Download or read book House of Commons Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee Implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy in England 2014 2020 HC 745 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-12-03 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Against a background where farm incomes are falling, the Government needs to recognise that cutting payments to England's farmers will reduce their ability to compete in the marketplace, will leave farmers less able to invest in vital infrastructure and may make them more vulnerable to shocks such as poor weather, higher input costs and price variations. The Committee also warns against plans to transfer more money away from direct payments to farmers by shifting it towards environmental schemes. It recommends that the Government maintains the current 9% rate of transfer away from the direct payment budget. This rate of transfer should rise to 15% in 2017 only if it can demonstrate that additional funds are required and that this change will deliver a clear benefit. Money should also only go to people who actually farm the land and meet an 'active farmer test'. From 2015, 30% of the direct payment will be conditional on farmers achieving basic environmental measures. A National Certification Scheme approach to 'greening' does not offer the flexibility to avoid the Commission's impractical crop diversification rule so the Government is right to dismiss this approach. A new, single IT system is being developed, and the Government want access to CAP funding to be 'digital by default', meaning farmers will have to apply online. A lot went wrong in the last round of changes, and these problems gave rise to £580 million in penalties. Does it make sense to introduce a new computer system at the same time as complex new payment rules?
Download or read book House of Commons Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee Departmental Annual Report 2012 13 HC741 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-01-07 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Committee has examined the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) annual report and accounts for 2012-13 (HC 40, session 2013-14, ISBN 9780102985672). Defra is one of the smallest of Government Departments but it has faced among the most substantial budget cuts, which are set to continue up to 2016. Defra relies on a large number of arms length bodies to deliver many significant areas of policy. Ministers must clarify how further budgets cuts of over £300 million over the coming 2 years will impact on the funding provided to these agencies and the ability of the Department to respond to emergencies, exemplified by the flooding over Christmas and the New Year. Among the most significant challenges facing the Department in the next 12 months is implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy, and there are risks that the introduction of a new digital system for delivering payments to farms will cause problems for those farmers who do not have access to rural broadband. The Committee found that the results of the Defra staff survey revealed an increased lack of confidence in the management and leadership of the Department, issues which must be addressed. Further challenges facing Defra in the coming year include policy relating to bovine TB and badger culling, its proposals on biodiversity offsetting, the introduction of plastic bag charging, and examining the role and potential of GM technology in food production.
Download or read book Implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy in England 2014 2020 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by . This book was released on 2014-02-20 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Government response to HC 745, session 2013-14 (ISBN 9780215064721)
Download or read book House of Commons Envirionment Food and Rural Affairs Committee Appointment of Chairman of Natural England HC 890 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-12-13 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book HC 802 Defra Performance in 2014 15 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department's total expenditure for 2013-14 was £6.252 billion, taking into account both its activities funded directly by Parliament and grants made following the receipt of money from the European Union, predominantly to fund agricultural subsidies and rural development schemes. The Government budget allocated to and spent by Defra is known as the Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) and it is set at Spending Reviews. The Department has underspent its central Government funding allocation each year since the 2010 Spending Review. In 2013-4, Defra spent £2,433 million of its DEL to meet its strategic objectives which resulted in a £61 million (2 per cent) underspend compared to its budget. The Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-4 state that the £50 million underspend against resource DEL was due to the following factors: (a) £30 million was not spent as the UK Government challenged EU disallowance penalties on 2010 and 2011 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) scheme expenditure; and; (b) £20 million was intentional underspend following approval from HM Treasury to carry the funding into 2014-15 to spend on flood prevention
Download or read book Mid Term Review of the Common Agriculture Policy written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by . This book was released on 2003-01 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following on from the Committee's earlier inquiry on the future of UK agriculture (HCP 550-I, ISBN 0215006100), this report examines the European Commission's proposals for the Mid-Term Review of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in its wider international context (such as World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations and EU enlargement); and considers the implications for the UK agricultural sector and agri-environmental policy. Overall, the report finds that the Commission's proposals to remove the link between agricultural production and subsidies are 'brave and radical', and notes that CAP reform should strengthen the EU's negotiating position in WTO agricultural trade liberalisation meetings. However, an assessment of the funding implications involved is still required, and the Commission needs to determine the extent to which it is prepared to let EU member states emphasise environmental or social aspects within the Rural Development Programmes.
