Funding for Farming

Part of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – in the House of Commons at on 12 September 2024.

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Photo of Steve Reed Steve Reed The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

My hon. Friend raises an important point. Opposition Members are asking me today about budget decisions that they know cannot be announced before the Budget, when presumably they are aware—because the statement has been laid—that they underspent the previous budget to the tune of £130 million. It is not that they were not warned about this either, because while we were in opposition we were making points, as were farmers, about underspends and the desperate need to get that money back out to the farmers who needed access to it. We will review the situation, find out exactly what went wrong and publish that information as soon as it is available.