Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1524098

	registered interest
	date	19/10/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department spent in total on direct payments broken down by payments (a) under £30,000, (b) £30,000-£50,000, (c) £50,000-£150,000 and (iv) more than £150,000 in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	67056
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/11/2022 answer text <p>The table below sets out the number of Direct Payments made over the last five full scheme years.</p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Grouping</strong></p></td><td colspan="5"><p><strong>Scheme Year</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2021</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Under £30K</p></td><td><p>68,518</p></td><td><p>67,328</p></td><td><p>67,158</p></td><td><p>67,089</p></td><td><p>68,401</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£30K - £50K</p></td><td><p>8,241</p></td><td><p>8,218</p></td><td><p>8,250</p></td><td><p>8,197</p></td><td><p>8,182</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£50K - £150K</p></td><td><p>7,341</p></td><td><p>7,445</p></td><td><p>7,499</p></td><td><p>7,690</p></td><td><p>6,977</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than £150K</p></td><td><p>1,038</p></td><td><p>1,055</p></td><td><p>1,090</p></td><td><p>1,133</p></td><td><p>743</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>85,138</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>84,046</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>83,997</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>84,109</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>84,303</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 08/11/2022 15:38:15 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1520146

	registered interest
	date	10/10/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to replace the single farm payment.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Boycott
	uin	HL2395
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2022 answer text <p>We intend to phase out untargeted Direct Payments in England by the end of 2027.</p><p> </p><p>We are making a range of offers available to suit all farm types. Everything we are offering contributes to our 3 goals: supporting viable businesses; maintaining food production at its current level; and achieving animal health, welfare and climate outcomes.</p><p> </p><p>We are offering a range of environmental land management schemes. In addition, we are offering other schemes and grants to help achieve our 3 goals. We launched funding for equipment, technology, and infrastructure that improves farm productivity and benefits the environment through the Farming Investment Fund.</p><p> </p><p>Through the Farming Innovation Programme, we intend to unlock further innovation within the farming sector and contribute towards growth by supporting the development and adoption of new innovation by farmers and growers to ensure it can make a real difference.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 26/10/2022 15:38:05 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
	tabling member	4704 label Biography information for Baroness Boycott

1489050

	registered interest
	date	13/07/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of farm businesses in England have received the advance payment of their Basic Payment Scheme from the Rural Payments Agency.
	tabling member printed	The Earl of Leicester
	uin	HL1738
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/08/2022 answer text <p>As of 22 July 2022, 42.74% of farm businesses have been issued with Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) advance payments. This equates to a total value of £54.7M released in advance BPS funding.</p><p> </p><p>The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is forecasting to have paid over 60,000 farmers (approx. 73%) by the end of the month. By the end of the second week of August, they expect to have paid 82,000 farmers who are eligible to receive a payment at this time. Prior to the payment run, RPA undertook preliminary checks to ensure the agreed funds were ready for release on schedule. There will inevitably be a small number of farmers who cannot be paid, for reasons such as: low claim value (under £1k); outstanding probate; and absence of bank details. RPA made efforts to contact all customers ahead of time where bank details were not held, in order to minimise the number of farmers whose payments could not be made. RPA will write to all farmers they believe are unlikely to receive their payment by the end of August.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon grouped question UIN HL1739 question first answered 01/08/2022 12:03:03 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
	tabling member	4919 label Biography information for The Earl of Leicester

1489051

	registered interest
	date	13/07/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money they have paid out to farm businesses in England in advanced payment of the Basic Payment scheme.
	tabling member printed	The Earl of Leicester
	uin	HL1739
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/08/2022 answer text <p>As of 22 July 2022, 42.74% of farm businesses have been issued with Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) advance payments. This equates to a total value of £54.7M released in advance BPS funding.</p><p> </p><p>The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is forecasting to have paid over 60,000 farmers (approx. 73%) by the end of the month. By the end of the second week of August, they expect to have paid 82,000 farmers who are eligible to receive a payment at this time. Prior to the payment run, RPA undertook preliminary checks to ensure the agreed funds were ready for release on schedule. There will inevitably be a small number of farmers who cannot be paid, for reasons such as: low claim value (under £1k); outstanding probate; and absence of bank details. RPA made efforts to contact all customers ahead of time where bank details were not held, in order to minimise the number of farmers whose payments could not be made. RPA will write to all farmers they believe are unlikely to receive their payment by the end of August.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon grouped question UIN HL1738 question first answered 01/08/2022 12:03:03 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
	tabling member	4919 label Biography information for The Earl of Leicester

