The Government has confirmed that the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme will remain open until 31st March 2022. The non-domestic element will close on the 31st March 2021. The Government has issued a consultation (with a closing date of 7th July) on future support for low-carbon heating. This can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-support-for-low-carbon-heat .
The RPA has confirmed bridging payments will be made for outstanding 2019 agri-environment claims. Those who have not yet received their 2019 Countryside Stewardship or Entry Level Stewardship payment will be paid 75% of the estimated value of their claim. Bridging payments will be made by the end of May. The RPA has said it is ‘committed to driving up performance on the Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship schemes’. Payment delays are one of the reasons highlighted by land managers for not entering the schemes.
The RPA has also announced it will not be making any BPS 2019 bridging loans as 99% of claims have already been made and it is working quickly to resolve any outstanding.
Farmers in England will now have until the 15th June to submit thier 2020 BPS applications. Defra announced on the 27th April that the usual 15th May deadline will be extended by one month. The extension also applies to annual revenue claims under Environmental Stewardship and Countryside Stewardship. This brings England into line with Wales and Northern Ireland in delaying the deadline. Scotland remains on the 15th May.
Entitlement transfers for the 2020 claim in England must still be made by the 15th May. Forms should also be filled out showing the land use as at the 15th May. The period for amending claims without penalty moves to 30th June with an absolute deadline of final submission of applications and claims (but with penalties) of the 10th July. Applicants are being advised by the RPA to still submit thier BPS claims as soon as possible to enable processing to commence.
At present the deadlines for new Countryside Stewardship agreement applications (for 1st January 2021 start dates) remain at 1st May and 31st July for Higher and Mid Tier respectively. For further details see https://www.gov.uk/government/news/extra-month-to-claim-for-farm-payments .
The Brexit saga has (rightly) taken a back seat due to the Covid Crisis, however, with the help of video conferencing technology, negotiations on the future UK-EU relationship resumed last week. The impasses which hampered the first phase of the Brexit negotiations have re-emerged as the deadline for deciding on whether to extend the Transition Period (30th June) looms on the horizon.
As our recent article noted, the UK Government’s position appears to have hardened on this issue. Previously, it said it would not ask for an extension, leaving open the possibility that if the EU requested one it might take a more conciliatory stance. However, it is now claiming that even if the EU requests an extension, it will reject it also.
The negotiations themselves seem to have been focusing on different interpretations of the Political Declaration which both parties agreed to at the end of last year. The EU side is insisting that the UK needs to accept the conditions of a level playing field on issues relating to environmental law, State Aid and labour rules. However, the UK is pushing for a standalone Free Trade Agreement (FTA) similar to the EU-Canada (CETA) FTA with add-on arrangements covering issues such as access to fishing waters, which the UK wants to be negotiated annually. The UK does not want the future relationship to refer to EU law (i.e. interpretation by the European Court of Justice) when issues arise and cites relationships that the EU has with Canada as examples of how this would be possible.
There are discrepancies in both sides’ arguments. The Political Declaration did not state the UK as a whole should stay within the EU’s State Aid framework (but Northern Ireland would be subject to EU State Aid provisions for agricultural and industrial goods’ trade). However, having a tariff-free and quota-free trade deal with the EU, which is what the UK is striving for, has not been granted by the EU to any other major economy in the trade deals it has negotiated to date. Therefore, some form of close co-alignment with EU rules would be required for such a trade deal to be achieved.
It is difficult to see how much progress could be made on these substantive matters between now and the end of June, when a stock-taking exercise will be conducted before making a decision on whether the Transition Period would be extended, without some high-level political intervention. Back in October, it was a meeting between the Prime Minister and his Irish counterpart, Leo Varadkar, which broke the impasse on the backstop. Perhaps, as both the Prime Minister and Michel Barnier have been struck down by the coronavirus in recent weeks, that period of self-isolation would have given them some time for reflection, and to adopt a more constructive approach.
The agri-food sector has enough on its hands to deal with the Covid crisis and the economy as a whole is facing its most difficult slump since the Great Depression. What needs to be avoided now is another major disruption to supply-chains, which is what a No-Trade-Deal Brexit in December would bring. The UK is already out of the EU. It is better to take the time needed to put the frameworks in place to have a stable and secure future trading relationship with its closest neighbours, which as recent weeks have shown, remains very important for future food security.
