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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether farmers currently on expiring Higher Level Stewardship agreements will be eligible for the new payment rates if they (a) renew and (b) transition to Environmental Land Management schemes.

Farmers whose Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement expired in 2024 and that expire in 2025 have been offered an extension to their agreement. If they accept this extension, then they will benefit from the increases in the HLS rates. An individual's payments increase will depend on the options in their agreement.

Most HLS agreements will naturally expire in 2028. We are reviewing our approach to transitioning farmers from existing agreements into new schemes. Where a farmer makes a new application, they will be entitled to the rates applicable to the scheme they choose as payment rates are set according to the scheme.