Environmental Land Management Scheme

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 6 Sep 2021 Closed: 1 Mar 2022 Parliament page
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 … Read more
13 Recommendations
18 Conclusions
1 Report
2 Oral sessions
4 Letters
2 Events
Activity timeline 8 events
9 Mar
2022
Correspondence
1 Mar
2022
Report published
8 Feb
2022
Correspondence
31 Jan
2022
Correspondence
9 Jan
2022
Report published
16 Nov
2021
Correspondence
21 Oct
2021
Oral evidence
21 Oct
2021
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 2 sessions
21 Oct 2021
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Environmental Land Management Scheme
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)
21 Oct 2021
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Environmental Land Management Scheme
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)
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Thirty-First Report - Environmental Land Management Scheme HC 639 9 Jan 2022 31 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
6 results
Clear
9 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirty-First Report - Environmenta…
The Department has committed to making the first payments under SFI22 by Christmas 2022.
The Department has committed to making the first payments under SFI22 by Christmas 2022. Despite the tight timescales and continuing uncertainty around the launch of SFI22 next year, the stakeholders we heard from were divided on whether a delay to … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledged the divided stakeholder opinions regarding delaying SFI22 rollout, citing the NFU's view that a delay would extend uncertainty, and stated that these views were taken into account to ensure a smooth transition.
HM Treasury
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10 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirty-First Report - Environmenta…
In contrast, the RSPB told us that there had already been a lot of unnecessary...
In contrast, the RSPB told us that there had already been a lot of unnecessary delay to the roll-out of the scheme so far, which added to the urgency of getting the scheme right quickly. It explained that the roll-out … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledged the divided stakeholder opinions on delaying the scheme rollout, stating these views were taken into account to deliver a smooth transition for farmers.
HM Treasury
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11 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirty-First Report - Environmenta…
Given the serious problems the Committee has reported on previous agricultural payment schemes, and the...
Given the serious problems the Committee has reported on previous agricultural payment schemes, and the impacts of COVID-19, we asked the Department whether it had considered a delay, and whether its timetable for delivering SFI22 included any contingency to allow … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledged the divided stakeholder opinions regarding delaying SFI22 rollout, citing the NFU's view that a delay would extend uncertainty, and stated that these views were taken into account to ensure a smooth transition.
HM Treasury
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12 Recommendation Acknowledged
Thirty-First Report - Environmenta…
The NAO found that Department does not have detailed delivery plans for the programme beyond...
The NAO found that Department does not have detailed delivery plans for the programme beyond March 2022, and has not carried out an overall assessment to demonstrate that SFI22 is deliverable.27 The Department told us that its current assessment was … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledged the varying stakeholder views on delaying the SFI22 rollout and stated these views have been fully taken into account, but did not commit to specific contingency planning or informing the committee of issues.
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirty-First Report - Environmenta…
The Department views 2021 as year one of seven in its efforts to regain farmers’...
The Department views 2021 as year one of seven in its efforts to regain farmers’ trust, but the NAO highlighted that it had had over three years since the first publication of its plans in February 2018 to start regaining … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledged that building trust and confidence is an ongoing process in the first year of transition, stating it will improve as new schemes are successfully launched and work effectively for farmers.
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirty-First Report - Environmenta…
The Department acknowledged that without the detail of plans, its confidence in the scheme could...
The Department acknowledged that without the detail of plans, its confidence in the scheme could appear to be “just blind optimism as far as farmers are concerned”.63 Since then, the Department has published further information on how the Sustainable Farming … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledged the importance of building trust and communicating effectively with farmers, noting existing efforts but also recognising there is more work to do as schemes roll out.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 31 of 13 classified
Accepted 9
Acknowledged 6
Not Addressed 15
Rejected 1
Total 13 recs + 18 conclusions
Correspondence 4 letters
9 Mar 2022 Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, re Response to Recommendation 4 of ELM PAC report, dated 1 March 2022
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8 Feb 2022 Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, re Update on long-term environment objectives, dated 9 December 2021
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31 Jan 2022 Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, re Response to Recommendation 7 of ELM PAC report, dated 27 January 2022
Parliament page
16 Nov 2021 Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, re PAC: Follow-Up Response, dated 5 November 2021
Parliament page