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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many initial application packs for Countryside Stewardship have been sent to (a) farmers and (b) landowners in each month in each of the last five years.

Application packs are not issued all-year round. The Countryside Stewardship application window normally runs between February and May for High Tier and between February and July for Mid-Tier. Information on what month the pack was issued, and whether the requestor is a farmer or a landowner, is not held centrally.

The following number of application packs have been issued annually:-

2019: 4,006 (to date)

2018: 12,346

2017: 10,595

2016: 8,923

2015: 5,898