What steps she is taking to target Government support for farm businesses at family-run small and medium-sized farms.

The Government's sustainable farming and food strategy aims to create a framework that will encourage all farmers to improve their business performance while managing their land and natural resources in a sustainable way, and to contribute to strong, healthy communities by producing safe, quality food that consumers want to eat. Within that framework, support is provided to help farm businesses of all sizes adapt to the opportunities and challenges of the future.

I was going to ask about the recommendation from the Public Accounts Committee in favour of a farm advisory service, but does the Minister agree that that would be a mere palliative for the crisis facing our smaller farmers? Is it not absurd that one absentee landlord in my constituency, who allows people no access to his land, receives £2 million a year from taxpayers, while other small family concerns that have farmed 100 or 200 acres in my area for generations are in dire poverty? What is he doing to argue the case for shifting subsidies away from production and acreage and towards incomes—for instance, through a working farmer tax credit?

We are ensuring that the farming industry becomes productive and competitive, and that means that we do not want to differentiate between the size of farms, as we need to reward those who are growing properly for the market. That said, we are considering the next round of the England rural development programme, which will include measures to support the farmers to whom the hon. Gentleman referred, along with many others.