Written questions by Farron.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the time taken between capital grants and investment on the cash flow of farmers.

The rules applied to capital grant schemes by Defra means that payments made on capital works are made only when the works are complete and paid for by the farmer. Farmers can make multiple claims for items of a high value over a period, so farmers do not have to find the money for all of the works at the same time. The Rural Payments Agency endeavour to pay all claims within 30 working days of receipt. Any pause in funding investment by the department does not affect the cash flow of the farmer.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of land managers eligible for the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund 2024.

All farmers, foresters, and land managers in England, including tenants, were eligible to form or join a Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Group in order to submit an application during the application window. Facilitators, who applied for the funding, were required to be an individual or organisation from the farming, forestry or other land management sector or service provider, with environmental land management experience and suitable facilitation skills. Members can be added to an existing group at any time throughout the lifetime of the agreement. The application window for the 2024 round closed on the 15 January 2024. 24 applications were received. Of these, 18 secured an agreement, with all agreements starting on 1 June 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of land eligible for the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund 2024.

All farmers, foresters, and land managers in England, including tenants, were eligible to form or join a Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Group in order to submit an application during the application window. Facilitators, who applied for the funding, were required to be an individual or organisation from the farming, forestry or other land management sector or service provider, with environmental land management experience and suitable facilitation skills. Members can be added to an existing group at any time throughout the lifetime of the agreement. The application window for the 2024 round closed on the 15 January 2024. 24 applications were received. Of these, 18 secured an agreement, with all agreements starting on 1 June 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the alignment of the timing of funding schemes for farmers with the farming calendar.

Defra will be opening the Environmental Land Management (ELM) Capital Grant scheme and the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier offer in the Summer on a rolling application window basis. This will enable farmers to apply throughout the year, while enabling Defra to continue to monitor the situation to make sure demand doesn’t exceed the available funding. For the ELM Capital Grant scheme, farmers will be able to apply for a grant in more than one category but only submit one application per farm business Single Business Identifier (SBI) can be submitted per year. Other grants remain open, including grants for Woodland management plans, the Higher Tier Capital Grant, Capital grants plans, the Protection and Infrastructure grant, and Woodland tree health grants. We expect to publish more information about the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer in summer 2025. This will include an indication of when we expect to re-open SFI for applications.

Food and Rural Affairs, how long on average successful applicants for the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund 2024 have waited for agreements to be activated.

All farmers, foresters, and land managers in England, including tenants, were eligible to form or join a Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Group in order to submit an application during the application window. Facilitators, who applied for the funding, were required to be an individual or organisation from the farming, forestry or other land management sector or service provider, with environmental land management experience and suitable facilitation skills. Members can be added to an existing group at any time throughout the lifetime of the agreement. The application window for the 2024 round closed on the 15 January 2024. 24 applications were received. Of these, 18 secured an agreement, with all agreements starting on 1 June 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, what funding his Department allocated to the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund 2024 in (a) total and (b) each year.

YearNumber of applications receivedNumber of successful applicationsFunding allocated [millions]Funding spent (to date) [millions]20153619£12.8 in total, funded under the Rural Development Programme for England£0.220165030£0.62017 (national round)4037 2017 (Northwest England flooding round)1312£0.520185538£1.620194339£0.62020 £1.82021 £0.820224541£2.25£0.9120234542£3£0.5620242418£2.5£0.88Total £20.55£8.45

Food and Rural Affairs, how many applicants there were for the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund 2024; and how many were successful.

All farmers, foresters, and land managers in England, including tenants, were eligible to form or join a Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Group in order to submit an application during the application window. Facilitators, who applied for the funding, were required to be an individual or organisation from the farming, forestry or other land management sector or service provider, with environmental land management experience and suitable facilitation skills. Members can be added to an existing group at any time throughout the lifetime of the agreement. The application window for the 2024 round closed on the 15 January 2024. 24 applications were received. Of these, 18 secured an agreement, with all agreements starting on 1 June 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will list the (a) application deadlines and (b) start dates for each funding scheme for (i) farmers, (ii) growers and (iii) land managers; and the hectarage covered in each scheme.

Defra operates a page on gov.uk, “Funding for farmers, growers and land managers”. This page advises about grants and other funding currently open or opening soon, and includes links to the relevant scheme or grant webpage. Information about application deadlines for each grant is found on those webpages. We will update on plans for any further schemes following the Spending Review. Defra also operates a page on gov.uk, Area of land in agri-environment schemes. The latest data available for that page dates to 2022, and shows that in that year the total area of land in entry-level agreements was 1.4 million hectares and the total area of land in higher-level or targeted agri-environment agreements in England was 2.3 million hectares.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) applicants and (b) successful applicants there were to the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund for each of the four application rounds since 2015.

