Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what impact assessment they made before removing the Basic Payment Scheme.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Direct Payments under the Basic Payment Scheme in England were replaced with delinked payments at the beginning of 2024. Analysis of the impacts of removing Direct Payments (attached) was included in Defra’s 2019 farming evidence compendium and the 2020 Agriculture Bill Impact Assessment (attached).

Found: individual Purpose of meeting Rt Hon Mark Spencer 19/05/2020 National Farmers' Union To discuss the Agriculture Bill

Found: Olivia Bloomfield 23/04/2020 National Farmers' Union (NFU) To discuss the passage of the Agriculture Bill

Found: Environment Bill (Parliament Environment Agency Introduction 11 Environment Agency11UK, 2020a) and Agriculture Bill

Found: 31 Proposals for agricultural holdings were therefore generally consulted on as part of the Agriculture Bill

Found: The Scottish Agriculture Bill includes the “ability to amend Retained EU Law for CAP legacy schemes

Found: The responses to the consultation on the Agriculture Bill of August 2022 were fully supportive of support

Found: )(b)]; [Redacted - Section 38(1)(b)] (DLSSSG) [Redacted - Section 38(1)(b)] Subject: RE: UK Agriculture Bill

Found: It also sets out the Framework diagrams which were first published as part of the Agriculture Bill

Question

To ask the Scottish Government in what ways it (a) monitors and (b) recognises the work carried out by (i) farmers, (ii) crofters and (iii) other land managers to undertake measures to reduce their carbon output.

Answered by Fairlie, Jim - Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity

We report emissions from across the economy on an annual basis in the Section A. Introduction to Greenhouse Gases - Scottish Greenhouse Gas Statistics 2022 - gov.scot. The contribution of farmers, crofters and land managers to reduce emissions and sequester carbon are reflected in the statistics for agriculture and land use, land use change and forestry.

We also complete annual statutory monitoring of the Climate Change Plan update (CCPu) Climate change monitoring report 2023 - gov.scot which outlines progress against our policies and proposals for Scottish agriculture and land use, land use change and forestry sectors contributions to our climate targets.

Our Vision for Agriculture makes clear Scotland will have a robust and coherent framework to underpin our future agricultural support regime from 2025 onwards, that delivers climate mitigation and adaptation, nature restoration and high-quality food production. I fully recognise that many farmers, crofters and land managers undertake low carbon farming practices. We provide financial support as well as guidance and advice for farmers, crofters and land managers to help reduce their emissions through initiatives like the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme and the Farm Advisory Service.

We will continue to support farmers and crofters on their sustainability journey. Importantly, we will maintain direct payments to support active farming and food production while introducing conditions from 2025 aimed at outcomes for biodiversity gain and climate mitigation and adaption. From 2026 powers from the new Agriculture Bill will be used to launch the new Enhanced Payment.

Found: Another recommended action was to include trees in the UK Agriculture Bill to increase productive forestry

Found: developments affecting sector skills, the impact on policy and legislation (for example the new Agriculture Bill

Found: a respondent raising this theme: ‘[The organisation has] argued (most recently during the Agriculture Bill

Found: I will introduce an Agriculture Bill to the Senedd later this year which will establish Sustainable

Found: Owen (Deputy Director, Land Management Reform – Welsh Government) gave a presentation on the Agriculture Bill

Found: Sustainable Farming Scheme In June, Senedd Members voted in favour of the first made-in-Wales Agriculture Bill

Found: Sustainable Farming Scheme – In June, Senedd Members voted in favour of the first made-in-Wales Agriculture Bill

Found: This confirmed the Welsh Government would introduce an Agriculture Bill to the Senedd to establish

Found: Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd will take this meeting in view of her responsibility for the Agriculture Bill

Found: Please could I reiterate the importance of urgently rescheduling this meeting, with the Welsh Agriculture Bill

Found: Officials have worked with legal services and OLC and snare provisions for inclusion in the Agriculture Bill

Found: Officials have worked with legal services and OLC and snare provisions for inclusion in the Agriculture Bill

Found: Of ficials have worked with legal services and OLC and snare provisions for inclusion in the Agriculture Bill

Found: Agriculture Bill At the Ministers request, officials have included proposals for inclusion in the

Found: My intention is it should be contained in the Agriculture Bill which the Welsh Government will bring

Found: Officials originally intended to introduce the legislative provisions through the Agriculture Bill being

Found: and Small farms, Welsh Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2018) Agriculture Bill

Found: These actions embody the Sustainable Land Management objectives in the first ever made-in-Wales Agriculture Bill

Found: Background Agriculture Wales Bill This Bill is the first ever Agriculture Bill for Wales.

