The Welsh Assemboy Government has issued a statement in response to the Badger Trust being granted leave to appeal the outcome of the judicial review earlier this year regarding the cull of badgers as part of the TB Eradication Programme in Wales. The statement is available on the Welsh Assembly Government website.
It has been reported by the Farmers Guardian that the Badger Trust has been given leave to appeal the judicial review outcome regarding the cull of badgers as part of the Welsh TB Eradication Programme. Further information is available on the Farmers Guardian website.
Members are reminded that the deadline for receipt by the RPA of amendments to SPS claims submitted by 17th May to avoid penalties is Tuesday 1st June. Any amendments must be notified in writing to the RPA.
We would remind members with clients who have Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) agreements expiring at the end of July 2010 that ELS renewal applications must be received by Natural England by 1st June 2010 in order that a start date of 1st August may be guaranteed, therefore avoiding a gap between the expiry of the existing agreement and the commencement of the new one. Further information can be found on the Natural England website....
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne and Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws have announced today that as part of a broader package of savings, DEFRA's 2010/11 budget is to be cut by £162 million. The detail of these cuts is yet to be confirmed. Further information is available on the HM Treasury website.
On Wednesday 19th May the CAAV Council voted unanimously to approve a request by the Scottish Agricultural Arbiters and Valuers Association (SAAVA) to affiliate to the Central Association. In our centenary year, CAAV Local Associations now cover the whole of Great Britain. We warmly welcome our new Scottish colleagues.
Over 200 members and guests enjoyed a reception at Westminster Abbey on Wednesday evening to celebrate the CAAV Centenary. The reception followed Evening Prayer in the Abbey where a prayer was said for the Association. A full report will appear soon on the website and in the June News Letter.
DEFRA has announced that Jim Paice MP is Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, with responsibility for most farming matters and Richard Benyon MP is Parliamentary Under Secretary for Natural Environment and Fisheries. Further detail is available on the DEFRA website.
Further to the announcement that Caroline Spelman MP is to be the DEFRA Secretary of State and James Paice MP's appointment as Minster of State, it has now been confirmed that Richard Benyon MP and Lord Henley have been appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretaries of State. Confirmation is awaited with regard to division of responsibilities. Further information is available on the DEFRA website....
James Paice MP has been appointed as DEFRA Minister of State. We await further information but further appointments should be confirmed later today.
Caroline Spelman MP has been appointed Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the new Cabinet. Further information is available on the DEFRA website. Details of junior posts are expected in the next few days.
The coalition agreement between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats includes a pledge to scrap Home Information Packs, but not EPCs - which are an EU requirement. The full coalition agreement can be found on the BBC website.
Eric Pickles is the new Minister for Communities and Local Government, according to the BBC.
The Farmers Guardian has reported that, following the judgment in the judicial review regarding the proposed Welsh badger cull last month, the Badger Trust has applied to the High Court for permission to appeal the decision against their legal challenge. Further information is available on the Farmers Guardian website.
Welsh Rural Affairs Minister, Elin Jones, has welcomed the decision by the Bern Covention Bureau at a meeting held in Strasbourg on 29th March to remove a complaint by the Badger Trust from its complaints list. The Badger Trust had raised a complaint regarding the proposed badger cull in the Intensive Action Pilot Area (IAPA) and whether the provisions of the Bern Convention had been respected in Wales' decision to carry out this cull. Further information is available on the Welsh Assembly...
As part of the Welsh TB eradication programme, strict new cattle measures, including six monthly testing of herds, were introduced in the Intensive Action Pilot Area (IAPA) from Saturday 1st May 2010. Further information on the measures is available on the Welsh Assembly Government website.
As part of the ongoing CAAV Centenary celebrations, the CAAV President, Mark Webb, will be hosting an evening Reception on 19th May in Westminster Abbey. All CAAV members are welcome to attend this event and the booking form, together with further information, is available in the Centenary Events section of this website.
The High Court has cleared the way for a badger cull in Wales following a judicial review brought by the Badger Trust. A cull could start in the next few months.
The RPA has issued an update about payments made to date for SPS 2009. Further information is available on the RPA website.
Following a meeting earlier this morning with the Queen to request that Parliament be dissolved, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has just confirmed that, as widely speculated, the UK general election will be held on 6th May 2010. Please see the BBC News website for further information about the announcement just made by Gordon Brown.
Due to the increasing demand for blank RLE1 forms, the RPA has agreed to make the blank RLE1 form available as a pdf on their website which can be printed off and completed. This pdf may only be used until 1st June 2010. Any such printed off forms received by the RPA after that date will be rejected. Please click here for the blank RLE1. Please note that the form shows the Newcastle address. If it is being posted it should be returned to the Sheffield address - RPA, PO Box 300, Sheffield, S95...
We are aware that members are awaiting confirmation of SBIs for transferees to complete RLE1 forms to transfer entitlements by the deadline of 4th April. RPA has just confirmed that, unlike previous years, they will not accept any RLE1 forms that do not contain an SBI for the transferee, even where a CReg01 has been lodged but no confirmation of the SBI has been forthcoming. They will not accept a covering letter nor a copy of the CReg01 submitted. If members are in a position of not having an...
Further to our note of 23rd March in Members' Documents, it would seem the RPA has still got a problem with the operation of the Customer Service Centre (CSC) and members are having immense difficulty getting through to the CSC. The RPA continues to state that the same level of resource is available as in the past and that the problem is as result of the high volume of calls coming into the CSC as the 2010 SP5 forms have been sent out in higher numbers and in a shorter timeframe than in previous...
