Labour committed to ELM, despite audit office criticism

Labour says it is committed to pressing on with the Environmental Land Management scheme designed by its predecessors in government, despite some sharp criticism contained in a new National Audit Office report.

The report, published on Tuesday (23 July), says the “iterative” approach to developing the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme in England has created “widespread uncertainty and risk” for the sector.

While the National Audit Office (NAO) is supportive of the co-design approach, it says changes Defra has made along the way – such as capping the amount of land farmers can put into certain options under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) – have made it difficult for farmers to plan their businesses.

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The NAO also points to sliding confidence among farmers in Defra.

Even though Defra says building trust with farmers is “mission critical”, only 35% of farmers said they were confident in its ability to deliver the new schemes.

“Some stakeholders told us that Defra’s caution over sharing information – in areas such as land-use change and the impact on food production and farm viability – are undermining trust,” it said.

IT systems 

Another problem is Defra’s use of outdated “legacy” IT systems that date back to the old EU CAP. “This has created a risk to the delivery of existing agreements and payments to farmers,” it said.

On a more positive note, the NAO notes the good take-up of agri-environment schemes since the launch of SFI 2023 last year.

As of 1 April 2024, more than 40,000 farmers were involved across all schemes – just ahead of target. Processing times under SFI were also quick, at just eight days on average.

But doubts remain about the impact on food production.

While Defra expects productivity gains to offset the impact of a greater environmental focus, its failure to publish the analysis has left many unanswered questions.

Defra’s assumption that smaller subsidy cheques will boost productivity is “inconclusive”, says the NAO, while the number of productivity grants made available so far is “small”.

The report contains a number of recommendations, including that Defra updates its IT,  strengthens the advice it gives to farmers, and improves transparency.

Response 

Commenting on the NAO report, Defra farming minister Daniel Zeichner acknowledges that confidence among farmers is at record lows.

“Farmers have been struggling with extreme weather events, huge rises in input costs, been undermined by damaging trade deals, and rocked by the chop and change of farming schemes,” he said.

“The new government will restore stability and confidence among farmers. That is why we will not be overturning the applecart – we are fully committed to ELM.

“We will optimise schemes and grants in an orderly way, ensuring they produce the right outcomes for all farmers, while delivering food security and nature recovery in a just and equitable way.”

The Wildlife Trusts agricultural lead Vicki Hird says there are still major gaps in the delivery of ELM, especially the scale needed and what is expected of farmers long term.

“Huge gaps in terms of investment, farmer advice and clear long-term outcomes need to be filled rapidly to give farmers and the natural environment – which we depend on for our food and climate resilience – the support and recovery they need,” she said.