WEST WORCESTERSHIRE MP Dame Harriett Baldwin has expressed her anger at Government’s management of a support scheme for farmers which opened and then closed in less than six hours.
The MP has already been contacted by frustrated local farmers who were unable to submit an application for the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme which many farmers currently use to support their businesses.
Dame Harriett has joined a group of MPs complaining in the strongest possible terms about the Government’s handling of the scheme which was first introduced in 2022 as part of a package of measures to encourage farmers to manage their land in a more environmentally-friendly way.
Earlier this year, the Government committed £253 million to the support scheme but the application process was only open for only half a day before the fund was over-subscribed and closed, leaving many local businesses unable to apply.
Dame Harriett said: “There have been concerns raised about whether this scheme would run at all. It is much needed support for some local farmers who will now be devastated that they will be missing out.
“Farmers need to plan years in advance, and this is yet more evidence that the Government does not understand nor care for our rural community and those who put food on our tables.
“In my regular meetings with farmers, this issue was raised and many were concerned whether the scheme would be properly funded and when it would open again for applications.
“A tiny six-hour window in the middle of a busy harvest season to apply for vital support seems farcical. This is an important scheme to support farmers, not a teenagers’ pop concert. As a group, Conservative MPs have written to express our farmers’ anger to the Environment Secretary.”
