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 merits of a replacement to the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme.

Legislation was introduced in July 2023 that prevents English Producer Organisations submitting new operational programmes and the extension of existing programmes that would end on or after 1 January 2026. This effectively closed the scheme in England.

Our approach to future funding for horticulture will be considered alongside Defra’s work to simplify and rationalise agricultural grant funding, ensuring that grants deliver the most benefit for food security and nature, and we are going further to develop a 25-year farming roadmap to make the sector more profitable in the decades to come.

Horticulture will also be considered within our new food strategy, to develop a food system that unlocks the food sector’s economic potential, strengthens food security, tackles obesity so we can give our children the best start in life, and protects our planet for future generations.