A group of former Conservative environment secretaries have called on the UK government to preserve the Environmental Land Management Scheme (Elms), as concerns grow that the fund for their agriculture initiative will be reduced. The scheme, which was developed by former Environment Secretary Michael Gove to replace the EU’s common agricultural policy, pays farmers in England to plant woodland, improve soil and water quality, alongside the production of food. The government has yet to confirm whether the scheme will be cut by £100m, as reported by the Guardian on 3 September.
In a letter published in the Telegraph, former ministers warned that any cuts to the budget risks reducing the amount of farmland available under the new schemes in England. They argued that the funds should be kept or increased, in line with inflation, to meet farmers’ obligations to deliver public goods and to help increase their resilience to biodiversity loss, the biggest long-term threat to food security. The letter was signed by Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom, Therese Coffey and Theresa Villiers, as well as six other former farming and environment ministers from the Conservative Party.
Concerns were raised after a government report confirmed that there was a £358m underspend in the agricultural budget across the last three years as the government moves towards its ‘public money for public goods’ environmental payments approach. National Farmers’ Union President Tom Bradshaw noted that the underspend was not due to a lack of investment, but rather problems with the implementation of the scheme. The fund is designed to reward farmers for providing “public goods” – contributing towards the environment by carrying out projects such as large-scale tree planting and the restoration of coastal habitats.
This latest development came on the same day that Conservative leader Rishi Sunak urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to introduce a national food security target into law and to ensure good quality agricultural land is used for food production rather than solar farms. The National Farmers’ Union has long pressed for a target to prevent a food shortage in the UK. Despite commitments to increase funding for farmers, there are ongoing concerns that the government may reduce the Elms fund
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