Download or read book Transforming Food and Agricultural Policy written by Carsten Daugbjerg and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-12-18 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Western democratic welfare states often featured sectoral governance arrangements where governments negotiated policy with sectoral elites, based on shared ideas and exclusive institutional arrangements. Food and agriculture policy is widely considered an extreme case of compartmentalized and ‘exceptionalist’ policy-making, where sector-specific policy ideas and institutions provide privileged access for sectoral interest groups and generate policies that benefit their members. In the last two decades, policy exceptionalism has been under pressure from internationalization of policy-making, increasing interlinkage of policy areas and trends towards self-regulation, liberalization and performance-based policies. This book introduces the concept of ‘post-exceptionalism’ to characterize an incomplete transformation of exceptionalist policies and politics which preserves significant exceptionalist features. Post-exceptional constellations of ideas, institutions, interests and policies can be complementary and stable, or tense and unstable. Food and agriculture policy serves as an example to illustrate an incomplete transformation towards a more open, contested and networked politics. Chapters on agricultural policy-making in the European Union and the United States, the politics of food in Germany and the United Kingdom, transnational organic standard setting and global food security debates demonstrate how ‘postexceptionalism’ helps to understand the co-existence of transformation and path dependency in contemporary public policies. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.
Download or read book The UK Government s vision for the Common Agricultural Policy written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-05-23 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In December 2005 the Government launched a "Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy", which was intended to stimulate debate and show how the Common Agricultural Policy should change in 10-15 years. This report examines the proposals and finds them a lost opportunity. The Government should have directed the debate towards scrapping the existing CAP and replacing it with a Rural Policy for the European Union. There should thus be a new Vision document, launched in a more subtle way so that allies for reform can be enlisted. The credibility of the document depends on the Government providing full and detailed evaluation of the impact of proposals on biodiversity, the environment, markets for agricultural goods and individual farm enterprises. This should be done by mid 2008. The long-term justification of the expenditure of taxpayers' money is the provision of public benefit. These public goods should be measurable and capable of evaluation.
Download or read book HC 942 Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee Work of the Committee 2010 15 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Reform of the Common Agriculture Policy written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reform of the Common Agriculture Policy
Download or read book HC 241 Waste Management in England written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government must act to increase recycling rates across England by 2020. It also needs to be ensured that only genuinely residual waste is sent to energy-from-waste plants and to do more to encourage the use of heat outputs from such facilities to improve the overall energy efficiency of this waste management method. Defra 'stepped back' from waste management at a time when we need both a more ambitious approach to waste management and stronger Government leadership to drive up static recycling rates in England and make better use of energy recovery options such as local heating for homes. Ministers must now show that waste policy remains an important priority. On a household level there is too much confusion about what can or can't be recycled - and very little confidence in the process. Communication must improve and be tailored to local circumstances by local authorities, but Defra should provide support at a national level - particularly in relation to common issues and problems. The Committee calls for clear guidance from Defra on how much waste treatment capacity is needed in England to gain an optimal balance between the export of refuse-derived fuel and local treatment. MPs support the use of anaerobic digestion for processing waste, but not for use with purpose-grown crops. More work is also needed to address the issues surrounding separate food waste collections. MPs also call on the Government take action to curb the frequent occurrence of fires at waste management sites
Download or read book Research Handbook on EU Agriculture Law written by Joseph A. McMahon and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-27 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the conclusion of the latest round of reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2013, the Research Handbook on EU Agriculture Law provides an up-to-date discussion of these reforms and the changing landscape in which the CAP now operates. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, and with international contributors from across Europe and the United States, the Handbook commences with analyses of the legal instruments which implement the reformed CAP, before moving on to consider questions of land use, the role of agriculture within the wider food chain and the international dimension. In these contexts, particular issues identified include: the environmental impact of past, present and future farming practices; the ability of the food chain to accommodate consumer preferences and scientific innovation; and the hurdles to be cleared before international consensus can be reached on a whole range of agricultural imperatives. As well as providing a state-of-the-art point of reference for academics, this comprehensive book will be of great interest to students, scholars and policymakers dealing with these new challenges faced by agriculture in the EU.
