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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

1464056

	registered interest
	date	18/05/2022
	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, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing support payments and grants to farmers in England in the context of rates of agricultural inflation.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	4535
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/06/2022 answer text <p>In light of recently rising input costs and price volatility around certain agricultural commodities such as nitrogen fertiliser, the Government is planning to change the way we make payments under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in 2022. Eligible farmers will now receive their payment in two instalments - half from the end of July and the rest from December 2022. This will be a permanent change to Direct Payments that will remain for the rest of the agricultural transition. By doing this, the Government intends to inject cash into farm businesses, helping them to make business decisions sooner, with more confidence.</p><p> </p><p>This builds on the increase in revenue payment rates for the Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme to reflect the change in costs since 2013, which Defra announced in January 2022. The majority of payment rates increased, on average by around 30%, although rate changes vary from option to option. These changes affected around 30,000 agreements.</p><p> </p><p>In March 2022, Defra began rolling out the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) to recipients of the BPS. SFI will help with the costs of sowing nitrogen fixing plants and green manures in crops to substitute some fertiliser requirements for the coming season, as well as reducing the dependence on manufactured fertilisers which are impacted by the price of gas. Rising fertiliser prices highlight that we need to find alternatives and move towards more organic-based fertiliser products. SFI is designed to help farmers move to these new sustainable farming methods gradually - which will improve environmental conditions of the land, while building the long-term resilience of our food security and production.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State recently announced a range of measures in support of the current situation, such as delaying changes to the use of urea fertiliser to help farmers manage their costs and improving statutory guidance for use of slurry. Defra has also created the Fertiliser Taskforce - where Government and industry are working together to help improve market confidence and provide farmers with the information they need to make business decisions on fertiliser use.</p><p> </p><p>Towards the end of this year, farmers will be able to apply for slurry storage grants, helping them to meet the Farming Rules for Water and reducing their dependence on artificial fertilisers. This grant will contribute towards the costs of covered slurry store construction projects, helping farmers to get six months storage capacity.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is supporting investment in technology and research to further improve productivity. The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund has offered grants of up to £48m to over 4,000 applicants - enabling farmers to invest in equipment, technology and infrastructure. We have also announced a new Adding Value theme - a £30 million fund helping farmers and growers to process, diversify and add-value to their products. Furthermore, we have announced new Research Starter Projects - open to individual farming, growing or forestry businesses in England to develop feasibility studies to accelerate research and development.</p><p> </p><p>The Government continues to monitor the wider context of global supplies that can impact farm income and productivity, as well as take-up of our agri-environment and other schemes. Defra will use the findings to inform our plans throughout the agricultural transition.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 01/06/2022 08:35:40 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1284786

	registered interest
	date	08/02/2021
	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, what proportion of payments made by the Rural Payments Agency are received on time.
	tabling member constituency	West Dorset
	tabling member printed	Chris Loder
	uin	150940
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2021 answer text <p>The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has a number of schemes which provide financial support to the rural economy. The three main land schemes, which offer an annual payment, are Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), Countryside Stewardship (CS) and the Environmental Stewardship Scheme (ES).</p><p> </p><p>Famers submitting a valid claim under these schemes will normally receive a payment between 1 December and 30 June the following year.</p><p> </p><p>For 2019 we released by 30 June:</p><p>o BPS 2019 – 84,225 (99.9%) payments worth £1.79bn</p><p>o CS 2019 – 10,899 (94.2%) worth £88.46m</p><p>o ES 2019 – 12,020 (97.7%) worth £182.22m</p><p> </p><p>There are several reasons for why payments may be delayed beyond the 30 June such as ongoing discussions with claimants, the resolution of probate, or ongoing fraud investigations.</p><p> </p><p>Payments for 2020 claims began in December and are ongoing. The RPA delivered its best ever December payment performance, paying around 98% of BPS claims by the end of the year, despite the challenges caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 15/02/2021 16:19:02 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4751 label Biography information for Chris Loder

1460143

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2022
	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 plans to review the impact of reductions in Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments to farmers in the period 2021-27 on the viability of English farms in the context of rising fertiliser and other input costs.
	tabling member constituency	Shrewsbury and Atcham
	tabling member printed	Daniel Kawczynski
	uin	158898
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2022 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 28/04/2022 10:57:01 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	1566 label Biography information for Daniel Kawczynski

1204444

	registered interest
	date	16/06/2020
	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, with reference to his Department's document entitled, Farming for the Future - Policy and progress update, published in February 2020, what estimate his Department has made of the number of Direct Payments that will be subject to the 25 per cent reduction in 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	59791
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/06/2020 answer text <p>Our Farming for the Future policy statement, published in February 2020, sets out the maximum reductions that will apply to Direct Payments for 2021. This includes a maximum reduction of 25% for the portion of the payment which exceeds £150,000. Based on 2018 data, we estimate that around 1,000 farmers will fall into this category. No farmers will receive an overall reduction of 25%.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 22/06/2020 14:33:16 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1238917

	registered interest
	date	29/09/2020
	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, when he plans to publish detailed information on the Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes proposed to function as a precursor to Environmental Land Management schemes; and when he plans to launch those farming incentive schemes.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	96924
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/10/2020 answer text <p>As we phase out direct payments ahead of the full roll out of our Environmental Land Management scheme in 2024, we will offer financial assistance to help farmers prepare, and invest in ways to improve their productivity and manage the environment sustainably.</p><p> </p><p>We will set out further information on funding for the early years of the agricultural transition period, including Direct Payments, later in the year after the comprehensive spending review.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 07/10/2020 11:48:13 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1242883

