Government 'must maintain' existing CAP levels of spending after Brexit

The CLA says the Government must continue to invest at least £2.2 billion a year
The CLA says the Government must continue to invest at least £2.2 billion a year

The Government must maintain existing CAP levels of spending after Brexit, says the CLA in a new report outlining its vision for a post-Brexit support system.

The CLA, which represents owners of land, property and businesses in rural England and Wales, has published a document entitled 'The Land Management Contract, Design and Delivery in England.'

The document comes after the Government launched a consultation on what should replace the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) after the UK withdraws from the European Union.

The CLA says the Government must continue to invest at least £2.2 billion a year - the current level of CAP spending in England - on the replacement scheme.

“The CLA wants to see the level of investment in rural businesses remain stable," say the authors of the report.

“Within England this will require the Government continuing to invest at least £2.2bn a year in the English countryside, in real terms for the next 25 years.

“As English agriculture transitions away from the CAP, the Government must make available the tools and support so farmers can adapt their farm businesses,” they say.

'Hand in hand'

Earlier this year Environment Secretary Michael Gove at the Oxford Farming Conference and at the NFU Conference set out his thoughts on what should replace the EU farming support scheme.

He has said he would like to see farmers rewarded for "public goods" such as protecting the environment. He has also suggested that farmers could be incentivised to invest in new technology to improve productivity.

He subsequently launched a consultation, which has now closed, seeking the views of those involved in the rural economy. The CLA has drawn up its own vision of what a new support scheme should look like.

“The vision of a new food, farming and environment policy where food production and environmental improvement go hand in hand is the right one,” said CLA president Tim Breitmeyer, seeming to echo the views of Michael Gove.

“For a long time the CLA has advocated a policy that incentivises land managers to deliver public goods like creating new habitats for wildlife, action to improve soil quality and delivering high standards of animal welfare.

“This policy will succeed if it sits alongside a clear plan for supporting profitable food production, through a transition period and for the long term.

“There is now clear political will to support this approach, but it is crucial that this milestone towards a sustainable future for the countryside is thoughtfully designed and well delivered.

Mr Breitmeyer added: “If the scheme does not make good business sense, and is not designed to work alongside profitable food production, the opportunity will be lost.”

He said key to the successful delivery of such a scheme was funding. “This means sufficient investment into the scheme, whilst avoiding unnecessary complexities and burdensome red tape. It also means long term guaranteed payments so that farm businesses can have the certainty that is crucial in planning for a resilient future.

“Our new paper sets out how a public goods scheme should be designed and delivered as an important part of the Government's objective set out in Health and Harmony, of a sustainable and profitable farming industry delivering environmental enhancement.”

'Unattractive payment rates'

The report says it cannot be assumed that land managers will automatically apply to any source of Government funding.

How future schemes are designed, implemented and incentivised will determine whether land-based businesses will engage with them, it says.

“Current environmental schemes are hindered by unattractive payment rates, the need for professional fees to navigate the bureaucracy, high management costs and the risk of having to repay some or all of the money received for often opaque and relatively minor infringement,” say the report's authors. “This must change if we are to see more interest in delivering public benefits.”

They say that the level of funding will be the main factor land managers will consider when engaging in land management schemes.

“Current payments to land managers for a defined activity are exclusively based on income foregone and cost incurred. This concept emerged from initial development of rural development programmes in the European Union and was ultimately adopted by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in the Agreement on Agriculture,” they say.

“To date, the EU has taken a literal and narrow interpretation of these rules and required the UK and other member states to do so, too.

“As English policy makers take the unprecedented step of reforming agricultural support to primarily provide public benefits, it will become necessary to re-imagine the incentivisation of positive land management,” they say.

Business proposition

The CLA says its proposed land management contract is a commercial business proposition, with the farmer entering into a contract to provide clearly defined public benefits in return for guaranteed payments over the long term.

But it says that, whilst a new public goods scheme delivered through the contract presents significant opportunities for environmental improvement, these benefits will only be delivered if the new scheme attracts farmers and land managers by making good business sense.

The CLA says it wants to see the level of investment in rural businesses remain stable. Within England this will require the Government continuing to invest at least £2.2 billion each year in real terms in the English countryside for the next 25 years.

“Having committed to being the first Government to leave the environment in a better condition than it inherited, it is incumbent upon the UK Government to put in place policies to achieve that goal,” says the report.

“As recognised in the 25 Year Environment Plan, it will not be possible to achieve the Government’s objectives without an adequately resourced environmental land management system.”

The CLA’s report also suggests that a new public goods scheme will only work if the post-Brexit agricultural policy actively supports and assists farmers in the drive for more profitable food production whilst allowing greater farm business diversification.