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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of Environmental Land Management payment rates.

When we set payment rates, we aim to make them fair and attractive to farmers while delivering value for public money. We will regularly review actions and payment rates over time to make sure that they work for farmers and land managers and are delivering the intended outcomes to contribute to the government’s environment, climate and food production goals. Many of the actions we will pay for through the ELM schemes will help farmers and land managers reduce their costs, improve their efficiency and improve the natural environment. We recently reviewed the payment rates for both Countryside Stewardship revenue options and capital items and they have been updated.