Closure of post-Brexit subsidies wrongly blocked 3,000 English farmers from investment

Ministers wrongly refused nature investment to 3,000 farmers in England after they close the post-Brexit subsidy scheme, the federal government has admitted.

There used to be anger previous this yr when the surroundings secretary, Steve Reed, abruptly paused a key post-Brexit farming bills scheme with little details about what would exchange it and when.

The sustainable farming incentive (SFI) is a part of a package deal of bills that changed the EU’s not unusual agricultural coverage and paid land managers for the quantity of land of their care, with the purpose of paying farmers to seem after nature, soil and different public items, somewhat than just for farming and proudly owning land. Many farms depend on those bills.

The pause used to be applied abruptly regardless of farmers making use of for SFI investment having been proven a message at the executive web site pronouncing that if the scheme used to be to near, they’d be given six weeks’ understand.

The choice to reopen the schemes to farmers who were proven this message used to be taken after the National Farmers’ Union submitted a prison grievance to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), arguing it used to be illegal.

Daniel Zeichner, the farming minister, stated in a remark to parliament that he had “remade the decision to close the SFI 2024 scheme to new applications, without notice, on 11 March 2025, taking into account the message that was published in error on the screen”.

He stated about 3,000 programs were affected, and the ones farmers can be given a brand new alternative to use for the investment.

A Defra supply stated: “We are taking responsibility, apologising and reopening the scheme to those affected.”

A brand new SFI scheme will likely be opened after the June spending overview. Ministers say the brand new model will likely be “better value for money”, and are bearing in mind aside from the wealthiest farmers from the scheme.

The farming sector has felt embattled below the Labour executive after the Treasury applied an inheritance tax on agricultural companies, which some farmers have stated may just save you them passing on their industry to their kids.