Farming in the Uplands - ARCHIVE: Defra

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee: Evidence Ev 83
Supplementary written evidence from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural AVairs
Thank you for your letter of 23 November asking for some follow up information from the oral evidence
session on 17 November. This information is set out below.
If the Minister would be willing to comment on the results of the testing of the eight bio-physical criteria that
the European Commission has proposed be used to identify areas of natural handicap/constraint
The review of Areas of Natural Handicap, or ANH—previously known as Less Favoured Areas, or
LFA—has been underway for some time, following a European Court of Auditors report from 2003 which
was critical of the diVerences in how Member States applied the area designations. In the most recent attempt
at reform, the Commission proposed eight biophysical criteria and asked all Member States to simulate what
areas of land would be designated as ANH under those criteria. The eight criteria cover aspects of soil,
climate and slope.
The UK has played a full part in this testing, and in February 2010, submitted our initial mapping results
to the Commission. I enclose a copy of the UK’s submission to the Commission. My oYcials then met the
Commission in April to discuss the results. The initial mapping results showed that the Commission’s
approach broadly captured the areas of land we would regard as naturally handicapped. However, the
Commission’s proposed criteria did not capture those areas which are constrained because of the UK’s
maritime climate. In England this is particularly noticeable in the South West, where land currently classed
as Severely Disadvantaged Area (SDA) did not come into the ANH defined by the simulation. There are
also areas in the Welsh borders which are not being captured by the Commission’s approach, while some
additional land is being captured, particularly in the North East. Similar issues around climate and
temperature as in the South West arose in Wales and Scotland; while for Northern Ireland, the results
broadly reflected the areas considered as naturally handicapped.
The UK’s submission therefore identified a number of proposals for amendments, or additions to, the
Commission’s criteria, to better reflect handicapped land in the UK. The Commission have in general been
supportive of the UK’s proposed amendments, and have indicated some flexibility in their mapping
methodology, which would allow us to better capture naturally handicapped land within the UK. However,
discussions are still ongoing on the best way to ensure that the UK’s maritime climate is taken into account.
We understand that other Member States have also raised a number of issues with the Commission, which
are also being considered.
It is important to note that the exercise is only a simulation, and not a revision of the current Less
Favoured Areas. The current results do not therefore have any practical impact, and the designation used
for policy purposes including Uplands Entry Level Stewardship remains the domestic Severely
Disadvantaged Area classification. We will remain fully engaged at EU level as it becomes clearer how the
Commission intend to take forward any formal redesignation, as well as how any new designation may be
used under the Common Agricultural Policy post-2013.
The rationale for precluding amending the statutory objectives of National Parks as an option within the
Consultation on the Governance arrangements for the National Parks and the Broads
The remit for the current consultation on the governance arrangements for the National Parks and the
Broads was focussed on the generic issues of their future governance rather than substantive issues like
amendments to the statutory purposes, although it is possible that responses to the consultation may call
for such changes. The Commission for Rural Communities’ recommendation that National Park
Authorities should give equal priority to fostering economic and social well-being alongside their existing
statutory purposes of conservation and access, will be considered as part of the review of uplands policy
which will conclude in February 2011 and will take into account any responses to the governance
consultation on this point.
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Not to be published in full, or part, in any form before
00.01am GMT Wednesday 16 February 2011
The progress of “Home on the Farm”, specifically including: what the scheme entails; whether any change or
amendment to the Planning Policy Guidance will be made; what the flexibility is for ‘Home on the Farm’
dwellings to be used by non farm-workers and by retired farm-workers; and whether any budget has been
allocated for the promotion or extension of “Home on the Farm”
On 18 October Andrew Stunell, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of
Communities and Local Government, announced the “Home on the Farm” scheme which encourages
farmers and local councils to work together to secure the conversion of redundant and underused farm
buildings to deliver aVordable homes for local people. AVordable homes provided through “Home on the
Farm” will be for households in the local community, which could include non-farm workers or retired
farm-workers.
Planning authorities in rural areas with high demand for homes, may want to consider amending their
local planning polices to support the change of use of farm buildings to aVordable homes where these are
considered inappropriate for employment use, or take the need for aVordable homes into account in
assessing individual applications.