ELM must be accessible and avoid the bureaucratic barriers to entry and punitive regulations which plagued previous agri-environment schemes. We welcome Defra’s commitment to improving their approach to regulation and enforcement, but emphasise the importance of delivering on these promises to build confidence and promote the uptake of ELM, lifting the burden on those who follow the rules while ensuring that public money is being well spent on delivering meaningful outcomes. Defra should provide more detail in its response to this Report on how it intends to use of a range of mechanisms, including a risk-based approach and where appropriate 44 Environmental Land Management and the agricultural transition assurance schemes and self-assessment, to ensure that farmers in ELM agreements are delivering for the environment while not being subject to unnecessarily burdensome and bureaucratic regulation.