Sustainable Farming Incentive Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Chris Hinchliff
Main Page: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)Department Debates - View all Chris Hinchliff's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Daniel Zeichner
I am astonished by the hon. Lady’s contribution. She should be celebrating the fact that so many farmers are now farming in an environmentally sensitive way. I invite her to help us ensure that these schemes work better in future. This is actually a cause for celebration of the benefits of the environmental land management schemes.
Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire) (Lab)
I have also been contacted by concerned and impacted farmers in North East Hertfordshire. Will the Minister assure me that, for the remainder of this Parliament, the revamped SFI that he alluded to will allow farmers to plan seasons ahead, as they need to?
Daniel Zeichner
Clearly, over the past five years we have all known that this transition was happening. There was always going to be a point in the transition from basic payments to environmental land management schemes where it would be down to people applying for these schemes. I understand my hon. Friend’s concerns. I encourage farmers to apply early to these schemes. It was a first come, first served scheme before. In future, we will try to ensure that there is a better allocation process, but that is the system we inherited.