The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr Owen Paterson)
Today I am publishing the Government’s response to the recent public consultation on the implementation of the common agricultural policy (CAP) in England. This will determine how we distribute £15 billion of funds over the next CAP period. It will see us investing at least £3.5 billion in rural development schemes, of which over £3 billion will be spent on improving the environment.
The decisions I am announcing are:
12% will be transferred from farmers’ pillar 1 direct payments to pillar 2 rural development. This money will improve the environment, grow the rural economy and create jobs.
A review will be held in 2016 into the demand for agri-environment schemes and the competitiveness of English agriculture. This is with the intention of moving to a 15% transfer rate from pillar 1 direct payments to support the final two years of the pillar 2 rural development programme.
5% of the new rural development programme funding will be allocated to the local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) through the growth programme. In total 13% of rural development funds will be spent on growth-focused schemes, including LEADER and farming competitiveness. I will ensure that there is a meaningful role for LEPs to help deliver growth through all of these elements of the programme.
The new CAP greening requirements will be implemented through the basic measures set out in the EU regulation. We will work with interested groups on how we apply the ecological focus area options to deliver real benefits for pollinators without adding complexity.
We will help upland farmers by equalising the upland and lowland direct payment rates. We will take a decision about the moorland rate in spring 2014. This will allow us to carry out further modelling of the impact on upland farms.
We will keep the implementation of direct payments as simple as possible by applying the minimum reduction on basic payments over €150,000 and keeping rules on the new active farmer test to a minimum.
Having considered carefully the wide range of views expressed through the consultation, I believe that this package delivers better value for taxpayers, is fair to English farmers and supports this Government’s commitment to improve our natural environment. Environmental schemes will get a higher proportion of the rural development budget than now.
In addition to making ecological focus areas deliver benefits for pollinators, my Department will work closely with farming and environmental organisations on how the Campaign for the Farmed Environment will deliver targets at local level for protecting watercourses, providing habitat for farmland birds, wildlife and pollinators. We will review the success of this at the end of 2015.
Rural business schemes have already successfully transformed the prospects of thousands of businesses and farms, created 8,500 rural jobs across the country, safeguarding another 9,700. We want to build on this track record of success.
Within a smaller overall CAP budget these decisions will help to grow the rural economy and improve the environment.