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Written question asked by Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour) on Friday, 28 February 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 4 March 2025. It was answered by Daniel Zeichner (Labour) on Monday, 10 March 2025 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Agriculture: Basic Income

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the report by Joanna Poulton, Jak Richardson, Kathleen Pollitt and Cleo Goodman entitled Sowing the Seeds of Stability: A proposal to use basic income as the system to support the income of farmers and farm workers, published in March 2024.

Answer

The report cited by the honourable member proposes a system of untargeted farming subsidy based on regular and unconditional cash payments made to farmers. Evidence suggests that untargeted subsidies such as the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and delinked payments offered poor value for money and introduced distortionary incentives, which inhibited the development of a productive and competitive agricultural sector that delivers optimal environmental outcomes. This is Government is proud to have ended the subsidy model in farming.

Looking forward, this Government’s vision for farming depends on a farming sector where farmers make a fair profit from producing food, and where farm businesses can diversify their income to remain viable in challenging times. To this end, the government has confirmed it will set up a new Farming Profitability Unit within Defra. This will work with farmers and other industry stakeholders from across all sectors and regions to understand the barriers farmers face to increasing profits through farming. It will examine how farmers can embrace innovation, improve productivity and market access, how the supply chain can support a more profitable farming sector through greater transparency, collaboration and a fairer distribution of risk, rewards and responsibility.

The Government is also supporting farmers to grow their businesses by extending the Seasonal Worker visa route for five more years. This will give farms a pipeline of workers. Annual quota reviews will ensure we strike the right balance – supporting farms while gradually reducing visa numbers as we develop alternative solutions.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
34756
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Agriculture Basic income
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk