Joint supplementary memorandum submitted
by England's Regional Development Agencies (V20a)
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Further to the oral evidence given by
RDAs on 2 November, we thought it would be helpful to provide
further clarification on a number of issues the Committee raised.
This Memorandum describes the Rural Strategy's main expectations
of RDAs; the funding Defra provides to the RDAs' Single Pot; clarifies
the leadership of the Regional Rural Delivery Frameworks and provides
further detail on RDA activity in relation to farming.
2. THE RDA ROLE
2.1 The Committee asked the RDAs to clarify
what they think is happening in terms of acquiring new responsibilities,
new powers and new finances. It is our view that the Rural Strategy
2004 assigns RDAs the following significant roles:
— Delivery of an additional £21.3
million of socio-economic funding (which was formerly disbursed
by the Countryside Agency) through the Single Pot.
— A stronger regional leadership, co-ordination
and directing role in relation to the Project-Based Schemes (Vocational
Training Scheme, Rural Enterprise Scheme and Processing &
Marketing Grant Scheme) within the England Rural Development Programme
(ERDP) prior to taking control of these schemes (or their equivalents)
from 1 January 2007.
— Working with Defra and the Business
Links on improvement of the business advisory service within economically
lagging rural areas and its availability, in general, to businessmen
and women.
— Using the mechanisms identified in
the Strategy for Sustainable Farming & Food (SSFF), helping
farm-based businesses to adapt to the challenges of reform, achieve
greater long-term sustainability and contribute effectively to
the wider economic, environmental and social objectives of their
areas.
— Working with Defra and other partners
(SBS, Sector Skills Councils, LSCs) to help businesses in rural
areas improve their performance through increased take-up of learning
opportunities.
— Working with local authorities and
other regional, sub-regional and local partners to contribute
to securing Defra's target to improve access to services.
3. RDA FUNDING
3.1 In 2005-06, Defra will contribute £72
million in total to the RDAs Single Pot. The Rural Strategy released
£21.3 million to RDAs in addition to Defra's existing commitment
of £50 million for 2005-06 (an increase from £45.5 million
in 2004-05). The £50 million contribution will be allocated
according to the normal Single Pot Funding Formula, but the new
funds (£21.3 million) will initially be allocated to allow
historical Countryside Agency commitments to be met. For some
regions, their segment of the £21.3 million is likely to
provide little headroom with which to fund new activity in 2005-06.
3.2 Defra is able to direct how the new
funds will be utilised through their contribution to the RDAs'
Tasking Framework. The Tasking Framework contains a series of
Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets from a range of government
departments, including Defra, against which RDAs are expected
to report both in terms of outputs, outcomes and strategic added
value. RDAs have committed to disaggregating the data on their
six headline outputs[10]on
a rural basis to provide a better picture of their interventions
in rural areas. In addition, RDAs are being expected to contribute
to three of Defra's PSA targets relating to sustainable development,
rural productivity & access to services, and farming &
food. RDAs need to marry the Government's expectations with the
priorities identified in the Regional Economic Strategies and
the Regional Rural Delivery Frameworks to ensure their delivery
meets the needs of the rural customer.
4. REGIONAL RURAL
DELIVERY FRAMEWORKS
4.1 RDAs are actively supporting and engaged
in the development of Regional Rural Delivery Frameworks (RRDFs)
which will determine regional rural priorities and inform the
development of delivery structures. The Government Offices are
leading the process with support from regional and public agency
partners including the RDAs. As mentioned in the oral evidence,
in the Eastern region, a seminar on 12 November attended by 150
delegates offered stakeholders an opportunity to comment on the
identified regional rural priorities and how they will be delivered.
5. RDA SUPPORT
FOR FARMERS
5.1 RDAs currently engage in a range of
activity that benefits farmers and raises productivity and, in
the future, we expect to play a greater role. RDAs believe that
farmers, like all rural businesses, should benefit from the mainstream
business support and learning & skills agendas. We recognise
that specialist advice does need to be made available, but firmly
believe that it needs to be accessed through mainstream delivery
structures to ensure that sectors are made aware of, and able
to benefit from, the full range of advice and support that is
available. RDAs assume responsibility for the Business Link network
from April 2005 and it is envisaged that Business Links will be
fulfilling more of a brokerage role which will allow customers
to access the right advice from accredited providers.
5.2 As part of our approach to support for
farmers, RDAs are:
— Asking Defra to direct its plans
for advice for farmers, focused on the implications of CAP reform
and the Single Farm Payment, through the RDAs to enable us to
build it effectively in to the Business Link brokerage model.
— Participating in the Regional Appraisal
Panels which approve grants under the England Rural Development
Programme (ERDP).
— Acting as joint leaders, with the
Government Offices, on the regional implementation of the Strategy
for Sustainable Farming & Food, a responsibility which has
furthered RDA engagement in this arena.
