Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) biodiversity, and (2) the opportunities to intensify agricultural land use where other incentives are deemed uncompetitive, in upland areas relative to lowland areas.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The uplands are nationally and internationally important for biodiversity, and have significant agricultural, landscape, archaeological, recreational, cultural and natural resource value. We recognise the unique challenges that upland farmers face. In order to ensure we are giving farmers in the uplands the right support, we are engaging with a wide range of bodies through our Uplands Task and Finish Group. The group is looking at the particular challenges in the uplands and how they can be addressed.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of biodiversity in lowland areas; the impact of previous environmental incentives on that biodiversity; and the extent to which lowland areas are vulnerable to intensification of agriculture in the absence of sufficiently competitive environmental land use payments.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
More than 50,000 farm businesses and more than half of all farmed land is now being managed in Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, including over 38,000 multi-year live SFI agreements covering 4.3 million hectares of land. This means 800,000 hectares of arable land is being farmed without insecticides, reducing harm to pollinators and improving soil health. It means 300,000 hectares of low input grassland are managed sustainably, helping to protect biodiversity and improve water quality, and it means 75,000 kilometres of hedgerows are being protected and restored, providing essential habitats for wildlife, improving carbon storage and strengthening natural flood defences.
The Government is committed to ELM schemes. Defra will be working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future SFI offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding. This future SFI offer will build on what has made SFI effective so far. Further details about the reformed SFI offer will be announced following the spending review in summer 2025.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the full details of the next round of the Sustainable Farming Incentive will be announced, and when that scheme will open to applications.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will provide further details about the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive in summer 2025.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what quantitative estimate they have made, using the data they hold on Basic Payment Scheme payments now delinked, of the amount saved by the current reductions to delinked agricultural payments between now and the end of the period to which they apply, compared to the payments originally anticipated for the same period at the introduction of delinked payments.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
When delinked payments were introduced in 2024, no decision had been made about the reductions that were to apply to these payments for years after 2024.
We estimate that the reductions to be applied to delinked payments for 2025 will lead to a further £550 million reduction in these payments compared to 2024. This money is being re-invested in full into our other schemes for farmers and land managers in England, within an overall farming budget of £2.4 billion for 2025/26.
The reductions to delinked payments for future years have not been decided yet and will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much of the savings from the reductions in delinked payments will be allocated to payments to farms participating in the new Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Reductions to delinked payments allowed this Government to unlock a record level of funding for Environmental Land Management schemes, as part of the £5 billion for farming secured over 24/25 and 25/26 financial years.
In line with its obligations under the Agriculture Act 2020, Defra regularly publishes an annual report, setting out commitments in the previous financial year. Defra intends to publish the annual report for the financial year 2024/25 later this year. The annual report for financial year 2025/26 will be published next year and will include Farming and Countryside programme spend broken down by each scheme.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific steps they are taking to enable farmers and land managers to plan long-term on the basis of clarity on the future of financial support for environmental schemes, including transitioning from existing ones.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We know farmers require stability in order to make long-term plans. We said we would provide stability for farmers and we are delivering on this commitment. We have confirmed that the first Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements of the 2024 offer are now live. We will confirm plans for rollout of schemes and our wider approach as soon as possible.
The Government is fully committed to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, which it will optimise in an orderly way, over time. We will work with the sector to make sure schemes produce the right outcomes for all farmers, including small, grassland, upland and tenanted farms, supporting food security and nature’s recovery in a just and equitable way. Spending on farming in future financial years will be confirmed as part of the Government’s spending review.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the Environmental Land Management Scheme will achieve a full financial replacement for support previously available under the now closed Basic Payment Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is supporting farmers and land managers through a range of grants and schemes beside ELM, designed to support a resilient and healthy food system that works with nature and supports British Farmers. These grants are set out on Defra’s “Funding for Farmers” webpage.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce or withdraw support to the Sustainable Farming Incentive and, if so, (1) when, and (2) by how much; and what assessment they have made of the subsequent effect on existing agreements and new applications.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is fully committed to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). Record numbers of farmers are now in an ELM scheme, and the Government wants to maintain the momentum built over recent months.
The Government will optimise ELM schemes such as the SFI in an orderly way, over time. The Government will work with the sector to make sure schemes produce the right outcomes for all farmers, including small, grassland, upland and tenanted farms, supporting food security and nature’s recovery in a just and equitable way.