The Government has announced that the threshold for SDLT for first time buyers of houses will be increased to £250,000 from April 2010. A new SDLT rate of 5% will be charged on residential property transactions over £1 million from April 2011. CAAV members can read more about the Budget in Members Documents.
It has been brought to our attention that a small number of members have received damaged copies of the March mailing. The contents of this mailing are as follows: Publication 199 - An Agricultural Valuers Guide to Residential Tenancies Publication 198 - Environmental Stewardship, Second Edition CAAV Letter regarding National AGM and Model Grazing Licence Newsletter 138, March 2010 Westminster Abbey Reception brochure and booking form. If a member has not received all of the above please contact...
The Commission for Rural Communities has called for evidence of economic growth and recovery in rural areas, or obstacles to it, to add to its next report to Government on the issue. Further details can be found on the CRC website.
Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones has announced a new tree planting programme as part of the targeted element of Glastir which is aimed at expanding the woodland cover in Wales by 100,000 hectares over the next twenty years. Grants will be made available to farmers to establish permanent woodland and the woodlands created would become 'carbon sinks' and help tackle climate change. The Minister also reaffirmed her commitment to Glastir being introduced from 1st January 2012. Please see the Welsh...
Natural England has announced that the New Forest is to benefit from a "record-breaking" £16 million Higher Level Stewardship agreement. Further information about the agreement and funding is available on the Natural England website.
The Treasury has confirmed that Chancellor Alistair Darling willl present his pre-election Budget on Wednesday 24th March 2010 at 12.30 p.m. Further information is available on the HM Treasury website.
The Public and Commercial Services Union are planning industrial action on Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th March. This will affect the services available from the RPA and BCMS. Further information is available on the RPA website.
DEFRA has announced that the EU Dairy Fund will be distributed to all dairy farmers who produced more than 50,000 litres in the year ending September 2009, at a rate of about 0.2 ppl. For further details, see the DEFRA website.
The remaining cypermethrin sheep dips have been permanently withdrawn from the UK market. Farmers with remaining stocks of cypermethrin dip can get advice on how to dispose of it safely from the Environment Agency.
The new CAAV model grazing agreement for 2010 can be found in Members Documents / Professional Matters / Model Clauses and Agreements.
Farmers Weekly reports that the EU has authorised the cultivation of a genetically modified potato aimed primarily at starch production. The full report can be read on the FW website.
Peter Kendall has been elected as NFU President for a third term, with Meurig Raymond re-elected as Deputy President and Gwyn Jones, dairy board chairman, as Vice President.
The Conservative Party has launched its agricultural policy paper at the NFU Conference. The paper, entitled A New Age of Agriculture, can be downloaded from the Conservative Party website.
A programme and booking form are now available for the 2010 Keele Conference, to be held at Keele University, Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire on the 26th March. Please apply using the booking form available on the CAAV website click here
The Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales, Christianne Glossop, has urged farmers in Wales to vaccinate early for Bluetongue and to remain vigilant for any signs of the disease. Further information is available on the Welsh Assembly Government website.
Please note that due to heavy snowfall experienced this morning in Coleford a reduced service is available at the CAAV Central office.
The EU Commission has created new Directorates-General for Energy and Climate Action. DG Energy will be headed by a Britain, Philip Lowe, whilst DG Climate Action will be headed by Jos Delbeke, a Belgian.
The new strand to Entry Level Stewardship, Uplands Entry Level Stewardship (Uplands ELS) has been officially launched on an uplands farm in the Peak District. Uplands ELS replaces funding available under the Hill Farm Allowance (HFA). Further information is available on the DEFRA website.
HMRC has issued a warning about a new e-mail scam. An e-mail purporting to be from HMRC Online Services invites readers to log on to their online account to read a message. This e-mail is not from HMRC and should be deleted. For further security information, visit the HMRC website.
Eight flood and coastal projects in Wales have been awarded a total of £6.1 million of European funding which will assist with reducing flood risk for homes and businesses in the indentified areas. Further information is available on the Welsh Assembly Government website.
The OFT has asked the European Commission to refer UK aspects of the proposed merger between Orange and T-mobile to the OFT, citing that it "threatens significantly to affect competition" in the mobile phone sector.
A Welsh farmer has been subject to criminal conviction after trying to falsify the results of a bovine TB test. Further details are available on the Welsh Assembly Government website.
Booking forms and overview are now available for the Spring Briefings at Kelham Hall, Newark and The Gables Hotel, South Gloucestershire.
The details for the Northern Group Centenary Lunch are now available - please visit the Centenary events section of the website.
The OFT has issued a reminder to estate agency businesses that they must register under anti-money laundering regulations by 31st January 2010. For more information see the OFT press release or the CAAV Briefing Note of 22nd December 2009.
The Scottish Government are considering offering support to farmers whose buildings have collapsed in the recent snow. Those affected are invited to complete and return a questionnaire so that more information can be gathered. The press release and questionnaire are both available on the Scottish Government website....
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has announced that it has accepted the Competition Commission's recommendation for a body to enforce the new Groceries Supply Code of Practice. A consultation on the matter is expected to be launched in February.
The Government has launched Food 2030 - a strategy for food and farming in the next 20 years. More details are available on the DEFRA website.