The vital role played by tenant farmers in England - and how it
can be consolidated - will be scrutinised by Parliament’s
cross-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee in an
inquiry being launched today.
The Committee of MPs announced they would be looking into the
situation of tenant farmers following a review of the sector led
by Baroness , who published a series of
recommendations in October 2022, and the government’s initial
response to that review published today, May 24, 2023.
The Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA)
Committee, Sir MP, said:
“It’s high time to act. Tenant farmers work roughly one third
of all farmed land in England. They play a crucial role in
delivering the food we need and the environmental results we
want.
“So, in these changing times, with new government rules and
regulations on agriculture seemingly popping up all the time, we
must make sure our tenant farmers are properly supported in their
crucial role. That’s what the committee intends to do.
“We’re grateful to for her work. The EFRA
committee is well aware of her recommendations and we will look
carefully at those the government chooses to accept. If some of
the recommendations are not adopted, we will be keen to establish
why not”.
Background to the inquiry
The full terms of reference for the inquiry to be undertaken by
the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee are published
below. A summary of the Rock Review is here and the government
response to it is here.
In summary, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs in January 2022 commissioned a review from to consider how tenant
farmers could be better supported by government action in order
to contribute to a resilient and productive tenanted agricultural
sector.
made over 70 recommendations
in her subsequent report that she said, if delivered as a
package, would:
· Deliver
sustainable food production;
· Meet the
challenges of climate change; and
· Deliver
improvement and enhancement of biodiversity.
The Committee’s inquiry will determine the priority actions to
take forward from the Rock Review, evaluate the Government’s
response to Baroness Rock’s findings, and consider how recent
developments in the tenanted sector should be accounted for in
any steps taken by the government.
How to contribute to the inquiry
The Committee is inviting written submissions to the inquiry from
people in various parts of the farm sector as well as experts,
academics and others with experience in the area. Written
submissions do not have to cover every aspect of the terms of
reference – your area of expertise is what we want to learn
from.
For advice on how to submit your evidence, and how we then use
that information, please click
here.
The committee will also gather information by inviting witnesses
to oral evidence sessions, usually held in Parliament’s Committee
Rooms. Most evidence sessions are held in public, are announced
in advance, and can be watched on parliamentlive.tv
Terms of reference for the inquiry
The Committee is seeking views in the following areas:
The growth and viability of businesses in the tenanted
sector
1. What pressures and challenges are currently facing tenant
farmers and how can the future viability of the tenant sector be
secured?
The landlord-tenant relationship
2. How effectively are landlord-tenant relationships operating in
the farming sector and what steps can the government take to
improve relationships and agreements between those parties? Are
certain relationships (e.g. private landlord or multinational
company) or agreements (e.g. multi-generational or farm business
tenancies) more suitable?
3. How can government better balance the rights and interests of
both landlords and tenants?
Interaction with wider government policies
4. What impact are other government initiatives, for example
environmental (e.g. tree planting) or housing policies, having on
the tenanted sector? How can any interactions be managed
effectively across government?
Access to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes and
productivity schemes
5. Are government ELM and productivity schemes accessible and
attractive to tenant farmers? How can participation be
encouraged?
New entrants
6. What barriers face new entrants to the tenanted farming sector
and what can be done to encourage them?
The Rock Review and the government’s response
7. How successfully would implementing Baroness Rock’s
recommendations address concerns in the areas listed
above?
8. What assessment have you made of the government’s response to
those recommendations?
