A major new investment in the future of farming has been announced
by the government in its review of public spending.
The Chancellor Gordon Brown has made an extra £500m available
in the wake of last year's foot-and-mouth crisis.
The additional funding will be used to improve flood defences and
help implement the Curry report on sustainable farming.
The report by Sir Donald Curry was drafted in response to the devastation
caused by last year's foot-and-mouth disease outbreak and subsequent
plummeting farm incomes.
Foot-and-mouth alone cost the public and private sector more than
£8bn and devastated the country's meat and livestock trade.
The report said £500m was needed for a radical overhaul of farming,
moving it away from intensive operation and heavy subsidies to environmentally
sustainable schemes and organic farming.
 |
|
The
settlement has been welcomed by the Rural Affairs Secretary
Margaret Beckett
|
Margaret Beckett,
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said:
"I welcome this settlement which will allow us to move towards a sustainable
future for the countryside.
"The additional funding also allows the Department to provide the
leadership necessary to deliver its rural affairs remit, working in
partnership with other government departments and agencies to improve
the prosperity of rural areas and improve access to services.
The National Farmers Union said that while it needed to study the
full text of the proposals, the announcement had to be seen in context
of the "severe" plight facing agriculture.
"Like all the other elements of this announcement, this proposal will
need close examination. As always, the devil is in the detail," NFU
chief Ben Gill said.
Devon County Council gave a cautious welcome to the initial details.
Deputy Council Leader Cllr Brian Greenslade, said: "I support the
extra money for sustainable farming and flood defence which are two
issues the County Council has been lobbying hard for.
"The investment in sustainable farming is potentially good news for
the Devon Foot-and-Mouth Recovery Plan but we've got to make sure
the county receives its fair share of that aid."
Environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth said that the figures
mentioned needed careful checking to see whether the full Curry report
package had really been funded.
"The Chancellor's reference to "core" recommendations only is worrying
in this respect," it added.
KEY PROPOSALS:
- Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs budget to
go up 2.7% a year, from £2.5bn to £2.9bn, by 2006
- Cash to be spent on promoting sustainable farming and improving
flood defences
- Major reform of planning to speed up development in high unemployment
areas
- Regional Development Agency (RDA) budgets up from £1.6bn a year
to £2bn
- RDA's role to be strengthened role in tourism and transport.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Real
Player is required for any video and audio on this page.