Supplementary evidence submitted by Jamie
Blackett (RAS 02a)
1. I was asked to provide examples of where
excessive regulation hinders growth and where civil servants have
acted to block innovation.
2. Two brief examples of where farmers in
this country are hampered by regulation.
— We have to give the Government the
same information three times a year in lengthy forms, namely the
SP5 and the two censuses. Time = money and the time I spend filling
in forms could be more profitably spent elsewhere.
— In most parts of the world if they
have fallen stock they bury it. This could be done quite safely
on my farm in a lined dead pit on land that does not drain into
a watercourse (it drains straight out to sea and any residue would
be clean by the time it got there anyway). The animal would rot
down as nature intended. As it is I have to spend time and money
getting it disposed of through the fallen stock scheme. This has
an adverse effect on global warming as a vehicle has to go on
a 25 mile round trip to pick it up and it is then burnt. The cost
amounts to about £1.50 on every beast I sell when averaged
across my herd, which puts me at a further disadvantage against
South American beef.
3. An example of bureaucracy stifling innovation.
4. We have plans for a shellfish farm on
foreshore that we own on the Solway Firth. The project would be
backed by inward investment from a European partner and would
create 20 local jobs.
5. The fact that it is in an SSSI means
that we have to go through a lengthy process to prove that there
is no adverse effect on the environment. The burden of proof is
on us and we are in an impossible position because it is a scientific
axiom that you can't prove a negative. Even though shellfish are
net cleansers of water rather than pollutants.
6. We are a small business and against us
are ranged large government agencies, SNH (English Nature equivalent),
SEPA (Environment Agency equivalent) etc. staffed by worthy people
who mean well but decide that there is no personal risk to themselves
if they say no to every proposal.
7. As a result we have got nowhere. In the
same space of time shellfish farms have sprung up in Ireland,
France and Australia using the same technology in similar environments,
some of them SSSIs.
8. There may come a point when we just give
up, which would be a pity because if those in the public sector
in safe jobs are to have their index linked pensions paid for,
then entrepreneurs like me are going to have to work that much
harder.
July 2006
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