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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the length of short term Farm Business Tenancies beyond two years.

The Government recognises the benefits that longer term tenancies can provide in delivering food security and environmental goals. In the recently published Land Use Framework the Government committed to working with landowners, including members of the National Estate for Nature, to test, implement and encourage wide uptake of longer-term tenancy agreements. Industry guidance on long term tenancies was published on 16 March to support landlords, tenants and their advisers think through the main considerations involved in agreeing a long-term farm business tenancy.