Farming in the Uplands - ARCHIVE: Defra

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22 Farming in the Uplands Uplands Entry Level Stewardship Scheme (UELS) 52. Since 1 July 2010, hill farming has been fully integrated into the Environmental Stewardship part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), with the introduction of the Uplands Entry Level Stewardship (UELS) scheme. Under the scheme, upland farmers are paid a higher single farm payment in return for “maintaining and improving the biodiversity, natural resources, landscape and historical value of England’s uplands, and to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, by supporting the land management practices which deliver these benefits.” 107 According to Defra “Farmers’ interest in Uplands ELS has been growing rapidly in recent months with more than 3,000 hill farmers and land managers having applied for the scheme, accounting for more than 500,000 ha of the uplands”. 108 However, the TFA told us that, according to Natural England, there are about 9,000 potential applicants which suggests “a little less than twothirds would appear to be outside the scheme”. 109 53. The TFA identified the move from the hill livestock compensatory allowance (HLCA) to the hill farm allowance (HFA) and the subsequent move from the HFA to the UELS as having badly affected hill farming. 110 The Association stated that 70% to 80% of farmers who had previously received HFA have not been able to get into UELS and that they had suffered a significant loss of income as a result. The Association argued that tenant farmers were vulnerable to exclusion from the UELS due to the terms of tenancy agreements or to landlords claiming the payments directly. 111 George Dunn, chief executive of the TFA, explained that the average tenancy agreement is for three and a half years duration, but for a tenant farmer to be accepted into the UELS they would need at least five years’ tenancy security, or the landlord’s agreement that the tenant enter the scheme, which was seldom forthcoming. 112 The TFA have put forward several proposals for correcting the situation, including modifications to the tax system to encourage longer-term tenancies. Mr Dunn explained that under the current European regulations it would be possible to direct payments to those in day-to-day management control of the land. 113 54. The UELS was also identified as a problem for commoners. The Federation of Cumbria Commoners states that the UELS guidelines: 107 Ev 76 108 Ev 77 109 Q 74 110 Ev 54 111 Q 72 112 Q 72 113 Qq 72, 75 114 Ev w1 EMBARGOED ADVANCE COPY: Not to be published in full, or part, in any form before 00.01am GMT Wednesday 16 February 2011 ...do not set out clear eligibility criteria about who can join, deliver and gain reward from the scheme. This lack of definition lays the foundation for conflict between commoners (holders of rights to graze common land and often neighbours) as it allows for different interpretations of the roles and contributions of active graziers, non- graziers and land owners in delivering UELS. 114
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 23 William Worsley, however, told us that the CLA was aware of “...one or two disputes, but we have no evidence that this is a problem of any scale [...] On the whole, this is agreed on a case-by-case basis between landlord and tenant and seems to work satisfactorily.” 115 He told us that there was agreed guidance by the Tenancy Reform Industry Group (TRIG) for the resolution of disputes. 116 Mr Cockbain, uplands spokesman for the NFU, agreed that there had not been many cases but cautioned that “... where we have such cases they could lead to dangerous precedents, put farmers off applying for agri-environmental schemes on commons and also attract very adverse publicity to the general public about how money is spent”. 117 In relation to disputes between tenants and landowners, the Minister confirmed that it had been discussed in the Tenancy Reform Industry Group. He said that “emotively” he agreed that landlords should not unreasonably prevent tenants entering environmental stewardship schemes. 118 However, he said: I don’t think Government should be heavy-handed and go in and start interfering in that commercial relationship. I don’t think it’s the job of Government to set, to create or to intervene with a mediation approach. 119 55. High ground, high potential was published as the UELS was being introduced. The report comments: “Although the scheme’s intentions appear to be valid, it remains to be seen whether or not it brings the desired benefits, and we consider that a review by 2012 will help to ensure that it is achieving an appropriate outcome”. 120 The NFU points to the importance of “specific research on who receives UELS payments” given the “higher proportion of tenants in the uplands, use of common land and short term grazing lets”, which can lead to “the land owner rather than the active farmer [benefitting] from the support mechanism”. 121 The NFU has therefore called for “...a prompt and continuing review of the uptake and beneficiaries of the Upland ELS scheme.” 122 The department acknowledges that the UELS has been criticised, particularly by tenant farmers and commoners and state that it will be monitoring uptake by tenant farmers as part of the overall monitoring programme for Uplands ELS. 123 We recommend that the Uplands Entry Level Stewardship be reviewed before the end of this year. The review should consider the challenges faced by tenants and commoners in accessing the scheme. If the review finds that they are so disadvantaged, we recommend that Defra bring forward proposals to remove the barriers to accessing the schemes, to include a mediation or dispute resolution mechanism accessible to land owners, tenants and commoners. 115 Q 126 116 Q 126 117 Q 127 118 Q 190 119 Q 190 120 High ground, high potential , p 93 121 Ev 64 122 Ev 64 123 Ev 77
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