Asked by
The Lord
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
whether the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs has
published sufficient detail in relation to post-EU funding to
enable those working in farming to plan for the future; and what
assessment they have made of any adverse consequences for the
mental health and wellbeing of such people.
(Con)
My Lords, I declare my farming and land management interests as
set out in the register. I start by paying tribute to the right
reverend Prelate for the incredible work that he has done in
support of his community in respect of the horrific events
occurring in Nottingham on 13 June.
The Government are supporting mental health for farmers through
the farming resilience fund, and we are working with charities
such as Yellow Wellies to ensure that farmers have the support
that they need. We are increasing access to NHS talking therapies
across all parts of England, including rural areas. We have
published information this year on what is on offer to farmers to
support the environment alongside food production, through new
grants and ongoing payments.
The Lord
I thank the Minister for his kind words and thank the whole House
for its concern following the tragic events in Nottingham last
week.
I thank the Minister for his Answer. I know he will agree with me
that farmers need to be valued for the extraordinary work that
they do in supplying the nation’s food. Among farmers in
Nottinghamshire, as elsewhere, it is clear that they are under
increasing strain due to the volatility in fuel prices and other
high input costs. They also face considerable stress caused by
the continued uncertainty, with three out of the 15 sustainable
farming incentives still not yet fully up and running. How is
Defra going to respond to the EFRA Committee findings, confirmed
by the NFU members’ survey, of serious gaps that exist in the
rural mental health provision, which are clearly a factor in such
uncertainty?
(Con)
The right reverend Prelate raises a number of very important
points, and Defra is looking closely at all of these. I
specifically take his point on the EFRA Rural Mental Health
report. The Government will respond in due course to acknowledge
the report. We are already taking steps in the right direction to
support and improve mental health in rural communities. We are
investing £2.3 billion extra a year into the expansion and
transformation of mental health services in England, and we are
also supporting mental health and well-being as an outcome of our
future farming resilience fund.
(Con)
My Lords, will my noble friend the Minister pay tribute to the
plight of small family farms, which face particular anguish over
rising input costs, to which the right reverend Prelate referred,
but also the inability to pass those costs on to consumers? My
noble friend was kind enough to refer to charities. Will he work
closely with the FCN, the RABI, the Addington Fund and others to
ensure that the right support is getting to those farmers at the
right time?
(Con)
I completely agree with my noble friend and pay tribute to the
outstanding work being done by charities, such as the Farming
Community Network, the YANA project, the DPJ Foundation and the
Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, for the help and
support that they are giving and for raising awareness about
farmers’ health and welfare. Farming can seem like a lonely job
at times, but to anyone who is struggling I say that you are not
alone. Talking is often the first step, but also the hardest. I
urge anyone struggling to cope with the pressures they are facing
to reach out to one of these organisations.
(PC)
My Lords, I draw attention to my registered interest. Does the
Minister accept that the greatest contributor to mental stress is
uncertainty? For farmers, there will always be uncontrollable
uncertainty from the weather and climate fluctuations. Will he
therefore accept that there is a duty on government to minimise
the uncertainties that are within their control, such as the
legislative framework, the support mechanisms, trade agreements,
bovine TB control and policing of rural areas? Will he undertake
to seek a period of stability and transparency in these
controllable dimensions to minimise the stress on the farming
community?
(Con)
My Lords, in January we published a full prospectus of what our
new farming schemes will pay for and, since then, there has been
further detail on support for tenants, uplands and our expanded
SFI scheme, which is opening this summer. Obviously, there are a
great number of uncontrollable circumstances affecting rising
prices for farmers. The noble Lord is correct that we must give
clarity and certainty on everything within Defra’s control.
of Hardington Mandeville
(LD)
My Lords, farmers are struggling to cope with spikes in energy
prices, spiralling input costs, rural crime and changes to
agriculture support policy. Over 60% are suffering mental health
issues. Throughout this, they continue to produce the food that
the country depends on. It is time for the Government to review
the current emergency funding mechanisms and establish a
dedicated rural mental health funding stream to support farmers
through the transition to ELMS. Is the Minister prepared to do
that?
(Con)
We have taken significant action to support the sector at this
time, including bringing forward 50% of BPS payments. Our new
farming schemes will support farmers to produce food profitably
and sustainably, and will include £600 million in grants for
equipment to help farmers to become more productive. Farm
businesses are also able to access the energy bills discount
scheme, which will offer further support with energy bills until
March next year.
Lord Swire (Con)
My Lords, an additional pressure on farming and the farming
community is the age of farmers. One traditional pathway for
getting younger farmers into farming was through our county
farms, but many of those have been sold off by councils around
the country. What can the Minister say to encourage younger
people to get on the first rung of the ladder into farming in
order to bring down the average age of farmers?
(Con)
My noble friend makes an excellent point. We want to encourage
new entrants to develop successful land-based businesses in
England. Through the new entrant support scheme we want to
nurture entrepreneurs to develop their business ideas, foster
innovation and promote growth. The National Federation of Young
Farmers’ Clubs contributed to the detailed co-design of the
farming investment fund by engaging with Defra at various stages
of the process to both inform and challenge thinking of the
policy design of the scheme.
of Ullock (Lab)
My Lords, the right reverend Prelate mentioned the EFRA Select
Committee’s report Rural Mental Health. One recommendation was
around Defra working with the Department of Health and Social
Care on having high priorities for action on farming and
veterinary mental health in particular, to develop a work
programme together. Can the Minister say what discussions Defra
is having with the Department of Health and Social Care on how to
tackle this problem?
(Con)
Discussions are ongoing in response to the issues that the report
rightly raised. In our recent document Unleashing Rural
Opportunity, we set out how we are taking action to increase the
number of doctors in underserved areas through the targeted
enhanced recruitment scheme for GP trainees and to support
community pharmacies in more sparsely served areas through the
pharmacy access scheme.
(Con)
My Lords, is the Minister aware that tenant farmers across the
UK—in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales—are the
lifeblood of agriculture? Unfortunately, many of them cannot reap
the benefits of diversification on farms and estates because they
do not own the buildings. What can the Minister say about the
Government’s policy towards helping tenant farmers?
(Con)
My noble friend raises a very important issue, which was also
highlighted in my noble friend Lady Rock’s review about the
importance of tenant farmers. I agree that they are the lifeblood
of the sector. The Government have set out our next steps to
support tenant farmers from day one of the agricultural
transition. We have worked with tenant farmers, we have
co-designed our farming schemes, and we have announced a new
tenant farming forum which will improve the way we communicate
with the sector and help us ensure that our schemes are as
accessible as possible to tenants. We will be launching a call
for evidence to examine the need for a tenant farming
commissioner in England.
(GP)
My Lords, the Minister referred to SFI, the sustainable farming
incentive scheme. A new 2023 scheme has just been announced,
which includes 19 new stand-alone actions, and just four actions
have been carried over. About 3,300 farmers now enrolled in SFI
2022 will be served notice to end their agreements and invited to
join SFI 2023. They will get closure payments for three schemes
not carried over. Does the Minister believe there is sufficient
advice and support for farmers to navigate this really quite
incredible level of complexity?
(Con)
My Lords, change is difficult but that does not mean that it
should not be done. We want to support farmers. It is not a
zero-sum game of just food security or increasing biodiversity;
farmers are in a key position to do this and we want to support
them as much as we can. That is why we have added six new
standards to the SFI this summer, including on arable and
horticultural land, grassland, hedgerows, integrated pest
management and nutrient management. In addition, the SFI
agreement payment will pay £20 per hectare for the first 50
hectares entered into the scheme in order to help farmers
navigate the new scheme entrance process.
