Reeves protects nature-friendly farming budget

GREEN groups have welcomed the Government's decision to protect the nature-friendly farming budget, but concerns remain about the overall squeeze on environmental spending.

- REBECCA SPEARE-COLE

Ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spending review on Wednesday, environmentalists had warned that cutting the budget for payments that support farmers and landowners to deliver public goods, such as healthy soil, clean water and hedgerows, would threaten the Government’s efforts on food security and tackling nature's declines.

It comes as farmers face increasingly challenging climate conditions, while being hit by changes to inheritance tax and the abrupt closure of this year’s sustainable farming incentive (SFI), the biggest strand of the environmental land management scheme (Elms).

In the spending review, the Government confirmed an increase in the budget for Elms from £1.6bn in 2023/2024 to £2bn by 2028/29. But the Environment Department's (Defra) overall budget will be reduced by 0.7% in real terms by the end of the spending review period.

Green groups also estimate a £130m a year real-terms cut to day-to-day resource funding.