Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steff Aquarone and Daniel Zeichner

Thursday 20th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Daniel Zeichner)]

I am sure that my hon. Friend’s cats, who I am told are called Clem Cattlee and Mo Meowlam, will be delighted to hear that the Government are looking very closely at the Animal Welfare Committee’s opinion on the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices. I can assure them that we are carefully considering the committee’s recommendations.

[Steff Aquarone (North Norfolk) (LD)]

T4.   Farmers in North Norfolk are an incredible bunch who have shown resilience through tough times and are still innovating and diversifying, but there are more tough times ahead. What one thing does the Secretary of State think my farmers should be doing to secure their future in the face of so many challenges?

[Daniel Zeichner]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Looking ahead, the future can be very exciting for farming, but as the Secretary of State said, we have to establish farming as a profitable sector. We will work with the hon. Gentleman’s farmers to ensure that vision is realised.

Sustainable Farming Incentive

Debate between Steff Aquarone and Daniel Zeichner

Wednesday 12th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Zeichner]

It should have been clear to people for a long, long time that this transition was coming. It was the move away from a system based on entitlements for every farmer through the basic payment scheme to a system that relied on people applying to what was essentially a fixed budget. I agree with the hon. Lady and many other Members that the way the system was set up did not allow for proper prioritisation or fairness in allocation. That is what we would like to change in future, but it is the system that we inherited, and I am afraid that that is where we are at the moment. The House should remember that the majority are already in schemes, and to those who have not yet come forward, I gently say for the future that the advice in these kinds of schemes is that it is better to apply early rather than to wait.

[Steff Aquarone (North Norfolk) (LD)]

The sudden completion of the SFI scheme will be a worry for many farmers and local people. I am also very concerned by reports that the NFU was given only 30 minutes’ notice on such a huge change. To give my local farmers the confidence that they need, can the Minister assure them that DEFRA will learn lessons from the poor communication and lack of clarity that have plagued this and past initiatives?

[Daniel Zeichner]

Let me repeat the point: this is not about communication. If we suddenly say that a scheme with a fixed amount of money in it will close in two or three weeks, we would get a surge in applications and have to close it the same day. That is a flaw in the way the scheme was originally designed, and we want to do better in future.