Annex A
Discussions within Defra were based on policy
submissions and supplementary advice prepared by Defra officials
within the Sustainable Farming and Food command in close collaboration
with RPA officials, primarily Hugh MacKinnon (RPA Director of
Operations) and Bill Duncan (Head of RPA's Central Scheme Management
Unit). These submissions and supplementary advice were sent to
Ministers in the usual method with Lord Whitty given the opportunity
to comment first before passing to the Secretary of State.
A decision of principle to proceed with the
dynamic hybrid was taken at a meeting on 7 January 2004 chaired
by the Secretary of State and attended by other Defra Ministers
and Special Advisers. Following this decision a number of subsequent
discussions with Defra and RPA officials and with stakeholders
took place relating to issues of detail in respect of this model.
KEY PLAYERS
— Margaret Beckett—Secretary
of State
— Sheila Watson (Special Adviser to
the Secretary of State)
— Andy Lebrecht (Defra Director General
of Sustainable Farming and Food)
— Donald Macrae (Defra Director General
of Law and Regulation)
— David Hunter (Defra Director of European
Union and International Policy) and his team
— Johnston McNeill (RPA Chief Executive)
and his team
KEY MEETINGS
As referred to above, the decision to proceed
with the dynamic hybrid model was taken on 7 January 2004 but
leading up to that decision key meetings included:
— David Hunter chaired a series of
meetings with stakeholders, including one on 8 October 2003. Lord
Whitty also chaired a meeting with stakeholders on 1 December
2003. The following were generally invited to these meetings,
some attended all, others occasionally.
Organisations in attendance
— Countryside Agency
— Countryside Alliance
— Central Association of Agricultural Valuers
— Country Land and Business Association
— Environment Agency
— English Nature
— Farm Animal Welfare Council
— Food and Drink Federation
— Meat and Livestock Commission
| — National Consumer Council
— National Farmers' Union
— National Trust
— Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
— Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
— Tenant Farmers Association
— Trades Union Congress
— Wildlife and Countryside Link
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— Separately, Lord Whitty discussed the issues at
meetings with representatives from individual bodies, including
NFU, CLA, TFA, CAAV and horticultural interests.
— Margaret Beckett chaired a meeting with Andy Lebrecht,
Sheila Watson and Defra chief economist, David Thompson on 1 December
2003.
— A series of meetings in January 2004 at official
level chaired by Donald Macrae to provide internal challenge to
the policy development process. Attendees varied, but included
Andy Lebrecht, David Hunter, Sheila Watson, Bill Duncan and two
Defra SCS colleagues (Andrew Slade and Tim Allen) who were not
involved in SPS policy development.
— Defra's ministerial team also met on a regular
basis and SPS issues were naturally discussed.
After the decision was taken to proceed in principle with
the dynamic hybrid on 7 January 2004, further meetings on detailed
aspects of the model were held ahead of the 12 February 2004 announcement.
Key meetings included:
— 21 January 2004—Margaret Beckett, Lord Whitty,
Sheila Watson and Andy Lebrecht.
— 23 January 2004—Andy Lebrecht and Richard
Macdonald (NFU Director General).
— 27 January 2004—Lord Whitty, Sheila Watson,
Andy Lebrecht, David Hunter and Donald Macrae.
— 3 February 2004—Margaret Beckett and Sir
Ben Gill (NFU President). Andy Lebrecht, Sheila Watson and Richard
Macdonald were also present.
— 4, 6 and 11 February 2004—Andy Lebrecht,
Sheila Watson, David Hunter and Richard Macdonald.
January 2007
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