1484767

	registered interest
	date	29/06/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 26 April to question 9907, what estimate he has made of the value of payments in excess (a) £100,000 (b) £200,000 (c) £250,000 (d) £500,000 in Basic Payments in (i) 2022, (ii) 2023, (iii) 2024, (iv) 2025, (v) 2026 and (vi) 2027.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	27633
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2022 answer text <p>We have estimated the value of payments based on 2021 but have adjusted by an additional 15% Progressive reduction each year.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>2022</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2023</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2024</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>between £100,000 and £200,000</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£148,141,196</p></td><td><p>£91,463,336</p></td><td><p>£49,116,903</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>between £200,000 and £250,000</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£23,729,115</p></td><td><p>£14,170,641</p></td><td><p>£6,210,273</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>between £250,000 and £500,000</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£31,611,515</p></td><td><p>£16,378,597</p></td><td><p>£11,097,775</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>greater than £500,000</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£18,686,508</p></td><td><p>£13,096,347</p></td><td><p>£5,456,333</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>These estimates take account of the progressive reductions that we intend to apply to the payments, as announced in our Agricultural Transition Plan in 2020.</p><p> </p><p>We have not provided estimates for years 2025 to 2027 as the Government has not yet announced the progressive reductions which will be applied to Direct Payments in those years as we continue to phase the payments out.</p><p> </p><p>Money saved by Direct Payment reductions will be directly re-invested into English agriculture through our new schemes. These include our new environmental land management schemes as well as grants to enable farmers to invest in equipment, technology, and infrastructure. These will improve efficiency and productivity while also benefiting the climate and environment.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 05/07/2022 15:02:32 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1473084

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of direct payments made to farmers were (a) less than £30,000, (b) £30,001 to £50,000, (c) £50,001 to £150,000 and (d) more than £150,000 in the most recent financial year for which information is available.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	24606
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2022 answer text <p>This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.</p><p> </p><p>Direct payments in England are made to farmers through the Basic Payment Scheme, which is administered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). The scheme runs on the calendar year, but the figures provided cover all payments released by RPA in the 2021/22 financial year, irrespective of which scheme year they relate to.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Grouping (£)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>21-22 Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>% Proportion by Volume</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£0&gt;=£30,000</p></td><td><p>68,482</p></td><td><p>81.15%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£30,001&gt;=£50,000</p></td><td><p>8,186</p></td><td><p>9.70%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£50,001&gt;=£150,000</p></td><td><p>6,971</p></td><td><p>8.26%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>&gt;£150,000</p></td><td><p>746</p></td><td><p>0.88%</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 01/07/2022 13:42:57 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1473086

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department paid to farmers in (a) direct payments, (b) Countryside Stewardship funding, (c) Environmental Stewardship Scheme funding, (d) other payments and (e) in total in the financial years (i) 2020-21 and (ii) 2021-22.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	24607
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2022 answer text <p>This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.</p><p> </p><p>Direct payments in England are made through the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). Payments under BPS, as well as Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship, are based on the calendar year. The figures provided relate to payments released within the specified financial years irrespective of the scheme year to which individual payments are related. They only cover payments that are provided to farmers by the Rural Payment Agency.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Total Funding</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020-21 Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2021-22 Financial Year</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Direct Payments (BPS)</p></td><td><p>£1,832,933,680</p></td><td><p>£1,649,698,145</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Countryside Stewardship</p></td><td><p>£190,633,860</p></td><td><p>£275,940,285</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Environmental Stewardship</p></td><td><p>£148,607,064</p></td><td><p>£151,436,091</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Other Payments</p></td><td><p>£75,390,708</p></td><td><p>£75,406,300</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>£2,247,565,312</p></td><td><p>£2,152,480,821</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>We will present and publish a retrospective view of the financial assistance provided through all of our schemes under the Agriculture Act 2020 by 1 October each year, covering the previous financial year as required under the Agriculture Act 2020. We have committed that the total level of investment will be at around £2.4bn a year across the parliament.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 12/07/2022 08:24:57 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1469893

