The NFU has slammed the former Conservative government’s handling of the agriculture budget after Defra confirmed an underspend of £358m over the past three years.
Food security and rural affairs minister Daniel Zeichner yesterday revealed the previous administration had underspent on the budget in England by £130m in 2023/24, £103m in 2022/23 and by £125m in 2021/22.
The shortfall, outlined in Defra’s Farming and Countryside Programme annual report, was described as a “kick in the teeth” for farmers and growers, said NFU president Tom Bradshaw. The sector had long been struggling with the delayed transition from EU Common Agriculture Policy basic payments to the new Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS), he added.
Bradshaw subsequently told the BBC today that it could also impact on the NFU’s hopes to make farming a net zero industry by 2024, with reaching that ambition now “tricky”.
Despite claims ELMS and schemes such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive were on track – a key position in the Tory election manifesto – many farming businesses had still faced “years of uncertainty and loss of income during the agricultural transition”, Bradshaw said.
“Let’s be clear, this underspend hasn’t happened because the investment isn’t needed. It’s happened because the schemes to replace the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) have not been completed in time and there are still many gaps and questions unanswered,” he added.
“We have flagged problems with ELMS from day one and, despite some improvements, there is still a big gap in spending as the money saved from the continued BPS reductions has sat gathering dust.”
For years, the NFU had pressed the need for the new schemes to be in place before reductions in BPS began “to avoid this very issue and avoid funding being left unspent at a time when farmers needed it most”, Bradshaw pointed out.
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“Twelve months ago, when there were further issues with the rollout of the new schemes, we were a lone voice calling for reductions in BPS to be paused. It wasn’t, and yet farmers and growers continued to face record inflation levels and devastating weather events. We’re now seeing the consequences as confidence in the sector has collapsed.”
Bradshaw pointed out the risk this cumulative loss of income had on the viability of farm businesses was “well known”, citing recent NFU research showing upland businesses had lost 37% of their support payments under the 2023 scheme options, despite the public goods they delivered for the nation.
“In opposition, the food security minister said any underspend in agricultural funding should be rolled over into future years and asked for clarity from Defra about how this would be done,” he said.
“We now ask for the same thing: for government to carry this much-needed funding forward so it can finally be put to its intended use – building resilience, investing in sustainable homegrown food production and delivering the government’s legislated environmental targets.”
His comments follow growing speculation that chancellor Rachel Reeves could cut England’s farming budget by £100m to help fill a £22bn Treasury shortfall.
Speaking ahead of a breakfast reception for MPs in Parliament to mark Back British Farming Day today (11 September), Bradshaw called for clear policies from the new Labour government.
“While in opposition we heard consistently from Labour that food security is national security,” he said. “We now need to see those ambitions realised. Today we’re calling on government to truly value UK food security by delivering a renewed and enhanced multi-annual agriculture budget of £5.6bn on 30 October.”
Zeichner said “time and again” the Tory government “broke their promises to farmers”.
The new Labour administration would “restore confidence and stability to farmers to boost rural economic growth and strengthen our food security”, he promised.
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