Call for Evidence

The tenanted sector covers approximately one third of farmed land in England. Tenant farmers play an important role in our agricultural ecosystem, helping to improve the nation’s food security and meet the Government’s environmental targets.

In January 2022, Defra commissioned a review from Baroness Rock to consider how tenant farmers could be better supported by Government action and contribute to a resilient and productive tenanted agricultural sector.

Published on 13 October 2022, the review makes a series of recommendations to Government to enable the tenanted sector to deliver sustainable food production, meet the challenges of climate change and improve and enhance biodiversity.

This inquiry will determine the priority actions to take forward from the Rock Review, evaluate the Government’s response to Baroness Rock’s findings, and consider how recent developments in the tenanted sector should be accounted for in any steps taken by the Government.

The Committee is seeking views in the following areas:

The growth and viability of businesses in the tenanted sector

1. What pressures and challenges are currently facing tenant farmers and how can the future viability of the tenant sector be secured?

The landlord-tenant relationship

2. How effectively are landlord-tenant relationships operating in the farming sector and what steps can the Government take to improve relationships and agreements between those parties? Are certain relationships (e.g. private landlord or multinational company) or agreements (e.g. multi-generational or farm business tenancies) more suitable

3. How can Government better balance the rights and interests of both landlords and tenants?

Interaction with wider Government policies

4. What impact are other Government initiatives, for example environmental (e.g. tree planting) or housing policies, having on the tenanted sector? How can any interactions be managed effectively across Government?

Access to environmental land management schemes and productivity scheme

5. Are Government environmental land management (ELM) and productivity schemes accessible and attractive to tenant farmers? How can participation be encouraged?

New entrants

6. What barriers face new entrants to the tenanted farming sector and what can be done to encourage them?

The Rock Review and the Government’s response

7. How successfully would implementing Baroness Rock’s recommendations address concerns in the areas listed above?

8. What assessment have you made of the Government’s response to those recommendations?

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