Second Report - Environmental Land Management and the agricultural transition

Select Committee
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee HC 78 28 October 2021
Report Status Response document linked Recorded deadline: 28 Dec 2021

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Conclusions & Recommendations 19 items (17 recs)
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Government response
Sixth Special Report - Environmental Land Management and the agricultural transition: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report of Session 2021–22 · published 20 Jan 2022
Read the government response ↗ Response on the tracker

Recommendations & Conclusions

19 results
1 Conclusion
Para 14
The scale of environmental, social and economic change facing English farming cannot be understated.
Conclusion
The scale of environmental, social and economic change facing English farming cannot be understated. This includes the global challenge of climate change and the need to operate in new trading conditions, but it also includes the Government’s decision to fundamentally … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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2 Recommendation
Para 21
Considerable uncertainty remains about how the 7-year agricultural transition will affect English farming.
Recommendation
Considerable uncertainty remains about how the 7-year agricultural transition will affect English farming. As direct payments are withdrawn, there is a risk that farmers will resort to less environmentally sustainable methods to make up for lost income, leave the sector … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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3 Recommendation
Para 30
Defra has put insufficient emphasis and care into managing the process of transition itself, and...
Recommendation
Defra has put insufficient emphasis and care into managing the process of transition itself, and there is a risk that this will be a haphazard process leading to unintended consequences. Ministers’ absolute determination to press ahead with the timescale for … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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4 Conclusion
Para 39
The Committee commends Defra’s commitment to co-designing the agricultural transition, and appreciates the challenges involved.
Conclusion
The Committee commends Defra’s commitment to co-designing the agricultural transition, and appreciates the challenges involved. However, there appears to be a disconnect in the co-design process between listening to stakeholders and being seen Environmental Land Management and the agricultural transition … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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5 Recommendation
We are pleased that Defra’s engagement has improved over the last year, but delays in...
Recommendation
We are pleased that Defra’s engagement has improved over the last year, but delays in communication due to delays in policy development have already impacted farmers’ ability to plan for the significant changes ahead. Defra itself cannot directly reach every … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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6 Recommendation
Para 46
We are concerned that Defra is already in the process of delivering its multi-billion pound...
Recommendation
We are concerned that Defra is already in the process of delivering its multi-billion pound ELM programme, representing the biggest change to farming policy in decades and a central delivery mechanism for the Government’s environmental goals, without having published any … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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7 Recommendation
Para 50
The Government has been clear that the success of ELM is critical to meeting its...
Recommendation
The Government has been clear that the success of ELM is critical to meeting its environmental ambitions, but this will require huge uptake of the scheme and the funding to ensure that. If farmers are to enter into multi-year agreements … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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8 Recommendation
Para 59
A substantial proportion of farmed land in England is tenanted, and common land accounts for...
Recommendation
A substantial proportion of farmed land in England is tenanted, and common land accounts for a significant percentage of land delivering important public goods such as biodiversity and public access. It is important that the particular needs of 42 Environmental … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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9 Recommendation
Para 60
Upland livestock farmers have often been among the most dependent on direct payments, but there...
Recommendation
Upland livestock farmers have often been among the most dependent on direct payments, but there is also evidence that existing agri-environment schemes have reduced income stability for upland livestock farmers in less favoured areas. Those farming the uplands, and tenanted … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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10 Recommendation
It is important that ELM supports the delivery of a full range of public goods.
Recommendation
It is important that ELM supports the delivery of a full range of public goods. Biodiversity and net zero are crucial objectives, but Defra should not lose sight of the invaluable role that farmers and land managers can also play … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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11 Recommendation
Para 69
It is important that the Sustainable Farming Incentive does not repeat the failures of previous...
Recommendation
It is important that the Sustainable Farming Incentive does not repeat the failures of previous agri-environment schemes like Entry Level Stewardship, which achieved high uptake but failed to drive significant environmental delivery. It must also not create perverse incentives or … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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12 Recommendation
Para 73
A degree of simplicity may be necessary in order to achieve high SFI uptake, and...
Recommendation
A degree of simplicity may be necessary in order to achieve high SFI uptake, and we acknowledge that an approach based on specific actions and parcels of land will work for many farmers. However, Defra should not miss opportunities to … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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13 Recommendation
Para 79
We share the concerns of many that the existing approach to calculating payments based on...
Recommendation
We share the concerns of many that the existing approach to calculating payments based on “income foregone” will be unattractive to farmers and ineffective for the environment. Payments for environmental actions need to fairly and fully represent Environmental Land Management … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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14 Recommendation
We acknowledge that Defra has announced higher payment rates for the SFI in 2022, but...
Recommendation
We acknowledge that Defra has announced higher payment rates for the SFI in 2022, but farmers still lack the full details on payment rates across ELM that would enable them to start planning now. We also welcome Defra publishing new … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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15 Recommendation
Para 87
High quality advice, which is appropriate to the individual farm and takes into account the...
Recommendation
High quality advice, which is appropriate to the individual farm and takes into account the specific local conditions, is essential if farmers are to be productive and deliver environmental benefits. We acknowledge Defra’s intention that the Sustainable Farming Incentive should … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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16 Recommendation
Para 88
Evidence suggests that some farmers currently do not pay for environmental advice because it is...
Recommendation
Evidence suggests that some farmers currently do not pay for environmental advice because it is not deemed commercially relevant to them. As the focus of farm payments moves to public goods, it is important that these farmers are supported to … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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17 Recommendation
Para 93
ELM must be accessible and avoid the bureaucratic barriers to entry and punitive regulations which...
Recommendation
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 … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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18 Recommendation
Para 96
Past experience has shown the potential for failures in digital delivery to do real damage...
Recommendation
Past experience has shown the potential for failures in digital delivery to do real damage to farmers’ trust in Government. We recognise that Defra has decided to initially use a simplified version of existing systems rather than attempting to build … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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19 Recommendation
We note that we are nearing the end of the first year of a seven-year...
Recommendation
We note that we are nearing the end of the first year of a seven-year agricultural transition, and Defra does not yet appear to have made key decisions about which bodies will be responsible for delivering the biggest change to … Read more
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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