England Rural Development Programme 2000-2006 Annual Report 2003
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Introduction
1. This is the fourth Annual Report to the European Commission on the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP). It covers the period 1 January to 31 December 2003 and is submitted in accordance with Article 48( 2) of Council Regulation 1257/ 1999 and Article 53 of Commission Regulation 445/ 2002 (as amended by Regulation 963/ 2003).
2. The report covers progress in implementing the Programme approved by European Commission Decision C (2000) 3003 on 11 October 2000, as modified in November 2001 by Commission Decision C (2001) 4760 and in January 2003 by Commission Decision C (2003) 91. Further modifications were submitted in October 2003 (approved by Commission decision C (2004) 254 of 29 January 2004), and in April 2004 (due to be approved by October 2004).
3. Table 1 below sets out the measures in Regulation 1257/ 1999 which are implemented through the ERDP. The Programme includes both pre-existing schemes introduced under earlier Regulations (e. g. 2078/ 1992, 2080/ 1992) and four schemes specifically developed for the ERDP - the Rural Enterprise Scheme, the Vocational Training Scheme, the Processing and Marketing Grant and the Energy Crops Scheme. In 2001, the Hill Farm Allowance was also introduced to replace the previous scheme for Less Favoured Area (LFA) support, the Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowance. (Please note that Table 1 also includes the ERDP scheme acronyms used throughout this report).
4. 2003 was the first full year of stability for the Programme following the disruption caused by the Foot and Mouth disease outbreak of 2001. During the year substantial progress was made towards realising the ambitious social, environmental and economic outcomes originally envisaged in the ERDP. For example:
- a further 27,132 training days for farmers and foresters were secured in new Vocational Training Scheme agreements;
- a further 2,057 full time equivalent jobs created or sustained under new Rural Enterprise Scheme projects;
- a further 11,516 hectares of new woodland scheduled to be planted under new Woodland Grant Scheme and Farm Woodland Premium Scheme agreements;
- a further 57 collaborative marketing ventures established under new Processing and Marketing Grant projects;
- a further 15,374 of hectares of land converted or converting to organic production under the Organic Farming Scheme.
5. Demand for the new, rural economy schemes is now outstripping available funding, resulting in a much higher level of competition for grant support, even at the higher levels of expenditure now reached. The quality of approved projects and the associated benefits for the rural economy and environment has continued to increase. However, this presents new challenges in terms of managing applicants' expectations as even good quality projects can be rejected. It is hoped that a move to a more objective basis for allocation of programme funding at EU level in the next programme period will help to alleviate this problem.
6. The independent Mid-Term Evaluation of the ERDP (also see Section C), has broadly supported the impact made by the Programme so far, highlighting that the agri-environment and forestry schemes' progress towards meeting the original Programme targets has been faster than expected. The evaluators have made a series of recommendations and Defra will now consider whether the ERDP needs to be adapted in light of these in order to maximise outcomes and improve customer focus. These recommendations will also help shape thinking and preparations for the successor Rural Development Programme from 2007.
7. Considerable progress has been made in designing, piloting and developing a new agri-environment scheme, to be called Environmental Stewardship, which will be rolled out nationally in England in 2005, subject to European Commission approval. This will implement one of the key commitments in the Government's Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food.
8. The existing agri-environment schemes have continued to expand in line with original expectations in terms of scheme uptake, expenditure and outcomes, and remain popular with both agreement holders and stakeholder organisations. Work has continued on the development of a new IT system to support the delivery of the ERDP schemes. Coupled with this, the Rural Development Service have embarked upon a broad change programme which will result in new structures and ways of working to enable the organisation to better meet the needs of its rural customer base. The Government has received a report on broader rural delivery issues in England, and aims to announce its detailed response in 2004. The report's recommendations provide an opportunity to further enhance the effectiveness of rural development spending, particularly in the next programme period (2007-2013).
| Measures (with reference to the Regulation 1257/ 99) | Schemes in England |
|---|---|
| Investment in agricultural holdings (Articles 4- 7) | Rural Enterprise Scheme (RES) Energy Crops Scheme (Miscanthus) (ECS) |
| Training (Article 9) | Vocational Training Scheme (VTS) |
| Less Favoured Areas (Articles 13- 21) | Hill Farm Allowance (2001 - 2006) (HFA) |
| Agri-environment (Articles 22- 24) | Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme (ESA) Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) |
| Processing and marketing of agricultural products (Articles 25- 28) | Processing and Marketing Grant (PMG) |
| Forestry | |
| Afforestation of agricultural land(Article 31) ) | Farm Woodland Premium Scheme (FWPS) Woodland Grant Scheme (WGS) Energy Crops Scheme (Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) |
| Other forestry measures (Article 30) | Woodland Grant Scheme Energy Crops Scheme (SRC and producer groups) |
| Article 33 | |
 Setting-up of farm relief and farm management services (iii)Marketing of quality agricultural products (iv)Basic services for the rural economy and population (v)Renovation and development of villages (vi)Diversification of agricultural activities etc (vii)Agricultural water resources management (viii)Development and improvement of infrastructure etc (ix)Encouragement for tourist and craft activities (x)Protection of the environment in connection with agriculture (xi) |
Rural Enterprise Scheme |
9. The structure of this report is guided by Article 53 of regulation 445/ 2002 (as amended) and consists of four main sections.
10. Section A of this report provides a summary of changes to conditions, trends and policies, and in particular how these changes have affected agriculture, the rural environment and the rural economy and communities. It also includes details of other Defra policies operating in rural areas which have an effect on the delivery of the Programme.
11. Section B provides information on ERDP scheme uptake and the progress made towards achieving the output targets established at the start of the Programme in 2000. This section also includes a summary of the changes to the Programme which have been approved as part of the 2003 ERDP Modification.
12. Section C summarises the action taken during the year to ensure high quality and effective implementation. In particular, this includes any scheme reviews or developments which were introduced to improve scheme uptake or simplify procedures. Additionally, some changes to improve the implementation of the ERDP have been introduced in response to feedback from agreement holders and stakeholder organisations or to help overcome operational difficulties.
13. Section D outlines some of the measures taken to ensure compatibility with other Community policies. For example the European Structural Funds programme and Leader +.
14. Accompanying the four main sections of the report described above are a series of Annexes. Annex 1 provides details of other, complementary sources of assistance for rural areas, including other Defra operated schemes as well as a range of initiatives available from other Government Departments and partner organisations. Annex 2 provides a summary of the main developments affecting ERDP delivery in the 8 English Government Office regions. Annex 3[44KB], Annex 4A[192KB] and Annex 4B[105KB] contain the detailed monitoring indicator and output tables which are described and analysed in Section B of the main report.
Page last modified:
17 August, 2005
Page published: 9 July, 2004