PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(4 February 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of funding under the (a) Landscape Recovery and (b) Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme has been received by farms smaller than 200 acres.

Asked by:
Josh Newbury (Labour)

The Landscape Recovery (LR) scheme does not directly award funding to participant land managers. Rather, the scheme awards funding to Projects, when in their development phase, and to a Single Legal Entity when they are in their implementation phase. This funding is then disbursed as per their project plans. The two pilot rounds of LR has seen in excess of 1400 land managers participating in LR projects with a range of holding sizes, with some choosing to enter whole farms into the project and others entering only part of their holdings. It should be noted that due to the dynamic nature of development proposals, this participation figure is subject to change.

The Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) scheme pays farmers and land managers to manage land in a way that: protects, restores, or enhances the environment and mitigates the effects of climate change.

The table below shows the total value claimed under the CSHT scheme and the percentage paid to farm businesses which were 200 Acre and under.

CSHT Claim Year	Total Value Paid to Farm Businesses with a CSHT Claim	% of the Total Fund Paid to Farm Businesses who are 200 acres and under
2021	£68,340,619	9%
2022	£100,077,442	9%
2023	£125,409,391	8%
2024	£226,289,959	7%
2025	£174,616,734	8%

** This includes woodland management and woodland creation plans and is based on land recorded as linked in the Rural Payments Portal.

To Note -The New improved CSHT opened in September 2025 and is being rolled out by invitation only - no annual payments will be due until the payment window opens in December 2026.

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