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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the Rural Payments Agency’s performance in delivering Higher Tier and other payments in early December in line with past expectations.

The 2025 payment window opened on 1 December, and by mid-December around three quarters of eligible farmers had already received their Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship payments. The Agency continues to work hard improving payment performance and to deliver all remaining eligible Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship payments as quickly as possible.