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2020
	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, what support he plans to make available for farmers and land managers prior to the roll out of the Environmental Land Management scheme in 2024 to enable the delivery of environmental public goods.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	102845
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2020 answer text <p>We will continue to offer an improved and simplified Countryside Stewardship scheme until 2024. We continue to see a sustained high level of engagement with the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, and it provides a stepping stone to the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme. From next year, as well as supporting farmers through schemes including a farming resilience fund and sustainable productivity programme, we will be testing and piloting ELM. We are considering what elements of ELM we could make available as part of the transition to the full rollout of ELM in 2024, which could include incentives for sustainable farming. We are currently working up these proposals in more detail.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 21/10/2020 13:57:53 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1300417

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2021
	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, what proportion of direct payments made to farmers were (a) less than £30,000, (b) £30,000 to £50,000, (c) £50,001 to £150,000 and (d) more than £150,000 in the most recent financial year for which that information is available.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	164502
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2021 answer text <p>The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has a number of schemes providing direct payments to the rural economy. The three main land schemes, which offer an annual payment, are Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), Countryside Stewardship (CS) and the Environmental Stewardship Scheme (ES).</p><p> </p><p>For the current 2020 Scheme year the figures are below:</p><p> </p><p><strong>BPS Paid Population = 83,593</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>BPS </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion of Payments</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>a)</p></td><td><p>less than £30,000</p></td><td><p>79.8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>b)</p></td><td><p>£30,000 to £50,000</p></td><td><p>9.8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>c)</p></td><td><p>£50,001 to £150,000</p></td><td><p>9.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>d)</p></td><td><p>over £150,000</p></td><td><p>1.3%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>CS Paid Population = 12,409</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>CS </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion of Payments</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>a)</p></td><td><p>less than £30,000</p></td><td><p>95.7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>b)</p></td><td><p>£30,000 to £50,000</p></td><td><p>2.9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>c)</p></td><td><p>£50,001 to £150,000</p></td><td><p>1.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>d)</p></td><td><p>over £150,000</p></td><td><p>0.1%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>ES Paid Population = 8,300</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>ES </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion of Payments</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>a)</p></td><td><p>Less than £30,000</p></td><td><p>89.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>b)</p></td><td><p>£30,000 to £50,000</p></td><td><p>6.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>c)</p></td><td><p>£50,001 to £150,000</p></td><td><p>4.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>d)</p></td><td><p>Over £150,000</p></td><td><p>0.4%</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 11/03/2021 15:52:07 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1313958

	registered interest
	date	12/05/2021
	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, what assessment he has made of the effect of the transition away from Basic Payments Schemes on commoners and upland agricultural businesses.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	764
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2021 answer text <p>The Government published a comprehensive evidence compendium, updated in September 2019. This set out the impacts of removing Direct Payments, including analysis by sector, location in England and type of land tenure. It also provided analysis on how farm businesses, across all sectors, can offset the impact of Direct Payments.</p><p>We are planning to publish further analysis by autumn this year. This will analyse farm incomes and how these will change between now and 2027.</p><p>Our latest preliminary findings are consistent with previous analysis that is publicly available. We know that those farm types which are prevalent in the uplands and areas of common land, particularly grazing livestock and tenanted farmers, currently have a high reliance on Direct Payments.</p><p>These farms can be rewarded under our new environmental land management schemes. They are therefore well placed to benefit as more public money is provided through such schemes and we will ensure that these schemes work for upland farmers. In designing these schemes, we know that the payment rates need to be attractive to achieve the levels of uptake and environmental outcomes we need to see, as well as set at a fair rate.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 21/05/2021 13:28:51 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1329568

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2021
	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, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of lost revenue from reductions in Basic Payments Scheme payments that farmers will be able to recoup through the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	10406
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2021 answer text <p>We will soon be announcing the initial standards that we will be offering to farmers in the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme for 2022. The scheme will expand over time and evolve to deliver continued progress against our climate and environmental priorities and reflect any changes to the regulatory baseline.</p><p> </p><p>The scheme will give farmers an opportunity to secure a complementary income stream to their farm business by undertaking sustainable farming actions that benefit the wider environment.</p><p> </p><p>It will be up to individual farmers to decide which standards they take up on their farm and how much of their land they decide to put into the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, alongside other agri-environment schemes that such as Countryside Stewardship or Environmental Stewardship.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 14/06/2021 12:21:31 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner