take place on the current range of measures and possible additions.
Animal health and welfare review	An ad-hoc publication of animal health and welfare review uptake and estimates of disease prevalence in England.

Environment statistics

Publication	Details of development
Biodiversity and wildlife statistics	The UK Biodiversity Indicators provide a snapshot of the current status of biodiversity in the UK and how it’s changing. There is also a closely related suite of indicators at the England scale. We are seeking feedback from users on plans to discontinue 7 England and 10 UK biodiversity indicators from within the wider compendiums. The indicators identified are those that are based on data published elsewhere and/or identified as of lower importance based on previous user engagement feedback. We are working towards introducing a new England Biodiversity indicator aligned with the Environment Act habitat restoration/creation target to be published in Nov/Dec 2026. We are planning to make methodological improvements to statistical releases as outlined in individual development plans within each release.
Access to nature	The Access to green and blue space statistic was published as an Official Statistic in Development in March 2026. Ahead of the next publication, we will continue to engage with users, gather feedback, and work to implement our development plan.
Air quality	We will publish new metrics reporting on progress towards meeting the two targets set out in the Environmental Targets (Fine Particulate Matter) (England) Regulations 2023.
Funding for flood and coastal erosion	Improvements will be made to this publication in 2026 to improve accessibility and user needs.

Rural statistics

Publication	Details of development
Rural economic bulletin	The content will be formally subsumed into the Statistical Digest of Rural England and will not be within a separate publication.

Charges for supplementary statistical services 

Supplementary requests for statistics are handled as business as usual, for example, Freedom of Information requests. 

Feedback

We welcome feedback. Please contact Defra’s Statistics Head of Profession team at: StatisticsHoPdefra@defra.gov.uk.