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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 50256 on Farms: Lancashire, what (a) criteria and (b) priorities his Department will use to guide the reopening of the Capital Grants in summer 2025.

The improved Environmental Land Management standalone Capital Grants scheme will introduce maximum thresholds to ensure funding goes further. This will provide better value for money and ensure funding goes on the right environmental projects.

The limits will be:

• £25,000 for items in the water quality, air quality, and natural flood management groups

• £35,000 for the group including boundary, tree and orchard items

The priorities of the Capital Grants scheme will be to focus on projects that help the environment, for example, planting hedges or improving natural flood management.