The budget for next financial year has been confirmed as £2.4 billion and Defra states this will allow them to “maintain the momentum of our environmental land management (ELM) schemes”. A summary is below:
- On SFI, it simply says that “the scheme is open, and all eligible farmers can apply”.
- For Higher Tier Stewardship it states: “when Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier opens, it will have a rolling application window with a streamlined application process to increase accessibility. More information about the timing and content of the expanded Higher Tier scheme will be published in December.”
- On Higher Level Stewardship extensions, Defra says: “Farmers with expiring HLS or Higher Tier agri-environment agreements this year will be offered an extension to their existing agreement to give them time to move into new agreements in an orderly way. Next year, we will make it much easier for farmers in legacy HLS agreements and those farming on commons to transfer into new schemes smoothly, as and when they wish. “
- On Landscape Recovery, Defra says: Rounds 1 and 2 will continue and we will share more about future rounds of Landscape Recovery in due course.
On other grants, Defra states: We will simplify and rationalise our grants offer to prioritise the initiatives that deliver the most critical support for food security and environmental goals
You can read the Defra Blog at https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2024/10/30/budget-2024-maintaining-momentum/.
