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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure an integrated approach to agricultural payment scheme timelines and application windows.

In the recently published Farming Roadmap, this Government committed to transforming how farming services are designed and delivered, bringing them together into a single, coherent service that reflects how farmers manage their land and businesses, and providing clearer information, payments and support.

Defra’s ambition over time is to move towards this more integrated, user‑centred approach to service delivery.

This will include working towards creating a new service with the ambition to bring together Defra farming services in one place, including livestock records, grants, environmental schemes, compliance information and advice, making it easier for farmers and land managers to manage responsibilities, access support and plan.