Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the SB6 Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier grant for rhododendron control.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed to reviewing all actions in Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive, on a phased basis over time. As part of the reviews, we will take into account comments from farmers and stakeholders and ensure guidance is appropriate.
Rhododendron ponticum is one of the most damaging invasive plants in the UK; it prevents woodland regeneration and destroys the natural understorey which has consequent impacts on birds and invertebrates. In addition to the existing SB6 capital item, we will be introducing a revenue item later this year to support continued control of rhododendron once initial control has been undertaken.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of his Department's guidance on hedge laying; and if he will include roadside hedges in the Countryside Stewardship grant BN5: Hedgerow laying.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under action BN5, support is available to farmers to lay roadside hedgerows where the farmer has management control of both sides of the hedgerow. In January we set out a commitment to introduce a cycle of reviews for scheme actions from 2025, which will include BN5. The current guidance is clear and as part of the cycle of reviews, we will assess the suitability of the guidance, including taking into account any farmer or stakeholder feedback we receive.
We will be publishing voluntary guidance to support the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer in the summer.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to a recent poll conducted by the National Farmers Union which showed that business confidence among farmers is at its lowest since 2010, what steps they are taking to support the agricultural sector to ensure food security.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food security is more important than ever – which is why we need to back British farmers to keep putting food on our tables while protecting the environment.
That is why we are supporting farmers with £2.4 billion of annual spending. This includes an increase in payment rates, with the average value of a Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreement increasing by 10%. Around 50 new paid-for actions will also be added to the SFI and Countryside Stewardship (CS) schemes from summer 2024, giving farmers more choice with an offer for all farm types and locations.
Additionally, at the NFU Conference this February, the Prime Minister announced more funding for farmers. This included the doubling of the SFI Management Payment, which supports many farmers to participate in the SFI scheme, and the planned launch of the biggest ever package of grants this year to boost productivity and resilience. This grants package, which will total £427 million, includes funding for the Improving Farming Productivity scheme to invest in things like robotics and barn-top solar; funding for a new round of the Farming Equipment and Technology fund, worth £70m; and targeted schemes to support farmers in improving the viability of their businesses, delivering environmental outcomes and supporting sustainable food production.
Our plan will mean farmers always come first – with fair prices for goods, less bureaucracy and more funding as we continue to protect our food security. On May 14, the Prime Minister hosted the second annual Farm to Fork Summit at Downing Street, focused on how the Government will support domestic food production, boost innovation, support the sector to reach its economic potential and recruit the next generation of farming leaders. The Summit also saw publication of the first draft Food Security Index, setting out key data and trends to allow government and industry to monitor domestic food production, land use, input costs and farmer productivity on an annual basis.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of factory farms; and what assessment he has made of the impact of the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are a number of different farming systems within the UK and farms of all sizes have a role to play in promoting sustainable UK agriculture. The Government promotes efficient, competitive farming, but does not seek to favour large- or small-scale farms.
All farms must comply with comprehensive UK law on animal health and welfare, planning, veterinary medicines and environmental legislation. Stockmanship and high husbandry standards are key to ensuring appropriate welfare standards for all farmed animals.
We are committed to supporting farmers to exceed our existing world-leading animal welfare standards, including through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.
A full monitoring, evaluation and learning plan for the Pathway is in place to help assess the impact of financial support being offered to farmers. This is being implemented gradually as more Pathway offers are launched.
Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farms in Wellingborough constituency are part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of 20 May 2024, there are 24 farm businesses with a current Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement for the Wellingborough constituency.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department has allocated to the farming sector in Suffolk Coastal constituency since 2022 by (a) funding type and (b) recipient.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not hold details of Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) funding by constituency. Details of FiPL funding for projects in the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape, which partly overlaps with the Suffolk Coastal constituency, can be found here.
The Rural Payment Agency (RPA) has supported the farming and rural sector through payments under a range of schemes.
Since 1 April 2022, the RPA has released through schemes and grants approximately £20,740,643 in the Suffolk Coastal constituency.
A breakdown of these figures provided below relates to payments released within the specified financial years 2022 to 13 May 2024, irrespective of the scheme year to which individual payments are related, and only covers payments that are provided to farmer businesses by the RPA.
Basic Payment Scheme | Countryside Stewardship Scheme | Environmental Stewardship | Sustainable Farm Incentive | Other Grants | Total |
13,056,470 | 3,533,148 | 2,200,580 | 221,924 | 1,728,521 | 20,740,643 |
To meet data protection obligations, it is not possible to break this down further by recipient.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to end the use of cages in farming.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have delivered an ambitious legislative programme since the publication of the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, which will deliver significant improvements for animals in the UK and abroad. We are firmly committed to maintaining our strong track record on animal welfare and to delivering continued improvements, both in the course of this Parliament and beyond.
