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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps has she taken to consider the impact of the amount of budget assigned to SF126 on [i] levels of demand and [ii] the ability for farmers to business plan for long term environmental delivery.

Defra expected strong demand for SFI26 Window 2 and increased funding before and during the application window, bringing the budget to £253 million. The Government plans to offer SFI in 2027 and is working to bring forward the 2027 offer as early as possible. The Government is also considering lessons from SFI26, including alternatives to first-come, first-served allocation, and has committed to stabilising the main design of SFI for the duration of this Parliament.