Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border has welcomed the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ publication of eligibility requirements for common land applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive, as part of the Environmental Land Management Scheme.
Dr Hudson, as a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, has been heavily involved in an inquiry into the suitability of the Environmental Land Management Scheme to support the United Kingdom’s agricultural sector, following the end of European Union arrangements. Dr Hudson has repeatedly called for Government to recognise the importance of commons and small tenant farms. A report from that Inquiry, published in October last year, stressed concern that commoners need to be properly accounted for in the design of the Environment Land Management Scheme.
Eligibility requirements for common land applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive, and the EFRA Committee Inquiry can be found here:
Dr Hudson commented: It is vital that everybody in the agricultural sector can be rewarded for the public goods they deliver, and the whole United Kingdom can benefit from an agricultural sector that produces the highest quality of produce with the highest environmental and animal welfare standards. I am encouraged that the publication of eligibility requirements for common land applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive takes us in the right direction to achieve this.”
“I hope this announcement alleviates the anxieties some in the agricultural sector feel about the Environmental Land Management Scheme. I will continue to work as a rural MP and member of the EFRA Select Committee to ensure the Environmental Land Management Scheme benefits everyone in rural communities.”
