Launch of a committee inquiry into Tenant Farmers
The vital role played by tenant farmers in England - and how it can be consolidated - will be scrutinised by Parliament’s cross-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee in an inquiry being launched this week.
The Committee of MPs announced they would be looking into the situation of tenant farmers following a review of the sector led by Baroness Kate Rock, who published a series of recommendations in October 2022, and the government’s initial response to that review published today, May 24, 2023.
Dr Neil Hudson MP for Penrith and the Border and Member of the the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee said:
“Tenant farmers are at the heart of our rural communities and do so much to provide fantastic sustainable food and look after our precious environment.
“We are concerned that the unintended consequences of the well-intentioned Environmental Land Management Schemes may adversely impact some of our tenant farmers. Our new EFRA Inquiry will be evaluating the findings of the excellent Rock Review and the Government’s response to her report.
“We will look to make recommendations to Government to protect and support our vital tenant farming sector who do so much for our food security and for our rural areas.”
Chair of the EFRA Committee, Sir Robert Goodwill MP, said:
“It’s high time to act. Tenant farmers work roughly one third of all farmed land in England. They play a crucial role in delivering the food we need and the environmental results we want.
“So, in these changing times, with new government rules and regulations on agriculture seemingly popping up all the time, we must make sure our tenant farmers are properly supported in their crucial role. That’s what the committee intends to do.
“We’re grateful to Baroness Rock for her work. The EFRA committee is well aware of her recommendations and we will look carefully at those the government chooses to accept. If some of the recommendations are not adopted, we will be keen to establish why not”.
Background to the inquiry
The full terms of reference for the inquiry to be undertaken by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee are published below. A summary of the Rock Review is here and the government response to it is here.
In summary, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in January 2022 commissioned a review from Baroness Rock to consider how tenant farmers could be better supported by government action in order to contribute to a resilient and productive tenanted agricultural sector.
Baroness Rock made over 70 recommendations in her subsequent report that she said, if delivered as a package, would:
· Deliver sustainable food production;
· Meet the challenges of climate change; and
· Deliver improvement and enhancement of biodiversity.
The Committee’s inquiry will determine the priority actions to take forward from the Rock Review, evaluate the Government’s response to Baroness Rock’s findings, and consider how recent developments in the tenanted sector should be accounted for in any steps taken by the government.
How to contribute to the inquiry
The Committee is inviting written submissions to the inquiry from people in various parts of the farm sector as well as experts, academics and others with experience in the area. Written submissions do not have to cover every aspect of the terms of reference – your area of expertise is what we want to learn from.
For advice on how to submit your evidence, and how we then use that information, please click here.
The committee will also gather information by inviting witnesses to oral evidence sessions, usually held in Parliament’s Committee Rooms. Most evidence sessions are held in public, are announced in advance, and can be watched on parliamentlive.tv
Terms of reference for the inquiry
The Committee is seeking views in the following areas:
The growth and viability of businesses in the tenanted sector
1. What pressures and challenges are currently facing tenant farmers and how can the future viability of the tenant sector be secured?
The landlord-tenant relationship
2. How effectively are landlord-tenant relationships operating in the farming sector and what steps can the government take to improve relationships and agreements between those parties? Are certain relationships (e.g. private landlord or multinational company) or agreements (e.g. multi-generational or farm business tenancies) more suitable?
3. How can government better balance the rights and interests of both landlords and tenants?
Interaction with wider government policies
4. What impact are other government initiatives, for example environmental (e.g. tree planting) or housing policies, having on the tenanted sector? How can any interactions be managed effectively across government?
Access to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes and productivity schemes
5. Are government ELM and productivity schemes accessible and attractive to tenant farmers? How can participation be encouraged?
New entrants
6. What barriers face new entrants to the tenanted farming sector and what can be done to encourage them?
The Rock Review and the government’s response
7. How successfully would implementing Baroness Rock’s recommendations address concerns in the areas listed above?
8. What assessment have you made of the government’s response to those recommendations?
