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Janet Hughes DEFRA Missing in action?
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<blockquote data-quote="Janet Hughes Defra" data-source="post: 8144109" data-attributes="member: 153068"><p>Yes I'm happy to explain the position if it's helpful (but as you've noted, I'm not allowed as an impartial civil servant to get into political debate about whether it's the right position - I will leave that to all of you).</p><p></p><p>The overall strategic direction has been set, after consultation and through primary legislation: England is moving away from area-based subsidies and instead using the money to pay farmers to take actions that support the environment, climate and animal health and welfare <strong>alongside </strong>food production.</p><p></p><p>The 'alongside food production' part of that is critical - there is a statutory duty on this, the government is clear that the primary purpose of farming is to produce food (and other agricultural goods), and this is an integral part of the policy: it's not about choosing between food production and the environment, it's about the two going hand in hand in a way that's beneficial for the farm, for food production <strong>and </strong>for the environment / climate / animal health and welfare. One of the reasons we're taking an incremental, test and learn approach to rolling out new policies and schemes is to make sure we've got that balance right and adjust it based on what we learn. </p><p></p><p>Within that overall strategic direction, Defra is using the flexibilities we now have to do things that can help farmers respond to the current situation, including:</p><p>* making BPS payments in 2 instalments to help farmers' cashflow (based on feedback from farmers who have told us that annual payments are generally unhelpful from a cashflow perspective, and particularly in the current situation)</p><p>* delaying changes to the rules on Urea</p><p>* clarifying Farming Rules for Water so that the rules are workable for farmers wanting to use organic manures / slurry on their land</p><p>* convening an industry group on fertilisers to look at what other measures might be necessary / useful (see this blogpost for more info and links on all of this: <a href="https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2022/03/30/fertiliser-updates-and-support/" target="_blank">https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2022/03/30/fertiliser-updates-and-support/</a>)</p><p></p><p>There are also of course much wider and bigger policy issues and questions about the response to the current situation, which are relevant to the questions you're all debating but way outside my remit / area of expertise to comment on or help you with I'm afraid - much as I want to be helpful, I can't usefully comment on things that I don't work on.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Janet Hughes Defra, post: 8144109, member: 153068"] Yes I'm happy to explain the position if it's helpful (but as you've noted, I'm not allowed as an impartial civil servant to get into political debate about whether it's the right position - I will leave that to all of you). The overall strategic direction has been set, after consultation and through primary legislation: England is moving away from area-based subsidies and instead using the money to pay farmers to take actions that support the environment, climate and animal health and welfare [B]alongside [/B]food production. The 'alongside food production' part of that is critical - there is a statutory duty on this, the government is clear that the primary purpose of farming is to produce food (and other agricultural goods), and this is an integral part of the policy: it's not about choosing between food production and the environment, it's about the two going hand in hand in a way that's beneficial for the farm, for food production [B]and [/B]for the environment / climate / animal health and welfare. One of the reasons we're taking an incremental, test and learn approach to rolling out new policies and schemes is to make sure we've got that balance right and adjust it based on what we learn. Within that overall strategic direction, Defra is using the flexibilities we now have to do things that can help farmers respond to the current situation, including: * making BPS payments in 2 instalments to help farmers' cashflow (based on feedback from farmers who have told us that annual payments are generally unhelpful from a cashflow perspective, and particularly in the current situation) * delaying changes to the rules on Urea * clarifying Farming Rules for Water so that the rules are workable for farmers wanting to use organic manures / slurry on their land * convening an industry group on fertilisers to look at what other measures might be necessary / useful (see this blogpost for more info and links on all of this: [URL]https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2022/03/30/fertiliser-updates-and-support/[/URL]) There are also of course much wider and bigger policy issues and questions about the response to the current situation, which are relevant to the questions you're all debating but way outside my remit / area of expertise to comment on or help you with I'm afraid - much as I want to be helpful, I can't usefully comment on things that I don't work on. [/QUOTE]
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