What has Rishi Sunak done for farming in his first 100 days?

Today marks Rishi Sunak’s 100th day in office as Prime Minister. But what has he done for farming in that time?

Upon becoming PM on 25 October 2022, Mr Sunak set about appointing his cabinet, making Therese Coffey – his predecessor’s Liz Truss’s top ally – Defra secretary.

Farmer Mark Spencer, made farming minister by Ms Truss, kept his job.

Dr Coffey has since been accused of a lack of interest in the agriculture aspect of her brief, but Tenant Farmers Association chief executive George Dunn told Farmers Weekly her appointment was a “political imperative”.

“He [Mr Sunak] had to put a hand out to the Truss cabal and Therese Coffey was very much at the centre,” he said.

“Where would you put her? Somewhere she has had political experience, which she has had previously in Defra.”

Two months on, in December, the government agreed to “beef up” the National Planning Policy Framework, making food security a consideration when land is being developed.

An announcement that the horticulture seasonal workers scheme would be expanded by 15,000 places, to 45,000, followed days later and was welcomed by industry.

But January brought disappointment, after it was revealed farm businesses would not be able to participate in the Energy Bills Discount Scheme from 1 April 2023.

“We need to see some action on dealing with the energy-support crisis and working with those bits of our industry where we are reliant upon fertiliser, making sure those inputs are readily available,” said Mr Dunn.

Later in the month, however, Defra officials told MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) select committee that significant progress had been made on setting up an annual food security summit.

During his leadership campaign, the PM promised to personally chair the meeting.

David Kennedy, Defra’s director general for food, biosecurity and trade, said: “There is lots of focus on it. We are just working out what the content will be and who will come to that. We will have a date shortly.”

At the same Efra committee hearing, farming minister Mark Spencer said Mr Sunak had “asked Defra lots of questions on what is happening” with the summit.

He also said he was “open to a conversation” on committing the government to an annual food security review.

The Agriculture Act places a statutory obligation on ministers to publish one every three years at present.

Watch FW’s video round-up with a summary of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s key moments below.

Two further big announcements were made in January – the first on the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme and the second an Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP).

The ELM announcement was broadly welcomed as it provided more clarity on future policy.

But serious concerns remain about the payment rates and whether certain farmers, particularly those in the uplands, will be properly rewarded for carrying out environmental work.

Mark Tufnell, president of the Country Land and Business Association, said: “While we are pleased that, finally, progress has been made on ELM, there has been little evidence that government is serious about unlocking the full economic potential of the countryside.

“There is a growing consensus among the business community that the Sunak-led government has no serious economic vision. I am coming to share that view.

“Rural businesses have been hit hard by the cost-of-living crisis. This is exacerbated by poor infrastructure, an outdated attitude to housing and planning, and virtually no cross-government coordination of policy.”

The announcement on the EIP – which set out a series of expectations for farmers to deliver on – was also met with a lukewarm response, with the NFU questioning where the plan to protect food security was.

Environmental group The Wildlife Trusts, meanwhile, said £1.2bn more a year needed to be spent in order to meet all of its goals.

And experts reacted angrily to the lack of focus on soils.

For chief executive of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust Christopher Price, the government is still yet to set out an “overall vision” for the countryside.

“There is no real indication of what the government wants English farming and land management to look like over the long term,” he said.

“Instead, there is just a series of piecemeal incremental announcements, which makes business planning extremely challenging.

“Also, there is too much focus on the farm level. Agriculture policy is about much more than what happens on farms.

“We need to see activity on the infrastructure on which the sector depends, in particular the appalling state of the local abattoir network, without which it is hard to see a future for sustainable livestock farming.”

Other key issues have yet to be addressed by the Sunak government, including fairness in the supply chain.

Sustain’s head of sustainable farming at food and farming alliance, Vicki Hird, said: “Where is the dairy code of practice? Where is the pig code of practice?

“They are saying ‘very soon’, but where is the consultation on all the other sectors. Why is this taking so long? If we need the resources, let’s put the resources in.

“Supply chain fairness and transparency are absolutely essential.

“They have been for a long time, but as things get more chaotic and stretched globally because of climate change and conflict, our nutritional security depends upon supply chains being fair.”

Ms Hird also raised concerns about the government’s position on trade. Mr Sunak made a pledge to focus on the quality, not the quantity, of agreements during his leadership campaign.

But his trade secretary Kemi Badenoch has since reaffirmed her commitment to joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Transpacific Partnership (CPTPP), which is a multi-lateral deal between 11 countries around the Pacific Rim, including Canada, Australia, Chile, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Insiders say there is an intention to join by the end of this parliament, with Britain’s top trade negotiator, Crawford Falconer, planning to return to his native country, New Zealand, once the job is done.

“It would be hard to say on trade issues that he [Mr Sunak] is doing a good job,” said Ms Hird.

“I have not seen anything to suggest we are going to get strong protections for farmers and nature in that space.”

Mr Dunn, however, urged farmers to look at the “chinks of light” appearing for industry.

“The conversations I have had with Downing Street officials, both from a political perspective as special advisers and the civil servants, have certainly been more engaging than we have had for a very long time,” he said.

“There is a willingness to hear and understand a bit more and to provide a little bit more oversight of what is going on within Defra to make sure the wider policy objectives of government are met when it comes to environment, climate change, growth, prosperity and levelling up.

“There is certainly a sense that our place in society is being recognised in a way it has not been for a while.”