I am one of the few farmers in the House of Commons, so I have been well placed to examine the Government’s plans for the post-Brexit future of farming. The Public Accounts Committee, of which I am deputy chair, investigates the value for money provided by Government projects. Today, we are publishing our report into the Government’s flagship Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMs).

At the centre of ELMs are changes to the mechanism for distributing funding, previously done via the EU’s CAP payments, to a system – due to launch fully in 2024 – where farmers will be paid for environmental and productivity improvements. The Government has stated that all the objectives of ELMs will be delivered for just over £2 billion, a target declared ambitious by the PAC members during the hearing.

There are three components to the project: the Sustainable Farming Initiative (SFI) for all farmers to be paid to manage their land in an environmentally friendly way; the Local Nature Recovery Strategies for more complex projects; and the Landscape Recovery for large-scale projects such as peatland restoration.

Due to the natural cycle of animals or plants it can take 2 years or more for the farmers executing the schemes to implement them, so timely information is vital. Much of the information concerning how these schemes will operate is coming out very late for farmers to implement.

Another problem is the average age of farmers – 59. I know from my own farm that my son, who is in his 30s, is far more adept at adopting new technology and innovation is central to the success of the scheme. The third aim of ELMs is to help young people who wish to enter agriculture.

As the report makes clear, without subsidies farms in England make an average net profit of just £22,800 a year. There is a real fear among small and tenant farms that many will go out of business and the average size of farms will increase. ELMs should have a part to play in protecting small and tenant farms.

This scheme will require a significant amount of land taken away from agricultural use. Officials are very clear that ELMs will promote increased efficiency on the remaining land, but they were not so clear on the amount of food that will need to be imported as a result. I do not think the public will thank us if, a few years down the road, there is either a big increase in prices or, worse, a shortage of food. We need to get to a point where we produce more than 50 per cent of the food that we eat in this country. The officials and panel experts we interviewed avoided the question of whether ELMs would result in more imported food and consequently Britain effectively exporting environmental problems.

All in all, many farmers are going to need to generate greater returns if they are to survive – whether from Government schemes, increased productivity or higher prices from the market.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown is deputy chairman of the Public Accounts Committee