Written question asked by Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 18 December 2024, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 January 2025 (named day). It was answered by Daniel Zeichner (Labour) on Monday, 6 January 2025 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Farming Recovery Fund

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether changes have been made to the criteria of the Farming Recovery Fund since Storms Ashley and Bert.

Answer: October 2023 to March 2024 has been recorded as the wettest six-month period ever recorded. The Farming Recovery Fund used data from Environment Agency and remote imagery on high river levels during Storm Babet (October 2023) and Storm Henk (January 2024). These were the two largest storms in this period. Met Office data was used to identify local authority areas in England which experienced exceptional rainfall. These data were used to identify eligibility for the Farming Recovery Fund which has now made one off recovery payments of £57.5 million to over 12,700 farm businesses to help farmers most affected by the exceptional flooding and wet weather. Eligibility for the Farming Recovery Fund does not include Storms Ashley nor Bert.

Secondary information