Mindful of the challenges facing the sector, we are not consulting on cage reforms. The market is already driving the move away from using cages for laying hen production. Egg producers and consumers should rightly have pride in the quality of British eggs, with about 75% coming from free range, barn and organic production systems. The UK also has a significant outdoor pig sector with 40% of the national sow breeding herd farrowing freely on outdoor units with no option for confinement.
We continue to work with the farming industry to maintain and enhance our high standards of animal welfare. The Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, part of our domestic agricultural policy, supports farmers to produce healthier, higher welfare animals. The Government’s welfare priorities for the Pathway include supporting producers to transition away from confinement systems.
Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage (a) farmers and (b) food producers to use sustainable farming methods in Wellingborough constituency.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is investing in sustainable farming methods, in the Wellingborough constituency and across England, through our environmental land management schemes, in particular the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). The SFI aims to support the environment and food production, and it rewards farmers for practices that will help to produce food sustainably and protect the environment at the same time, while also providing them a reliable income for doing so. That is because we know that food production and nature preservation go hand in hand. Those practices will help to look after farms in the short and long term by improving soil health or mitigating the impact of extreme weather.
The aim is for the scheme to be flexible for farmers in both the actions that they can take and the land on which they farm. Rather than prescribing what farmers must do, they should have a menu from which to choose what works best for their farm and to their advantage. That is helping those farmers to make their businesses more sustainable.
What is more, Defra is listening to and acting upon farmer feedback about environmental land management schemes. In 2024, we are increasing payment rates for the SFI and Countryside Stewardship (CS) by an average of 10, increasing the number of actions on offer in our environmental land management schemes with up to 50 new actions, making schemes more flexible and easier to access, and continuing to prioritise an ‘advise and prevent’ approach across schemes and regulation, which will make things fairer for all farmers participating in schemes. We will begin to offer SFI and new CS Mid Tier and Higher Tier agreements through rolling application windows this summer with the first agreements starting from the autumn. As a result, applicants will get agreements quicker and earlier than the current annual cycle for CS agreements. These, and other changes, will make it easier for our schemes to slot into farm businesses, providing more money for farmers deliver change and ensure we get the scale and ambition we need to positively impact the environment.
We have already seen strong demand for SFI agreements, with 22,209 applications received and 21,243 agreement offers issued across England.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to strengthen the resilience of the UK's food supply chain, and (2) to enhance food security, in the face of external disruptions and challenges.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain and is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.
Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years.
UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
Defra has well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.
Recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was produced in 2021 and the next will be published by December 2024. This report serves as an evidence base for policy work.
Starting this year, the government is also strengthening our food security monitoring by introducing the annual Food Security Index in addition to the three-yearly UKFSR.
Published to coincide with the second UK Farm to Fork Summit on 14 May 2024, the 2024 Food Security Index sets out how Government will track UK-wide food security on an annual basis, monitoring domestic food production, land use, input costs, and farmer productivity.
The Index looks at shorter-term trends that change year on year, complementing the UKFSR’s comprehensive assessment and attention to longer-term trends. The 2024 Index shows that the UK farming sector is at its most productive since records began.
A further package of measures to support farmers and grow the UK’s farming and food sector was announced by the government at the Farm to Fork Summit on 14th May 2024.
This includes a new Blueprint for Growing the UK Fruit and Vegetable Sector (see attached), setting out how industry and government can work together to increase domestic production and drive investment into this valuable sector. The plan involves ensuring the sector has access to affordable and sustainable energy and water, cutting planning red tape to make it easier and quicker to build glasshouses, and looking to double to £80 million the amount of funding given to horticulture businesses when compared to the EU legacy Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme which will be replaced from 2026 onwards.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2024 on the incomes of farmers.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of our transition away from Direct Payments, the draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2024 will apply reductions to delinked payments in 2024. However, this money is not being lost to the sector. The overall farming budget in England is being maintained at an average of £2.4 billion per year across this Parliament. The money released from the reductions is being reinvested in our other schemes for farmers and land managers. This means farmers can access funding which will help reduce costs and improve productivity and resilience, as well as benefitting the environment.
Analysis of the impacts of removing Direct Payments was included in the Government’s 2019 farming evidence compendium and 2021 and 2022 Agriculture in the UK Evidence Packs.