Asked by: Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data her Department holds on the proportion of land covered in applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive in the last 12 months which is focused on uses other than food production.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the last 12 months, data shows that the proportion of land covered in applications to Sustainable Farming Incentive which is focused on uses other than food production is 3.4%. This is regardless of the status of the application.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to provide financial assistance to farmers in debt.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The recent ‘Balance Sheet Analysis’ publication highlights that average liquidity in the sector has been consistently improving over the latest five years of data and reached a ten-year high in the latest year of data (2022/23). This suggests that levels of debt in the farming sector are lower than average.
We support farmers in a range of ways to ensure they have profitable and sustainable businesses. This includes free business advice as well as access to a wide range of Government funding to improve business resilience, productivity and environmental performance.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many applications were (a) made and (b) rejected to access funding under schemes within the flood recovery framework in the last two years; what total amount was that has been paid out through the flood recovery framework; and how many and what proportion of applicants received the maximum pay out of £25,000 under the flood recovery framework.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
In the last two years the Flood Recovery Framework has been activated twice – following Storm Babet in October 2023 and Storm Henk in January 2024. The decision to accept or reject applications for flood recovery funding is made by local authorities who are responsible for administrating all schemes, apart from the Farming Recovery Fund. To date, eligible local authorities have made payments of over £7.8 million to 8,510 impacted households and businesses. We expect this figure to rise substantially as further payments are made over the next 18 months.
With regards to the specific question on the £25,000 available under the Farming Recovery Fund scheme. DEFRA have only opened this once within the last two years on 9 April 2024 to provide farmers support to recover from uninsurable damage. The scheme provides grants of between £500 and £25,000 to return land to the condition it was before exceptional flooding of Storm Henk. The fund was initially opened in nine English local authority areas, however, DEFRA committed actively to review the areas to be included in the fund. Those farmers who were initially identified as eligible farmers have been contacted directly by Rural Payments Agency. DEFRA will be contacting all eligible farmers following completion of our review.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of appointing a Commissioner for the tenant farming sector.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is currently considering next steps following analysis of a Call for Evidence that it undertook with selected industry organisations and discussions with the Farm Tenancy Forum on the role of a Commissioner. We are committed to supporting the tenanted sector and continue to put their needs and voices at the heart of our decisions.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his expected timetable is for reviewing the use of cages for laying hens.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have delivered an ambitious legislative programme since the publication of the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, which will deliver significant improvements for animals in the UK and abroad. We are firmly committed to maintaining our strong track record on animal welfare and to delivering continued improvements, both in the course of this Parliament and beyond.
Mindful of the challenges facing the sector, we are not consulting on cage reforms. The market is already driving the move away from using cages for laying hen production. Egg producers and consumers should rightly have pride in the quality of British eggs, with about 75% coming from free range, barn and organic production systems.
We continue to work with the farming industry to maintain and enhance our high standards of animal welfare. The Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, part of our domestic agricultural policy, supports farmers to produce healthier, higher welfare animals. The Government’s welfare priorities for the Pathway include supporting producers to transition away from confinement systems.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that financing is available to farmers who wish to invest in sustainable energy projects.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Farming Investment Fund has supported renewable energy projects through its grants for rooftop solar. In our recent Improving Farm Productivity grant, farmers and horticultural businesses in England were able to apply for capital grants towards solar equipment to increase energy resilience and the take-up of renewable energy generation on their farms. Grants of between £15,000 and £100,000 were available at an intervention rate of 25%. This scheme has now closed for new applications. We will continue to consider how to support farmers to invest in renewable energy projects in the future.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 his Department's spending on agricultural payment schemes in the financial year 2022-2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In September 2023, the Farming and Countryside Programme (FCP) published an annual report for financial year 2022 to 2023. This set out that the FCP spent a total of £2.230 billion on our existing, and new farming schemes.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure effective implementation of the Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice (the Code) was published following full endorsement by all organisations represented in the joint Government and industry Farm Tenancy Forum (the Forum) across the industry, including in farming media. Forum members are proactively embedding the Code within their organisations, as well as advising on other industry organisations’ uptake of the Code. The Forum Chair has written to land agents to establish their proposals for embedding the Code. Defra is working closely with the Forum to assess the response to the Code and its effectiveness.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the accessibility of Universal Credit support for people working in the farming sector.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit is a 24 hour, seven days a week, digital service that allows customers to manage their own data and account online at a time which is convenient for them. Where a meeting is required, Work Coaches are able to offer multiple appointment channels, including digital, to minimise disruption to business, and ensure any meetings are as convenient as possible.
We are working with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) to ensure a smooth transition from Tax Credits to Universal Credit, as well as providing Transitional Protection when applicable.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the new Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship actions can be added to areas already in the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement, particularly in upland areas where the HLS agreement has a linked Upland Entry Level Stewardship agreement.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We plan to roll out the new combined Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship offer during 2024, with applications opening from the summer. We will publish more information about this, and how farmers will be able to apply, ahead of applications opening. This will include setting out how farmers with existing Higher Level Stewardship, Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements will be able to access the new offer.