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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of Capital Grant Applications on (a) farm productivity and (b) food security.

We have allocated the largest ever budget for sustainable food production through the farming budget. In the first week of December, we paid £343 million into the rural economy, benefiting more than 31,000 farmers. After unprecedented demand, parts of the Capital Grant have been temporarily closed. Protection and Infrastructure grants, Woodland Tree Health grants, Capital Grants plans, Woodland Management Plan and Higher Tier Capital Grants all remain open. We are reviewing the offer to ensure funding goes further to improve outcomes for food security and nature conservation and will provide an update in early 2025.