	registered interest
	date	13/06/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has removed the requirement to be an active farmer to claim funding from the Basic Payment Scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
	tabling member printed	Tim Farron
	uin	16905
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2022 answer text <p>You must be a farmer to claim under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and must have land ‘at your disposal’. This means, for example, that where land is let under a Farm Business Tenancy, it is the tenant and not the landlord who can use that land to claim BPS.</p><p> </p><p>Previously the BPS rules included an active farmer test. We removed this in 2018 because it was ineffective and created unnecessary confusion for farmers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 21/06/2022 15:05:33 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

1467422

	registered interest
	date	01/06/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to increase the level of support to British farmers to grow food crops in the context of the global food security situation.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	11633
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2022 answer text <p>This Government will maintain the total investment in the farming sector throughout this parliament. In England, the budget of £2.4 billion per year is being re-purposed in a way that will support farmer’s resilience and food security for years to come.</p><p> </p><p>By gradually phasing out the untargeted Basic Payments of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, and replacing them with a flexible range of targeted grants and ongoing payments for farmers, we are increasing the level of support available for delivering on the priorities of farm productivity, environment, climate and animal health and welfare. All the money coming out of Basic Payment Scheme will go back into the sector each year, there will be no gap in investment.</p><p> </p><p>We are not fixing allocations of ring-fenced money for schemes, as happened under the EU, but will learn and respond to demand and developments from the sector – keeping the spread of investment under review over time.</p><p> </p><p>We have already seen uptake and enthusiasm from farmers in certain areas and have been able to adapt flexibly to this demand. For example, the budget for the new Farming Equipment and Technology fund was increased to account for high demand. As a result, more than 4,000 farmers can invest in new equipment and technology, supporting and improving domestic food production.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has recently released further information on the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) - designed to help farmers move to new alternative sustainable farming methods gradually, improving environmental conditions of the land, whilst building the long-term resilience of our food security and production.</p><p> </p><p>The SFI is one of three new schemes under Environmental Land Management which will maintain productive land, delivering for both farmers and the environment.</p><p> </p><p>Our schemes will ensure our long-term food security by investing in the foundations of food production: healthy soil; water; and biodiverse ecosystems.</p><p> </p><p>The Government continues to monitor the wider context of global supplies that we know can impact farm income and productivity, as well as food security. The Secretary of State recently announced several other measures to support our farmers in the current uncertainty, notably regarding the use of urea fertiliser - helping farmers manage their costs better, as well as improving the statutory guidance for the use of slurry.</p><p> </p><p>I recently launched and chaired the first session of a new industry fertiliser roundtable, aiming to work through issues regarding slurry to develop our understanding of current pressures on farmers and identify solutions. The Fertiliser Taskforce is just one example of where the Government is working with closely with industry to improve market confidence - providing farmers with the information needed to make business decisions, in these challenging times.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 20/06/2022 08:22:54 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

1466384

	registered interest
	date	26/05/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Agriculture: Subsidies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, where the funds removed from the basic payment scheme in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022 were reallocated.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	9903
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2022 answer text <p>Defra reports expenditure under agricultural support schemes by financial year rather than calendar year.</p><p> </p><p>The Department, as required by section 5 of chapter 1 of the Agriculture Act 2020, will prepare an annual report about the financial assistance given during each financial year, starting with financial year 2021-22. The first report will be laid before Parliament and published before 1 October 2022. It will contain details of where funds freed up from BPS have been spent.</p><p> </p><p>We will have the same requirement in 2022-23, where the reduction in basic payments will enable the launch of the Sustainable Farming Incentive in June 2022, an increase of Countryside Stewardship payment rates and a rise in demand for the scheme from farmers, and the continued rollout of other schemes to improve prosperity and reward environmental delivery including forthcoming grants for slurry stores.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 06/06/2022 15:44:57 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner