Releasing the red tape burden
A Conservative government would drastically cut the level of red tape affecting farmers by fostering a relationship between government and industry based on trust and understanding, according to John Gummer.
The former secretary of state for agriculture, who now chairs the Conservative Quality of Life Review Group, said farmers would be empowered to make decisions about operations such as slurry spreading and not constrained by government regulations. But, he said, the rules outlining what levels of contaminants, such as nitrates, were permissible would still apply.
The proposal is essentially the adoption of the cost-benefit analysis model. This gives the individual a presumption of competence, but should this be broken punishment is provided by the market (eg prosecution). This is a marked contrast from the “precautionary principle” which is used to underpin most environmental and health directives. This calls for pre-emptive action if a credible hazard exists, even before the level of risk can be measured.
Mr Gummer was speaking at the NFU fringe, Why Farming Matters, where he committed the Tory party to a full review of all European legislation to ensure farmers were required to do no more than the minimum EU requirement.
His comments were welcomed by NFU president Peter Kendall who said it was absurd that certain regulations forced farmers to perform operations at times when they could be detrimental to the environment.
Helen Philips, chief executive of Natural England, used the opportunity to outline a shift in public policy on the delivery of public funds for environmental schemes.
“I agree with reduced regulatory burden on farmers. £3bn will go into Pillar 2 schemes between 2007 and 2013, but seven times that amount will go into Pillar 1 and the Single Farm Payment. I think the quid pro quo for reduced regulation will be that we don’t continue to subsidise an industry to meet the basic operating requirement that any other industry would meet as part of its operating costs.”
