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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that farmers have certainty when planning participation in future SFI schemes.

The Government plans to offer SFI in 2027, in keeping with the Farming Roadmap 2050. Defra is working to bring forward the 2027 offer as early as possible and will publish details once scheme design and delivery planning have been completed. Ministers have committed to stabilising the main design of SFI for the duration of this Parliament. The Government is also considering lessons from SFI26, including alternatives to first-come, first-served allocation, to support fairness, accessibility and deliverability.