Found: First Wales Agriculture Bill gets the go-ahead

Found: additions to the definition of agriculture within the Order to mirror the definition within the Agriculture Bill

Found: Historic Wales Agriculture Bill final stage to be voted on

Found: The expiry of Schedule 5 of the UK Agriculture Bill in December 2024 means that without including equivalent

Found: Legislation We will introduce an Agriculture Bill in the first year of the Senedd.

Found: These should be included in the applications and are set out in the draft agriculture bill and listed

Found: / /www.gov.wales/healthy-weight-strategy-healthy-weight-healthy-wales48 Climate & Nature The Agriculture Bill

Found: The Agriculture Bill (2022), establishes Sustainable Land Management as the legislative framework for

Found: We are supporting farmers to do this through the Agriculture Bill (2022) and the Sustainable Farming

Found: this 16 Coastal adaptation • Lack of mechanisms to enable land-use change (links to Agriculture Bill

Found: I will introduce the Agriculture Bill later this year and this will set Sustainable Land Management

Found: meeting you again in October (as requested in our recent letter) to discuss the Scheme and the Agriculture Bill

Found: The Agriculture Bill and proposals for the Sustainable Farming Scheme show strong intent, and ensuring

Found: that pollute our environment and threaten birds, plants and wildlife.A proposed first-timeWelsh Agriculture Bill

Found: The Welsh Government has recently introduced an Agriculture Bill which establishes Sustainable Land

Found: Historic first Welsh Agriculture Bill to support farmers into the future

Found: sustainable food production and rewarding farmers who take action to protect the environment Agriculture Bill

Question

What action is the Welsh Government taking to support a just transition to net zero?

Answered by Minister for Climate Change

Actions in support of a just transition to Net Zero are those which deliver decarbonisation at the same time as making our society fairer, avoiding the risks of widening inequalities. We believe this principle has to guide all actions we take in delivering Net Zero.

Actions we have taken in pursuit of a just transition include the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Bill, the Agriculture Bill, the creation of a public sector energy developer, our Warm Homes programme and the Net Zero Skills plan. These are all examples of policies which aim to both deliver decarbonisation and social justice.

To strengthen our approach to just transition we published a call for evidence at the end of 2022. I will be publishing a summary report to the Call in September 2023, which will be used alongside additional ongoing research, to support the development of Welsh Government’s overarching approach to supporting a just transition.

Many of the most powerful levers to deliver a just transition, such as powers over welfare and trade, sit with the UK Government. We call on the UK Government to develop its own Just Transition policy to ensure the powers at its disposal are deployed effectively.

Question

Will national minimum standards be part of the Agriculture Bill or the sustainable farming scheme implementation?

Answered by Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd

National Minimum Standards (NMS) for agriculture already exist across numerous items of Regulations providing the regulatory baseline. Work is underway to identify necessary amendments and any additional primary powers required to ensure the effective management of NMS into the future. Although these proposals will not form part of the Agricultural Bill, it remains the intention for NMS to underpin the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme when introduced.

Question

What efforts and communications has the Minister made to ensure that World School Milk Day on 28 September will be used to utilise and promote local producers across Wales?

Answered by Minister for Education and the Welsh Language

World School Milk Day provides an opportunity to celebrate the important work dairy farmers undertake each and every day to ensure nutritious milk is provided not just to our school children but to every citizen across Wales.

The Welsh Government’s social media channel has raised awareness of this day, and our support for the industry as a whole.

The dairy sector is an important growth area for the Welsh food and drink industry. The Welsh Government is committed to a sustainable, vibrant and successful agricultural sector and food chain which helps to underpin the wider rural economy.

Milk contains a number of useful nutrients that contribute positively to the diets of children and young people. It is a recommended drink in schools under the Healthy Eating in Schools Regulations 2013, and milk drinks and products are one of the four food groups included in the Free Breakfast in Primary Schools Initiative.

As part of the roll-out of Universal Primary Free School Meals, we will be working with partners to increase the supply of Welsh food and drink products featured within school meals. This will help support local food producers including dairy farmers, as well as shorten supply chains, reduce carbon emissions, and strengthen the Foundational Economy.

In addition, we recently published Wales’ first ever Agriculture Bill which recognises the complementary objectives of supporting farmers in the sustainable production of food and drink alongside taking action to respond to the climate and nature emergencies, contributing to thriving rural communities and keeping farmers on the land.

Found: farming sector in Wales; ƒ Designing agricultural policies: contextual considerations; and ƒ UK Agriculture Bill

Found: production ................................................................................. 7 Agriculture Bill

Found: The Plan says: The new Agriculture Bill will be the biggest policy change the agriculture sector has