— Expecting to develop England Rural
Development Programme (ERDP) Regional Targeting Statements in
2005-06 which will strengthen the coherence between the ERDP and
the Regional Economic Strategy.
— Engaging with the negotiations on
the Rural Development Regulation by participating in Defra's Programme
Board and Working Group, responding to consultations and working
with RDS, RPA and partners in the Integrated Agency to take forward
plans for implementation of the English manifestation of the European
Agriculture and Rural Development Fund post-2007.
— Working with the Integrated Agency
partners to ensure complementarity between the delivery of agri-environmental
advice and business advice.
Annex 1
RDA CASE STUDIES
This section is intended to provide a sample
of some of the agricultural activity RDAs have recently engaged
with, in partnership with key industry bodies and stakeholders.
This activity runs alongside our mainstream delivery of business
support and learning & skills.
Rural Regeneration Cumbria: This rural regeneration
company, established by the Northwest Regional Development Agency
(NWDA) and Cumbria County Council, is assisting farmers to improve
their productivity:
— A £9.8 million programme, Farming
Connect Cumbria, has been launched to improve the long-term sustainability
of the farming and agricultural industry by providing business
and environmental advice, technical and marketing guidance, and
grant application support to farmers.
— A Red Meat Production and Marketing
Adviser has been appointed to advise farmers on the production,
processing and marketing of red meat products.
Growing Routes: As part of the regional implementation
of the Strategy for Sustainable Farming & Food, Yorkshire
Forward has worked with the Yorkshire Agricultural Society to
develop a scheme to meet the needs of young agricultural entrepreneurs.
Growing Routes provides one to one mentoring to 18-45 year olds
to encourage and support them to develop business ideas. To date,
the project has helped 20 young people to start and grow their
agricultural businesses.
Sentry entry: EEDA sponsors 20 free places at
the prestigious Sentry Conference each year to provide the farming
community with an opportunity to learn from some of the industry's
experts. This year's conference, titled "Collaborate to Compete",
will focus on encouraging farmers and growers to work together
to survive and thrive in the current market place.
Learning in the land-based industries: emda
has commissioned research into the impact of skills development
and business support activity on diversification and business
development in the land-based sector. The interim report, due
early in 2005, will inform how emda engages with the land-based
sector to build the skills needed to enable businesses to thrive.
EEDA has provided extensive funding for ADER, a rural business
support and skills training initiative developed by industry-for-industry
which focuses on the needs of farmers and is aligned to the land-based
colleges in the region.
South West Chamber of Rural Enterprise (SWCore):
SWCoRE was established in 2001, with funding from SW RDA, to provide
a Forum for representatives from the land based and food and drink
sectors, the public and voluntary sectors to develop a co-ordinated
regional response to matters affecting the rural economy. As such,
SW CoRE provides a valuable interface between land based and food
related sectors and regional institutions. Chaired by Sir Harry
Studholme (an RDA Board member), the secretariat is hosted by
the National Farmers Union (NFU).
The South Fens Business Centre at Chatteris
will provide some 20,000 sq ft of business suites. The centre
will aim to attract companies such as food technology business
as well as other industries and will be able to provide meeting
and training facilities, for a minimum of 20 businesses. The Centre
will be run in a supportive office environment and will encourage
networking with other innovation centres across the region. The
intention is to share knowledge and experience, to increase the
number of business opportunities for Fenland which is one of the
East of Englands lagging areas.
The International Agriculture and Technology
Centre, based at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, is a highly successful
joint AWM/Defra/UKTI project designed to promote the UK's agri-technology
industry overseas. It has been identified as a model of cross-RDA
working and collaboration between government departments and agencies.
Although still in its infancy, the IATC has already delivered
large numbers of outputs for right across the English regions.
Livestock markets and auction marts: RDA activity
covers the range of issues that impact on agriculture. In recent
years, for example, most RDAs have led research in to livestock
markets and auction marts to determine what interventions, if
any, are required to support the industry. Recently published
reports include a Feasibility Study and Capability Mapping of
Abattoirs commissioned by One NorthEast (ONE), a review of livestock
markets in the South West and a report on abattoirs and meat processing
facilities, both commissioned by South West RDA, whilst Yorkshire
Forward has contributed funding to the creation of an Organics
Centre at Skipton Auction Mart.
A sustainable farming and food team: The West
Midlands' Food and Farming Team was established jointly by AWM
and Government Office West Midlands to facilitate the delivery
of Defra's Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy. A dedicated
team of four has developed a 10 point delivery plan which is fully
integrated with the West Midlands' Food and Drink Cluster plan.
The success of the team was recognised by Sir Donald Curry during
his recent visit to the region. It is now planned to maintain
a team presence for a further two years.
30 November 2004
10 Employment creation, employment support, business
creation, business support, regeneration and skills. Back
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