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 adequacy of the ability of the Rural Payment Agency to process changes to the Sustainable Farming Incentive.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) in recent years has delivered improvements to accessibility of their services, streamlined application processes and delivered improvements in the issuing of agreements and payment performance and are well placed to continue to deliver the Sustainable Farming Incentive. The RPA continues to engage with farmers, stakeholders, and Defra policy makers, to ensure the right support is provided to help farmers and rural business deliver their outcomes.