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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing compensation for farming businesses impacted by the recent period of prolonged and increased rainfall.

The Farming Recovery Fund is a contribution towards uninsured costs that have likely been incurred in re-establishing productive, farmable land in areas significantly damaged by water, caused by flooding from Storms Babet and Henk or exceptional rainfall during October 2023 to March 2024.

To date all eligible farmers identified in the original Farming Recovery Fund announced in April 2024 have been offered the payment in line with the published criteria. In May, Defra announced a further expansion to the fund and further information on that will be available soon.