Key commitments
The Strategy heralds a new partnership between government and the farming industry, with a long-term vision for the future of regulation and charging. From January 2006, a system will be in place to enable businesses to submit proposals to Defra to simplify particular regulations of concern to them.Government and industry will jointly develop cost-sharing mechanisms to manage the risk and responsibilities associated with keeping farm animals, including revised arrangements for financing disease outbreak.
The strategy commits Government to improving policy-making, inspection, enforcement, guidance and information in the farming sector. By improving the way we regulate and enforce regulation, we will make it easier for farmers to comply, and so help to improve the long-term sustainability of the sector: environmental, social, and economic. The strategy builds on the findings of the Better Regulation Task Force report (Less is More) and Sir Philip Hampton’s review on inspections and enforcement. Both of these reports highlighted the need to simplify and improve the way Government regulation interacts with industry, including farming. This is not about deregulation nor are standards in question. This is about improving the way Defra regulates the farming industry and aiding better compliance.
We will cut red tape for farmers, notably by reducing form-filling. This will make regulation more efficient from the perspective of the customer and help them to focus on getting results - on the environment, animal health and welfare, and productivity. New controls will focus on results and keep administrative burdens to a minimum. Defra is committed to 25 per cent reduction in administrative burdens over 5 years (by 2009).
Examples of action:
- benefits of Single Payment System and Whole Farm Approach
- review of animal welfare and health delivery arrangements.
- Defra working with assurance schemes to reduce administrative burdens.
Farmers will need to play their part in making the Strategy a reality, especially by managing the risks of their operations and reducing the unwelcome impacts of their activities.
Partners for success: A farm regulation and charging strategy is accompanied by an Action Plan which covers:
- alternatives to regulation (e.g. Voluntary Initiatives, advice, grants, permits, taxes) Regulation is only part of a package of measures to aid compliance and will only be used where necessary.
- better designed regulations (e.g. through EU reforms, more input from farmers throughout the design and implementation process, better targeted and more coherent regulation, better targeted inspections, data-sharing)
- how we will develop mechanisms to encourage farmers to reduce the risk of animal disease, reward good practice, and share costs more fairly between farmers and taxpayers
- improving information and advice to farmers
- improved skills and professionalism for Defra staff and farmers
- effective enforcement (more risk-based, better targeted, more proportional penalties)
- charging for regulatory services such as licences or export certificates (e.g. more transparent decisions; opportunities to challenge the efficiency of the service received as well as what is included in the charge)
Page last modified: 28 November 2005
Page published: 28 November 2005