Farmers: Finance

(asked on 21st May 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the cost of the proposed lump sum exit scheme and delinked payments for farmers.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 1st June 2021

We know that some farmers who wish to retire or leave the industry can find it difficult to do so and lack of finance can be one of the barriers to exit. We think that a lump sum exit scheme could help such farmers leave the industry in a planned way. By freeing up land, the scheme will also open up opportunities for new entrants and expanding farmers.

We believe that the proposed lump sum exit scheme will offer good value for the taxpayer. The lump sum will be in place of the Direct Payments farmers could otherwise have received between 2022 to 2027, as we transition to our new farming system outside the Common Agricultural Policy.

This means that the scheme will not increase overall spending on farming. It will not affect the money available for other schemes.

To ensure value for money for the taxpayer, we have proposed a payment cap that will make sure farmers do not receive a lump sum which is higher in value than the amount they could have otherwise received in Direct Payments for 2022 to 2027.

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