Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Environmental Land Management Scheme

Status: Closed Opened: 6 Sep 2021 Closed: 1 Mar 2022 13 recommendations 18 conclusions 1 report

The UK was part of the EU’s Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) framework for financial support to farmers and rural development funding for more than 40 years before Brexit. In 2019-20 farmers in England received over £1.8 billion in direct payment subsidies, based mainly on the amount of land farmed. In late 2021, Defra is introducing … Show more

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Thirty-First Report - Environmental Land Management Scheme HC 639 9 Jan 2022 31 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

1 item
23 Recommendation Thirty-First Report - Environmental Lan… Rejected

The Department asserted that farmer confidence and trust in its plans is improving.

The Department asserted that farmer confidence and trust in its plans is improving. The Farmer Opinion Tracker survey carried out in October 2020 found that only 30% of farmers said they had all or most of the information they needed to plan their business. The Department told us that its … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government rejected the premise that its communication strategy needs a radical review, asserting that its current strategy is working, citing increased take-up of productivity grants, SFI pilot, and Countryside Stewardship agreements.
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HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

2 sessions
Date Witnesses
21 Oct 2021 Caroline Ayre · Confederation of Forest Industries, Jenna Hegarty · Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB), Lynette Steel · Tenants Farmers Association, Professor Rob Fraser · University of Kent, Tom Bradshaw · National Farmers' Union (NFU) View ↗
21 Oct 2021 David Kennedy · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Jenna Hegarty · Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB), Lynette Steel · Tenants Farmers Association, Maria Bellissimo · Confederation of Forest Industries, Paul Caldwell · Rural Payments Agency, Professor Rob Fraser · University of Kent, Tamara Finkelstein · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Tom Bradshaw · National Farmers' Union (NFU) View ↗

Who gave evidence

9 witnesses
WitnessOrganisationSessions
Jenna Hegarty · Deputy-Director for Policy and Advocacy Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB) 2
Lynette Steel · Farm Policy Adviser Tenants Farmers Association 2
Professor Rob Fraser · Emeritus Professor of Agricultural Economics University of Kent 2
Tom Bradshaw · President National Farmers' Union (NFU) 2
Caroline Ayre · England National Manager Confederation of Forest Industries 1
David Kennedy · Director General for Food, Biosecurity and Trade Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 1
Maria Bellissimo · Policy lead Confederation of Forest Industries 1
Paul Caldwell · Chief Executive Officer Rural Payments Agency 1
Tamara Finkelstein · Permanent Secretary Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 1

Correspondence

4 letters
DateDirectionTitle
9 Mar 2022 Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, Department for Env…
8 Feb 2022 Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, Department for Env…
31 Jan 2022 Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, Department for Env…
16 Nov 2021 Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, Department for Env…