Robbie Moore

I cannot stress enough just how badly mishandled the sustainable farming incentive has been under this Labour Government. It has been a complete and utter mess, and our hard-working farmers and nature have once again lost out under this Labour Government. However, it was not without this Government having lots of warning well in advance. After 18 months of inaction following the Government’s choice to close the scheme in March 2025, for the first time ever the scheme was changed to operate on a first come, first served basis, making it competitive with no quality control. It was simply based on who could press “Send” first. The consequence was a build-up of nearly 40,000 farmers trying to get into the scheme when it finally opened, and only 12,200 were successful. The application window closed five and a half hours after it opened, after all the money had gone. Farmers had been designing their applications for months, and many are now under more financial and emotional strain. Given that the value of the expiring agreements was more than £520 million and the budget for SFI26 was significantly reduced to £310 million, can the Minister explain where the £210 million has gone? With so many farmers being locked out of the scheme, clarity and certainty for next steps is needed now. Will he confirm when applications for SFI27 will open? Will he publish a forward plan now so that farmers can start preparing? What support will he give to those with expiring agreements to minimise gaps in cash flow? What budget has he allocated for SFI27 so that he can be certain that we will not see this same debacle all over again? The farming Minister has now had a month to reflect on these issues. Our farmers want answers now—not more warm words or him giving out surveys, saying that he is in listening mode. Answers are needed right now to the questions that have been raised.