Annex
High ground, high potential—a
future for England's upland communities: Summary of Recommendations
1: A new integrated strategy for the uplands
The Government should develop a comprehensive and
integrated strategy for England's uplands, to protect and maximise
the benefits derived from the valuable national assets these areas
contain. The strategy should recognise that support and investment
in thriving upland communities is critical to realising the full
potential of these diverse areas.
2: Strengthening leadership and momentum
The Government should appoint an individual with
lead responsibility for developing and ensuring effective implementation
of the new uplands strategy. This individual should be accountable
to Ministers of BIS, CLG, DECC and DEFRA.
3: Empowering communities in the uplands
3.1: CLG should take responsibility for ensuring
that the recommendations of the CRC's Participation Inquiry (2008)
are implemented, and in particular:
- ensure that both central and
local government commit to supporting and acting upon very local
community plans such as parish plans and market town plans;
- encourage local authorities to give neighbourhood
budgets to local councillors for expenditure within their areas
and for parish councillors to involve local residents more directly
in spending decisions using participatory budgeting principles.
3.2: Relevant local authorities should be encouraged
by CLG to pilot new approaches that enable local authorities and
communities to work together in upland areas to agree objectives,
allocate resources, and achieve strategic goals. One of the models
which might be piloted in an upland area could be the Multi Area
Agreement (MAA) or similar. And CLG should extend the scope of
its Total Place pilots to an upland location, providing a valuable
opportunity to explore both the potential for a more integrated,
place-based approach to public sector provision, and the opportunities
for strengthening voluntary, community and social enterprise activities
in upland communities.
3.3: Defra should enhance the role and value of the
National Park Authorities by increasing their statutory responsibilities
to give equal priority and status to foster the economic and social
well being of local communities alongside the existing statutory
purposes set out in section 61 of the Environment Act 1995.
3.4: Local planning authorities should be required
to demonstrate that they have given material consideration to
properly constituted parish plans and other local consultative
strategies.
4: A new approach to funding
4.1: Current funding mechanisms will not unlock the
potential of the uplands and as part of the CAP reform in 2013
and 2020, Defra and its agencies (and the EU) should develop a
new approach to rewarding farmers for managing national assets
in harmony with developing businesses and market enterprises.
4.2: Defra should broaden its concept of 'income
foregone' to include the full costs of the farmer staying in business,
in line with some other EU countries.
4.3: To reflect the contribution of upland communities
to public benefits, Defra should ensure that the menu of measures
under axes 3 and 4 should be broadened to enhance investment in
and support for social sustainability of communities in upland
areas.
4.4: Delivery bodies with Less Favoured Areas within
their jurisdiction should review the extent to which RDPE funding
is sufficiently accessible to upland farms and rural businesses
(especially those relating to enterprise investment and rural
business support).
5: Developing markets for carbon and water
5.1: Defra should establish a long-term land management
policy to mitigate carbon loss, particularly in relation to peatlands
management. This policy should be informed by the knowledge and
capacity that various research programmes have developed in this
area.
5.2: DECC should set out the steps necessary to develop
effective carbon markets and ensure that future reward for land
carbon management comes through the market.
5.3: Defra and its agencies should use good practice
(such as SCaMP and catchment sensitive farming) to develop models
for public-private investment that secures multiple objectives
in upland catchments, maintains water quality, reduces flood risk
and potentially provides income for hill farmers and land managers.
6: Securing the future for hill farming
6.1: Given the fundamental changes and the provisional
budget allocations for the Upland Entry Level Scheme, Defra should
review uptake and initial impacts of the scheme by 2012.
6.2: Decisions on stocking rates should be made locally
to reflect the distinctive needs of each place, local climate
and the balance of public goods appropriate for particular areas.
We are recommending a rapid review of the policy and its effects—informed
by whatever monitoring evidence and scientific evidence is now
available—to understand more about what is happening on
the ground.