The statutory levies to fund the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) will continue, but they will be subject to a ballot of levy-payers every five years. This is the key finding of the Government’s review of the AHDB which was published on the 20th April.
Defra and the Scottish and Welsh governments ran a Request for Views on the future of the AHDB in the second half of 2018. It received just over 900 responses. The original plan had been to publish a summary of views in early 2019 but Brexit preparations has delayed this by over a year. Defra has now produced a Summary of Views and Government response which can be found at – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/880143/ahdb-consult-sum-resp.pdf .
The review took place under a number of headings;
Overall, the views of the levy board were mixed. 43% of respondents had a positive view of AHDB, whilst 36% were negative and 20% selected ‘neither positive nor negative’. Again, those in the dairy and potato sectors were more negative overall about the AHDB.
The review was a long-time in preparation, but has not produced a radical shake-up of the levy board. In many ways, the AHDB has been asked to go away and come up with a plan to address some of the issues highlighted by the survey. The biggest change is the proposal for a five-yearly vote. Whilst it must be remembered that it is levy-payers’ money, there is not necessarily the wisdom-of-crowds when it comes to how to spend it. Farmers (as a collective) seem to prefer certain activities (for example, generic advertising of their produce) whilst not liking other activities (business management improvement) that is often more effective.
The Scottish Government has confirmed that it will not be making payment in Euros for the 2020 BPS year. Those claimants who have previously taken their BPS in Euros will need to supply details of a Sterling bank account. Unsurprisingly, it has also been confirmed that Scotland will use the same conversion rate as last year (€1 = £0.89092). For more details see https://www.ruralpayments.org/news-events/currency-and-exchange-rate.html .
The Government has launched a new website aimed at recruiting British workers for harvesting and processing roles, mainly in the horticulture sector. The ‘Pick for Britain’ website is a hub that puts prospective applicants in touch with employers and recruiters. The aim is to encourage workers on furlough, students and others to fill the estimated 80,000 seasonal fruit and veg vacancies through the summer months. The site can be found at – https://pickforbritain.org.uk/. Although there has been significant initial interest from potential workers, this seems not to have yet translated into large numbers of people on farm. The expectations of employees and employers appear to be mismatched. Workers are often discouraged by the location of jobs, conditions and pay. Employers seem dubious about the skills and motivation of UK staff and would prefer their traditional East-European workers.
The Welsh Government has published draft legislation that would make the whole country a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ). The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2020 would impose new restrictions on the storage and spreading of slurry, manure and nitrogen fertiliser, including closed periods for applications. The Welsh Rural Affairs Secretary, Lesley Griffiths, has stated that no final decision will be taken until the Covid-19 outbreak has passed, but that she is ‘minded’ to introduce the new regulations. Further details can be found at – https://gov.wales/draft-water-resources-control-agricultural-pollution-wales-regulations-2020 .
A new round of the Woodland Carbon Guarantee Scheme will open in June, worth £10m. This is the scheme that allows those planting woodlands to sell carbon credits to the Government at a guaranteed price up to 2055. This provides an additional income above the traditional planting grants and any timber sales. The scheme is run as a reverse auction with the next round taking place between 8th and 19th June. The closing date for applications is the 5th June. All woods must be registered and managed in accordance with the Woodland Carbon Code. At the first auction in January, eighteen contracts were offered to create 182 hectares of woods. The prices achieved for the carbon credits have not been published. For more details see https://www.gov.uk/guidance/woodland-carbon-guarantee .
The Government has stated that there will be no extension to the end of the Brexit Transition Period beyond 31st December 2020. There had been much speculation that a delay would be necessary given that no negotiations have been able to take place over the past few weeks and that both businesses and Government are preoccupied with dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak. However, speaking on the 16th April a Downing Street spokesman stated “we will not ask to extend the transition. And, if the EU asks, we will say no. Extending the transition would simply prolong the negotiations, prolong business uncertainty, and delay the moment of control of our borders.”
This is actually hardening of the UK Government’s position – previously it has stated that the UK would not ask for an extension, but has been deliberately vague on what would happen if the EU requested one. The deadline for agreeing an extension to the Transition Period is the 1st July.
