Farming in the Uplands - ARCHIVE: Defra

EMBARGOED ADVANCE COPY:
Not to be published in full, or part, in any form before
00.01am GMT Wednesday 16 February 2011
Farming in the Uplands 7
2 The Commission for Rural Communities
8. The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC), a Defra-funded non-departmental
public body, was created by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006.
The CRC received £6.48 million Grant in Aid from Defra in 2009–10 and employed 74
staff. 17 There are currently ten Commissioners in addition to the Chairman. Under the Act,
the Commission’s purpose was to promote awareness of rural needs among relevant
authorities and the general public and its three main functions were: representation, advice
and monitoring; research; and information services. 18 The CRC also supported Defra’s role
of encouraging other Government departments to take into account rural matters when
developing policy and designing delivery. The process, known as ‘rural proofing’, requires
policy-makers to consider the impact of rural issues such as more dispersed population,
fewer service outlets, greater travel needs or smaller economic markets on the effectiveness
of new policy, legislation or delivery mechanisms. 19
9. On 29 June 2010, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Rt
Hon Caroline Spelman MP, announced that the CRC would be abolished in March 2011
and that rural policy would be subsumed back into the department. 20 Defra anticipates that
the abolition of the CRC will cost approximately £2.5m in redundancy costs and save
around £18m. Understandably, Dr Burgess, Chairman of the CRC, expressed sadness at
the decision to abolish the Commission. 21 He told us that he expected the CRC’s evidencebased
work and working with stakeholders would be taken into Defra. 22 Professor
Shucksmith, Commissioner at the CRC, told us that he would wish the Rural Communities
Policy Unit to take on the Commission’s focus on rural disadvantage and that its advice
would be transparent to the public. 23
10. Following the announcement disquiet was expressed about whether and how the
Government would sustain the work done by the CRC. 24 The NFU welcomed the decision
to bring policy-making back into Defra but identified two risks resulting from the demise
of the CRC. First, whether Defra would be as good as the CRC had been at listening to
farmers and local communities and second, ensuring Defra was influential within
Whitehall. Several rural and upland issues are the primary responsibility of other
Government departments. Dr Clark, Head of Policy at the National Farmers’ Union
(NFU), told us that:
“The uplands are not led just from [Defra HQ]; they have to be led from CLG,
DECC, the Home Office and also the MoD, which has important landholdings. All
17 Commission for Rural Communities Annual Report and Accounts 2009–10, 20 July 2010, HC 200
18 Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, sections 18–21
19 See http://ruralcommunities.gov.uk/category/our-work/impact4/ruralproofing/
20 For the written ministerial statement, please see:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm100629/wmstext/100629m0001.htm
21 Q 7
22 Q 8
23 Q 8
24 Ev 53; CPRE responds to scrapping of Commission for Rural Communities (CRC), 29 June 2010,
http://www.cpre.org.uk/news/view/686; The countryside will be the poorer, The Daily Telegraph, 2 July 2010