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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his comments at the Wild Live event on 18 May 2021, how much funding previously allocated to the Basic Payment Scheme has been allocated to projects to improve public access to the countryside; and if he will publish the names of those projects.

The Agricultural Transition Plan outlined the Government's plans for farming for the length of this parliament. We have a manifesto commitment to maintain the farming budget for the duration of this parliament. Over this period, as we phase out Direct Payments, we will redirect this money into our new environmental land management schemes. Public access is one of the public goods for which Ministers will be able to provide financial assistance through our new schemes, using powers in the Agriculture Act 2020.