Recommendation 3
We recommend that, going forward, Defra produce
an annual assessment of English and United Kingdom farming in
order to monitor the impact of its policy decision. It should
focus on environmental impacts and also on socio-economic concerns,
such as land ownership and the incomes of those who work on the
land. (Paragraph 13)
Defra, in conjunction with the Devolved Administrations,
currently produces an annual assessment of UK agriculture (Agriculture
in the UK, AUK). This includes a breakdown into England, Wales,
Scotland and Northern Ireland for a number of the key statistics.
Over time, as CAP reform impacts on the industry, developments
will be picked up and reported in AUK. Further country breakdowns
within AUK will be considered as part of the annual seminar held
with representative bodies to discuss the content of AUK. More
specifically, Defra plans a programme of research to monitor and
assess the environmental, economic and social impacts of the CAP
reform package in England. This will include the establishment
of an 'environmental observatory' function to co-ordinate data
from a range of sources, collating the resulting information so
as to identify significant trends in farming patterns and practices
and their resulting environmental impacts. The Observatory will
also seek to predict the longer term impacts of farm practice
changes, highlighting any areas of particular concern or success
and assessing the implications for the delivery of the objectives
of Defra and its Agencies. A specification for an initial scoping
study for such a function is currently being drawn up to establish
what to monitor, a baseline against which to make comparisons,
the extent to which we can rely on existing surveys or whether
we need to modify those surveys or commission entirely new ones
to fill gaps in the evidence base. The scoping study will also
consider how to achieve effective co-ordination of the Environmental
Observatory function with planned or proposed studies addressing
the socio-economic impacts of CAP reform and potential mechanisms
for linking these with the Observatory's environmental impacts
to cover the three pillars of sustainable development.
The Government also plans to commission a number
of discrete projects relating to different aspects of CAP reform
impacts. These include research into the implications for the
economic linkages between farms, upstream and downstream industries
in the agri-food chain and other businesses within the immediate
wider rural economy, of decoupling and changing the distribution
of subsidy payments in England. There will also be a project aimed
at assessing the wider social impacts of changes in the structure
of agricultural businesses. Further research proposals are likely
to be guided by the outcome of the observatory scoping study but
we are particularly conscious, given the uncertainty surrounding
the effects of CAP reform, to identify at an early stage any adverse
impacts so that remedial action can be taken where necessary.
It will also be important to monitor the extent and magnitude
of the beneficial impacts and assess how these might be maximised.
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