Sustainable Farming Incentive

Debate between Julian Lewis and Daniel Zeichner

Wednesday 12th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Zeichner]

The hon. Lady raises an important set of points. We now have 75,000 km of hedgerow within these schemes. The basic point is that we have a fixed budget and, just as with the capital grants, when they are spent, they are spent. Another set of grants will be available, and I invite her constituents to apply at that point. We cannot get away from the fact that there is not an endless supply of money. We have to work within the budgets.

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I understand the Minister’s point that it has been known all along that at some point the fixed budget would be exhausted. A simple question for him: on which day were Ministers first informed that that budget had been exhausted?

[Daniel Zeichner]

We made the decision yesterday because we reached that point.

Budget: Implications for Farming Communities

Debate between Julian Lewis and Daniel Zeichner

Monday 4th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Zeichner]

The hon. Member asks what we did. What we did was look at the farming budget and ensure that we protected it, to allow his constituents and constituents across the country to take part in the schemes that will support them in that important transition.

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

How does the Minister reconcile his sensible acceptance of the fact that food security is vital to national security with farmland being split up and sold off, probably for development, as a result of the Budget changes?

[Daniel Zeichner]

The right hon. Gentleman has raised an important point. We will be addressing it through the land use framework, which will be delivered in the next couple of months. Of course there are trade-offs. There are a range of pressures on our land, in respect of housing, food, energy and so many other things. We need to have a rational way of making those decisions, and that is exactly what we will introduce.