It is disappointing that the Government has not acted on our previous calls for a set of measurable targets and an evaluation programme for the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. The impact of ELM scheme must be monitored more effectively than previous environmental management schemes to gain the benefits of the iterative approach. This would ensure that ELMs deliver positive outcomes for the environment, which paying for actions does not guarantee, and demonstrate that public money is being well spent. If this is done successfully, alongside seeking feedback from farmers, it would enable a better analysis of the impact that the ELM scheme actions are having, both independently and in combination with each other.