Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 1 August 2024.

Government commits to address low confidence and provide stability for the farming sector as figures show confidence remains poor.

The government has announced its commitment to introduce a new deal for farmers to address low confidence and provide stability for the farming sector.

Figures released by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, show confidence remains poor.  The data indicates that half of farmers don’t feel positive about their future in farming.  Of those farmers saying they are making changes, a quarter of plan to reduce the size of their businesses and 14% plan to leave farming in the next 3-5 years.

The results make clear the need for the end of farmers being rocked by the chop and change of farming schemes, optimising Environmental Land Management schemes so they work for all farmers including those who have been too often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenanted farms, and action by the new government to restore stability and confidence in the sector.

They follow the negative trend seen across the past few years. This is a complex problem, with several factors contributing to this persistent trend. Farmers have been struggling with extreme weather events like flooding and sudden huge rises in energy costs and been undermined by damaging trade deals.

The latest Farming Opinion Tracker for England gives a snapshot of the views and opinions of the sector between end of April and beginning of June. The latest results show that trade agreements with other countries were a factor for 29% of farmers who made changes to their business.

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed said:

Confidence amongst farmers is extremely low.

The new Government will restore stability and confidence in the sector introducing a new deal for farmers to boost rural economic growth and strengthen food security alongside nature’s recovery.

We will protect farmers from being undercut in trade deals, make the supply chain work more fairly, prevent shock rises in bills by switching on GB Energy, better protect them from flooding through a new Flood Resilience Taskforce and use the Government’s own purchasing power to back British produce.

The work of change has now begun.

The government is introducing a new deal for farmers to boost Britain’s food security and drive rural economic growth. This will include:

• Optimising Environmental Land Management schemes so they produce the right outcomes for all farmers – including those who have been too often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenanted farms – while delivering food security and nature recovery in a just and equitable way.
• Seeking a new veterinary agreement with the European Union to cut red tape at our borders and get British food exports moving again.
• Protecting farmers from being undercut by low welfare and low standards in trade deals.
• Using the government’s purchasing power to back British produce
• Setting up a new British Infrastructure Council to steer private investment in rural areas including broadband rollout in our rural communities.
• Speeding up the building of flood defences and natural flood management schemes, including through a new flood resilience taskforce to protect our rural homes and farms.
• Introducing a land-use framework which balances long-term food security and nature recovery

The speech made by Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, at the Garden Museum in Lambeth on 31 July 2024.

First of all, I’d like to thank everyone for joining us today – and in particular to our hosts at the Garden Museum. I used to be the council leader in Lambeth, and it’s exciting to be in a familiar space.

It’s great to see lots of familiar faces, many who I met during my time on the opposition benches. Those years are happily behind us now.

We’re united in our ambition to restore nature and support our rural economies and our rural communities. In the past, to me, it’s too often felt like the government wasn’t listening to our partners across the sector.

I want to change that.

I’ve been honoured to be appointed as Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in what is one of the most exciting and important briefs anywhere in government.

But I know I can do more in this job if I work in close collaboration with all of you.

So, your voices will now be heard.

Because that is the way that together we can deliver the change our country wants to see and that our country voted for a little over three weeks ago.

Things need to be different – and will be – different.

We are at a critical moment for nature.

We all want a future where our children can splash about carefree in our rivers, where our fields are full of healthy crops, where our shelves are full of good nutritious, affordable food, healthy animals graze, and our marine life flourishes.

But without change we face a future where torrents of sewage swill through rivers, rolling hills transform into mountains of waste, the dawn chorus is increasingly silenced, and homes and businesses are underwater.

For the past fourteen years, nature has been on a trajectory of decline – here at home and also internationally.

It’s shocking – and profoundly upsetting – that Britain has become one of the most nature depleted countries on the planet.

The voices of environmental organisations, farmers, businesses, rural businesses and so many others were ignored by the previous government.

But I want to thank all of you for your efforts, whether that was fighting to protect vulnerable habitats and species, supporting farmers and fishing communities, or keeping rural communities alive.

We want to reset the approach, raise ambition, and renew momentum

so that our children – and their children – can have the future we want them to enjoy

with clean rivers, fresh air, and limitless opportunities wherever they grow up.

I want to restore that sense of national pride in our beautiful countryside.

We need to show leadership on climate and nature at home, so we have the credibility to lead internationally.

And that work of change has now begun.

Britain is back on the international stage for nature and for the climate.

I’ve set Defra five key priorities.

We will clean up Britain’s rivers, lakes and seas.

In the last few weeks, we’ve reset that relationship with the water industry with tough first measures introduced already, to start to stop illegal pollution of our waterways and a strong new partnership that is intended to bring in a massive investment in jobs that will upgrade our broken sewage infrastructure.

We will end the throwaway society and work towards a zero-waste economy where resources are reused and recycled, creating new jobs and investment, but also protecting nature.

We will support farmers to strengthen Britain’s food security and boost rural growth with a new deal for farmers, cutting energy bills, ending trade deals that undermine environmental and welfare standards, and buying more British produce with the public purse.

We will speed up nature’s recovery, working with civil society, communities and businesses to restore and protect our natural world on land and in our oceans – at home as well as internationally.

And we will speed up the building of our flood defences and drainage systems to keep people and businesses safe, generating jobs in all regions of our country.

The Prime Minister has been clear that this Government’s top priority is to grow the economy.

And whether it’s creating jobs and attracting investment in our water and waste sectors, building economic resilience through better flood defences and nature-based solutions or supporting our food and drink sector, from fishers and growers to retailers and hospitality, Defra’s work is fundamental to all of the government’s missions.

Nature will get back its voice at the very heart of this government because, as everyone in this room already knows, without nature there is no economy, no food, no health and no society.

It underpins everything.

We’ve all enjoyed the mental and physical benefits of spending time outdoors.

Access to nature has a key part to play in Labour’s mission to rebuild our NHS and improve the health of our nation.

We are indebted to so many of you in this room whose work enables people to get outside, in our stunning National Parks, local nature reserves

or right here in Lambeth, with community sessions in the museum’s garden.

And we’ve committed to open up even more opportunities for adults and children alike to get out and enjoy nature

with nine new national river walks, three new national forests, and increasing responsible access to the countryside so more people can enjoy the best of rural Britain and create memories that will last a lifetime.

I recognise that we face a crisis – nature is dying, our rivers are polluted, and urgent action is paramount.

But this decline is reversible

and with the right approach I am confident we will change course.

This approach involves collaboration and working in partnership –

listening to your expertise and experience so we can shape policy and create the regulatory environment that will allow us to succeed.

I’m delighted to sow those first seeds of change at the Garden Museum here today.

Just as seeds take time to grow, we can’t fix our environment or clean up our rivers overnight – but, together, over the next weeks, months and years, we can nurture our countryside, restore nature, and build our rural economies so they bloom once more.

Now let’s get those conversations going again tonight.

Please come and say hello to me and my ministerial team dotted around the room [Daniel Zeichner, Emma Hardy, Mary Creagh].

We’re all really keen to speak with you, to listen with you, not just tonight but also to work with you in the months and years ahead.

Because as I’ve said, if we can tap into your insight, your expertise, and the networks and communities that you all represent, then nature and the future of nature is in the very best possible hands.

Please enjoy the rest of the evening

Thank you very much.