Download or read book HC 984 Primates as Pets written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-06-10 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Urgent action is required to establish the numbers of primates kept in captivity by private individuals across the UK and to improve their welfare. Little is known about the types and numbers of primates being kept or traded by private individuals in the UK and about the manner in which they are being kept. A ban is not ruled out, but such a step must be based on solid evidence and cannot be imposed before every opportunity to improve the operation of our existing framework has been exhausted. Defra should commission independent research to establish the extent of the problems in this area and to report with a plan of action within six months of receiving the research results. The Government must ensure that standards for primates kept in private match those required in zoos. The quality of care that these animals enjoy should be the same whether they are kept in a circus, a pet shop, a private home or a zoo. If the Committee's suggested changes prove insufficient and the evidence for doing so proves compelling, then a ban on the trade and keeping of privately kept primates should remain an option for the future. The report also calls for the Government to: ensure that legislation governing pet sales is fit for the internet age; boost public awareness of existing regulatory controls and guidance; increase the utility and efficacy of the Primate Code; expedite the publication of guidance to local authorities on the Dangerous Wild Animals Act.
Download or read book HC 703 Food Security Demand Consumtion and Waste written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The myriad choices millions of people make every day over what food to buy and from where to buy it shape the nation's food production and supply systems. It is essential to harness these decisions to support the public policy goal of enabling all to access healthy and affordable food. Both supply and demand issues must be managed if a growing world population is to be fed at a time when environmental impacts, including those of climate change, are constraining food production. In this report the Committee make recommendations on managing consumer demand, such as by encouraging the purchase of sustainably sourced products or the most nutritious food in order to help to deliver environmental and health goals.
Download or read book HC 240 Winter Floods 2013 14 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-06-17 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government must not neglect maintenance of flood defences and watercourses if homes, businesses and farmland are to gain better protection against future flooding risk, the EFRA Committee warns in this report of an inquiry triggered by the recent winter floods. The Committee calls for fully funded plans to address the current backlog of dredging and watercourse maintenance as well as to maintain the growing numbers of man-made flood defences. The devolution of maintenance activity to internal drainage boards and to local landowners, wherever possible, is supported. The Committee also urges the Government to address the confusion over maintenance responsibilities through a widespread education campaign. It is essential that Environment Agency funding cuts do not lead to unintended consequences where funding is redirected to one operational area to the detriment of another. The report also calls for a reassurance from Defra that frontline flood jobs at the Environment Agency will not be cut. The Committee identifies the current split between capital and revenue budgets as a major barrier to targeting funding according to local priorities, and can see no reason why the Government cannot move to a total expenditure approach for flood funding to allow more flexibility to spend in the most effective way.
Download or read book HC 834 Rural Broadband And Digital Only Services written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Access to broadband can be an unexpectedly emotive and complex subject. Written evidence the Committee has received explains how poor broadband can lead to a range of problems: from reduced access to online learning resources for students, to families being unable to use everyday online services such as BBC iPlayer and rural businesses being powerless to function in an increasingly online marketplace. Overall, poor broadband can produce a feeling of a two-tier society with the ’have and have nots'. This feeling is most apparent in rural communities which by their geographical nature are often the hardest for the infrastructure to reach.The move to an online-only Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) system for payments this year provides a clear example of how online-only services often need to be accessed by those located in geographical areas which are difficult for current broadband infrastructure to reach or for good coverage and speed to be provided. CAP payments offer a prime example of the wider Government policy to make services ’digital-by-default'. This policy has clear ramifications when broadband access is limited or non-existent.
Download or read book HC 817 Dairy Prices written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Worldwide pressure on milk prices has resulted from a combination of rising supply and falling demand, partly because of reduced demand from China and a Russian trade ban with the EU. Rapid and wide fluctuations in milk price bring pressure to bear on the UK dairy industry, and farmers have been leaving it in significant numbers in recent years. While there is no single solution to the problems created by these rapid changes in milk prices, it is incumbent on the Government, and Defra in particular, to promote UK dairy produce domestically and in growing export markets. Action to encourage the spread of Producer Organisations, a review of the EU intervention price for milk and clearer regulation on the labelling of dairy products could all assist a struggling industry. The voluntary code of best practice in the dairy industry, introduced after similar price difficulties in 2012, has been adopted by about 85 per cent of dairy producers and welcomed in improving matters as far as it goes. Closer attention is required, however, to the sharpness and frequency of price changes in the dairy market, which affect investment and financial planning. The Groceries Code Adjudicator's role, concerning the relationship between direct suppliers and major retailers, is too restricted to be of assistance to the vast majority of dairy producers, as they are indirect suppliers.
