The food minister is to be quizzed on financial support for farmers by MPs tomorrow (Tuesday).

At 2.30pm Rt Hon Mark Spencer MP, the Minister for Food – a post which includes responsibility for farming payments and reform – will answer questions from the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee at an evidence session on government financial support for the agricultural sector. 

The session is part of an inquiry into the rollout of the government’s Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) which is replacing, post-Brexit, the EU Common Agricultural Policy.  

MPs on the committee are likely to ask Minister Spencer about the future of ELMS and whether current pressures on farmers (such as rising energy costs) might change government plans - and what the timescale for implementing ELMS is.

They are also likely to ask how the government plans to address farmers' concerns about the lack of certainty and detail of the new scheme.

ELMS will pay farmers and other land users for public goods (such as clean water, soil health and protecting against hazards like flooding) instead of direct payments based on the amount of land owned.  

You can watch the session live at parliamentlive.tv