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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help (a) increase biodiversity on farms and (b) ensure that farms are financially sustainable.

This Government will champion British farming. Our new deal for farmers will build a resilient and healthy food system, that works with nature and supports British farmers.

We have already delivered on our commitment to restore stability by continuing the rollout of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), whose objectives include increase of biodiversity on farms. We are optimising SFI and other farming schemes that include biodiversity objectives. This includes Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and Landscape Recovery’s Round 1, both of which support farmers in protecting and enhancing the natural environment and increasing biodiversity. We will ensure these schemes work efficiently for farmers, food security and the environment.

To support British farmers, we will also:

• Get British food exports moving again.
• Protect farmers from being undercut by low welfare and low standards in trade deals.
• Use Government purchasing power to back British produce.
• Steer private investment in rural areas including broadband rollout in our rural communities.
• Speed up the building of flood defences and natural flood management schemes, including through a new flood resilience taskforce to protect our rural homes and farms.
• Introduce a land-use framework which balances long-term food security and nature recovery.