6.3: Farming lead bodies, including NFU, TFA and
CLA should work with Government to develop proposals, and facilitate
good practice in ensuring the succession of upland farms.
6.4: In order to address the R & D deficit relating
to sustainability of the uplands, Research Councils UK and other
relevant stakeholders should target key themes and then build
capacity through partnerships, pool scarce resources and facilitate
greater knowledge transfer across relevant research projects.
6.5: At least one land-based college should use its
hill farming resources to improve and promote apprenticeships,
training, and livestock improvement and land management programmes.
This should include field trial work and the development of learning
materials for wider application.
6.6: RDPE funding should be used to develop a series
of commercial demonstration farms to promote good practice across
a range of disciplines including implementation of agri-environment
schemes, soil and livestock management, alternative forage crops,
stocking rates and grazing management regimes.
6.7: Because of the dependence on four wheel drive
vehicles to carry out work in the difficult terrain of the uplands,
we recommend that manufacturers and HMRC clarify and publicise
the criteria for reduced taxation, including which vehicles qualify.
7: Encouraging enterprise in new green growth
areas
7.1: DECC and CLG should require local authorities
to complete an audit of the opportunities for renewable energy
to stimulate new enterprise and ensure opportunities for added
value are not missed.
7.2: BIS should ensure that specialist advice to
develop new green businesses and enterprise is available and accessible
across England's uplands.
7.3: BIS and DECC should ensure that programmes and
incentives are offered to local businesses and social entrepreneurs
within upland communities and that the economic benefits are enjoyed
first and foremost by the local communities.
7.4: In any future plans for afforestation in the
uplands, the Forestry Commission should promote and demonstrate
full consideration of local social and economic benefits.
8: Raising aspirations: supporting development
of communities
8.1: Cabinet Office should ensure that proper account
is taken of the needs and potential of upland communities when
developing and delivering the Government's Big Society Programme.
In particular, the arrangements for the voluntary and community
sector should be replaced with committed and reliable measures.
8.2: BIS should provide support to existing and emergent
industries in the uplands, with advice, training programmes and
knowledge sharing fora, focused on new and traditional skills
and businesses, which reflect the business profile and potential
of the uplands. Wherever possible this should be informed by experience
of living and working in the uplands. Mentoring schemes would
be particularly important to encourage innovation and provide
inspiration.
9: Improving broadband and mobile telephone communications
9.1: BIS and Defra (through Broadband Delivery UK)
should support the development of creative solutions to deliver
NGA (Next Generation Access) to upland areas, including support
for more community broadband schemes, and promoting good practice.
9.2: BIS should agree a set of proposals with OFCOM
to provide universal coverage of mobile phone services.
9.3: BIS should agree to use a framework agreement
so that public investment (e.g. through schools) may be used to
support better broadband connectivity and speed for local communities
and businesses.
10: Planning to enable sustainable upland communities
CLG should:
- Give clear guidance that affordable
housing and homes for 'live-work' are fundamental to the sustainability
of upland communities and to their management of the cultural
and natural heritage.
- Provide advice that makes clear to local planning
authorities and the Planning Inspectorate that more affordable
housing must be approved in the wider public interest, and ensure
that development plans and housing strategies reflect this imperative.
- Ensure a greater role for communities in approving
small schemes of affordable housing without formal planning consent
where this need is established in parish plans.
- Encourage public bodies that own land in the
uplands (e.g. Forestry Commission, National Parks, Ministry of
Defence) to make sites available for affordable housing provision
at low cost, where these can contribute toward meeting needs.
- Ensure that the HCA makes sufficient finance
available to build affordable housing in the uplands, and engages
with upland organisations, landowners and parish councils—through
its 'Single Conversation'—in order to properly address issues
such as higher design and development costs and the scarcity of
development sites. Where such costs are higher because of the
wider public interest then these costs should be met from general
taxation.
- Press for council tax revenue generated through
the charge on second homes to be used to support affordable rural
housing.
| 
