58.Following EU Exit, this instrument provides for the checking and monitoring of four financial assistance schemes which have been established under the Agriculture Act 2020, marking the move away from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The four schemes are: (i) the Environmental Land Management National Pilot, which will test a new financial assistance scheme before full roll out across England in 2024; (ii) the Tree Health Pilot which aims to improve the financial support available under the existing Countryside Stewardship Tree Health scheme and is to be rolled-out across England in 2024; (iii) a simplified version of the EU’s Countryside Stewardship Scheme, which will continue to provide funding to farmers and other land managers to make environmental, agricultural and forestry improvements; and (iv) the Farming Investment Fund.
59.According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the instrument also introduces investigation and enforcement measures to ensure compliance with the conditions under which financial assistance is provided under these schemes, and makes provision for decisions of the Secretary of State to be reconsidered and appealed. It also provides for the publication of details of the payments made on a public facing Defra database, similar to existing arrangements for CAP schemes.