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 her Department has made of the adequacy of the Environmental Land Management payment scheme in supporting farmers with a clear roadmap to 2030.

This Government has committed a record £11.8 billion allocation to deliver sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. This includes increasing spend on nature-friendly farming including Environmental Land Management schemes to £2 billion by 28/29. As a result of the Government’s determination to get more farmers to participate, there are now 50,000 farm businesses and half of all farmed land now managed under our schemes – with more money being spent through these schemes than at any point.

We are now working with farmers, farming and environmental organisations to develop the Farming Roadmap, which will set the course of farming in England for the next 25 years. It will set out how farming will, must and can evolve in response to changing markets, technologies, and environmental pressures - and how government will support that transition.We are committed to an ongoing process of iterating and maturing the Roadmap as we learn from farmers what they need to succeed.