Farmers welcome less regulation
The new coalition Government at Westminster is still in its infancy, but most farmers will welcome its stated intention of tackling regulation.
NFU president Peter Kendall has welcomed the coalition’s plans. "I am delighted to see that the coalition is committed to reducing the regulatory burden on farmers and we look forward to the industry-led review of regulation the Conservative party has promised," he said. Another who agreed with Peter’s comments was Richard Geldard, whose family have 40,000 free range layers on their farm at Levens in Cumbria.
Richard has been critical of increased regulation in the past. In one speech to the BFREPA conference, he said the cost of regulation on the family farm had increased from £3,000 to £30,000 in a decade.
He told the Ranger this month that the industry was now being regulated from a number of different directions at the same time. "We are in a situation now where we don’t just have to deal with Government regulation, but we also have to deal with European regulation. On top of that we have schemes in the UK to enhance the saleability of our products. They also have to be regulated," he said. "Ten to 15 years ago we just handled Government regulation. Now it is coming from three different directions – Europe, our own Government and the self-administered assurance schemes to ensure the credibility of our products. There is a place for the regulation," he said, "but we do have to be careful that it does not overwhelm the running of our businesses."
Peter Kendall said he expected that the Agricultural Wages Act – which he said was costly, bureaucratic, duplicated the minimum wage legislation and reduced competitiveness – would be a prime candidate for repeal under the new Government. He said that doing so would reduce pressure on the public purse, too.
He also welcomed the Government’s commitment of investment in new high-speed broadband connections. "If farming and other rural businesses are to play their full part in the recovery, they need to have the same access to information and e-services as their urban counterparts," he said.
It is still early days for the new coalition and political observers are still waiting to see how the Government’s policies on agriculture will develop. "Obviously, we have some concerns, more about what has been left unsaid than what has been said," said Peter Kendall. "We will be raising these with Ministers across Government at the earliest opportunity. Given the enormity of the global food security challenge, I would have liked to see an express commitment in the coalition’s programme to investment in long-term agricultural research and development. The Conservative farming manifesto talked about prioritising R&D and developing a long-term strategic agenda across the food chain that reflects the importance of raising production sustainably. I trust that the coalition government will follow through on that."
The Government’s main priority is the reduction of the huge financial deficit. Defra will contribute £162m towards the £6bn of savings the Chancellor is intending to make in the current financial year. George Osborne has instructed the department to slice 5.6 per cent from its budget. This is thought to be the third largest as a proportion of a department’s overall spend, outstripped only by the depth of cuts at Communities and Local Government (around 7.4 per cent) and Work and Pensions (around 5.7 per cent). Although costed specifics have not been announced, Defra has said its efforts to help balance the books will mean the following:
- limiting recruitment and reducing the number of non-permanent staff;
- operational savings in IT, estates and procurement;
- a reduction in funding for Regional Development Agencies;
- efficiencies in flood management while maintaining an increase in expenditure;
- savings within the delivery of selected programmes.
"There’s no pretending that the farming sector can escape the impact of the massive cutback in public spending this country faces," said Peter Kendall. "The savings announced by the Chancellor and his team are only a taster for what is to come.
"But the second part of the headline statement, about the need to restore economic growth, is crucial too and that’s where farmers and growers have a vital role to play. Competitiveness of the industry is central to this challenge. The NFU will be talking to and working with Government departments and agencies to ensure that whatever policies are implemented they enhance that competitiveness."
NFU acting director of communications Terry Jones said, "We have stated that we will scrutinise any proposed cuts and ask three key questions – in what areas could another body or approach provide a more cost-effective or efficient service; in which areas can savings be found; and what areas do we want to protect?
"We believe it is absolutely crucial that the new coalition Government balances the pressures of this financial black hole with a growing demand for food supplies in the future. Ideally measures to reduce the deficit should also bolster farming’s competitiveness not reduce it."
The fact that the new Minister of State for Food and Farming, Jim Paice, comes from a farming background, is a welcome sign. The MP for South East Cambridgeshire had a successful career in farm management before entering politics.
Peter Kendall said, "His name will be familiar to farmers and growers right across England and Wales for its strong connections to farming. I look forward to working with Jim Paice in promoting this exciting and vibrant industry and ensuring that productive farming is at the heart of Defra’s agenda.
He said, "I hope that we can work with ministers to create a mixture of policies that farmers and growers will find workable in the field and improve the competitiveness of British agriculture.
"The NFU’s manifesto was all about creating an environment in which farming businesses could thrive. We have argued that the next government, in the face of growing demand and dwindling resources, should work hard to secure adequate investment for agricultural science research and development to ensure we are able to deliver solutions to the problems facing us in the 21st century; we need to increase food production while decreasing agriculture’s environmental footprint. I am really pleased to see that the Conservatives’ ’A New Age for Agriculture’ echoes these aspirations.
"On the same note, and turning to more immediate issues, the Conservative pledge to ensure greater accountability and renewed focus in the Rural Payments Agency, and in particular their commitment to appointing the Minister for Farming as chairman of the RPA’s management board, has got to be good news. Farmers and growers will be pleased to hear there is a strong will to improve the operation of the agency. With the RPA’s current re-mapping exercise threatening the delivery of early 2010 payments these improvements cannot come too quickly."