Since 2015 there were 351 applications for the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund and 276 were offered an agreement. The Rural Payment Agency does not readily hold data for each of the four application rounds since 2015 and establishing this would incur disproportionate costs.

Food and Rural Affairs, what funding his Department has allocated to the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund in each of the four application rounds since 2015.

Since 2015, there has been £20.55 million allocated to the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund. The Rural Payment Agency does not readily hold data for each of the four application rounds since 2015 and establishing this would incur disproportionate costs.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential resilience value of the UK’s hybrid model of television distribution..

The Government understands how important it is that everyone can access information in times of national emergency and that television has a role to play in providing such access. The Government’s project looking into the future of TV distribution is considering a range of relevant factors, including resilience. It is important that audiences continue to receive consistent levels of service regardless of how they receive their television, and ensuring that this can happen will be a priority for the project.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of not renewing the licences for terrestrial television which expire in 2034 on rural communities.

The Government’s project on the future of TV distribution is seeking to understand how people receive their television now and in the next decade. This will inform any decision concerning the future of digital terrestrial television services after 2034.As part of this process, a wide range of views are being sought from across the TV sector, audience groups and infrastructure, including through a stakeholder forum that I chair. Membership of the Stakeholder Forum includes a number of groups representing rural, older and lower income audiences, including the Rural Services Network, Silver Voices and Digital Poverty Alliance.In addition to independent research led by Exeter University and published last year, the Government has commissioned follow up research to understand in more detail the specific preferences, motivations and barriers regarding TV viewing among a variety of groups including rural, older and low-income households.

Whether her Department plans to make the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund permanent.

I refer the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale to the answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 26025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing the farming budget to reflect the Government’s nature and climate targets.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.

How many staff worked for the Grocery Code Adjudicator in (a) 2015, (b) 2020, (c) 2022 and (d) 2024.

The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) and his office is funded via a levy charged on the regulated retailers. Under the Groceries Code Adjudicator Act 2013, the GCA may second staff from any other public bodies. GCA staff numbers, at 31 March each year, as stated in their Annual Reports and Accounts, were:a) 2015/2016 – 5 secondeesb) 2020/2021 – 4 secondeesc) 2022/2023 – 7 secondeesd) 2023/2024 – 8 secondeesAs of 26 February 2025 there are 9 secondees.These reports are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/gca-annual-reports-and-accounts

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on ensuring all planning decisions will support nature and climate targets.

The Department works closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to deliver planning reforms with regular discussions on how planning can improve outcomes for nature whilst enabling the development of housing and infrastructure.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase support for farmers who make environmental contributions in the Land Use Framework.

The Government has recently launched a 12-week consultation on land use in England, which will inform the publication of a Land Use Framework later in the year. The consultation includes questions about how the government can more effectively align incentives to support farmers in providing the food and environment outcomes that the nation needs.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on ensuring that the plan for growth includes protections for (a) wildlife and (b) nature.

This Government is fully committed to ensuring that development contributes to nature’s recovery and delivers a win-win for both nature and the economy. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will establish a Nature Restoration Fund. This will create a more efficient and effective way for obligations related to our most important sites and species to be discharged at a scale that brings about the greatest environmental benefits. The Autumn Budget 2024 committed £45 million in funding to support the establishment of the Fund.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of short-term land use to improve soil health and resilience to droughts and floods.

Defra currently has research programmes underway on the impact of different agricultural land management options. The Government recognises the importance of healthy, functioning soil for resilience against the impacts of climate change, such as flooding and drought. The rich variety of soils across England need to be managed with particular consideration given to the soil type, climate, land use and desired function. While these decisions are made at farm level, they need the right frameworks, incentives and conditions from Government and the wider food chain. That is why the Government is currently consulting on our vision for land use in England, which will inform the development of a Land Use Framework.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to hold a public consultation on the Air Quality Information System Review's conclusions and recommendations.

The Government recognizes the importance of effectively communicating air quality information to the public, which is why we conducted a comprehensive review of the Air Quality Information System (AQIS). A large evidence base has been assimilated which gives a strong foundation for taking forward solutions. The final report and accompanying evidence will be published shortly. We will not be conducting a public consultation on the recommendations of this review. They will inform air quality elements of the revised Environmental Improvement Plan and will be incorporated into a revised Air Quality Strategy in due course.