News

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 5th August 2021 Understanding risks is a key part of making a market work. A buyer wants to know exactly what is being bought; the seller wants to contain the risks in that. Market pressures, contract law, consumer protection and other interventions seek to help with means, like the Land Registry, to authenticate major assets. Environmental agreements, including biodiversity gain, have risks as much as any other transaction....

Clay tablets can last longer than parchment, papyrus and paper, keeping records of contracts, debts and now of the sale of part of a field in central Iraq four millennia ago. Dr Daniel Mansfield of the University of New South Wales has shown that, with the legal details, the Old Babylonian tablet Si.427 records the right angled triangles used to measure the areas and give more exact rectangles than in earlier tablet to get the boundaries right, towards 1900BC and over a thousand years before...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 29th July 2021 The further easing of pandemic restrictions enabled by widespread vaccination and past infections opens up thoughts of how the personal and social side of professional life, business and fellowship might resume. We are looking at what the new balance might be that, across the range of ways we work, combines efficient professional support and the social interaction of a wider life. While judging risk, there is...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 22nd July 2021 The Government in London is clearing desks before Parliament goes into Recess tonight. Tuesday saw statements on planning policy for housing in England, one of the most significant controversies for the coming months. The bones of the policy set out in August 2020’s White Paper are for: 300,000 houses a year, allocated where house price/local earnings ratios show demand councils to identify growth...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 15th July 2021 The House of Lords Committee stage on the Environment Bill has considered biodiversity gain, the proposal that all development should ensure a net 10 per cent in biodiversity, whether on-site, off-site or by a payment to a fund, with 30 year agreements to secure the change. Alongside other costs and policies, it will guide where development might go amid the conflicting pressures from housing to wildlife,...

A Tamworth potato processor has been fined £6,500 for a pollution incident killing over 450 fish. The company pleaded guilty to an offence under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations, 2010. A total financial penalty of £21,264 was imposed on the company which included a contribution to prosecution costs of £10,000. The pollution resulted from a split pipe pumping into the lagoon, and a crude attempt had been made to repair it. This was discharging into a ditch then...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 8th July 2021 Government announcements will see yet more focus not only on mitigating climate change (just now modelled by the Office for Budget Responsibility to cost Government less than its Covid measures) but also on adapting to and preparing for the new conditions. The UK, leaning into the Atlantic at median latitudes, appears better buffered from extreme change than many parts of the world but that is relative. The...

On 6th July, The Welsh Minister for Climate Change, Julie James, set out an “ambitious three-pronged approach” to address the impact of second home ownership on Wales’ communities. The three-pronged approach will focus on: support - addressing affordability and availability of housing,regulatory framework and system - covering planning law and the introduction of a statutory registration scheme for holiday accommodation; anda fairer contribution - using national and local taxation...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 1st July 2021 Seven months after the Agriculture Act and England’s Agricultural Transition Plan with its new schemes, DEFRA has published its approach to payments for environmental land management above the regulatory baseline. The Welsh Government has talked of payments appropriate for the value of environmental services achieved. Both have high ambitions to achieve real environmental improvement, knowing that needs a new...

DEFRA is running three webinars to talk through its proposals in the lump sum exit scheme and delinking consultation with the opportunity to ask questions. The links to each webinar are: Tuesday 6th July 15:00-16:00 - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/defra-lump-sum-exit-scheme-delinking-consultation-webinar-tickets-160972076815 Wednesday 7th July 16:00-17:00 - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/defra-lump-sum-exit-scheme-delinking-consultation-webinar-tickets-161202572233 Thursday 8th...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 24th June 2021 In the more agricultural world of two hundred years ago, the economist David Ricardo summarised pricing in a market economy: “Corn is not high because rent is paid, but rent is paid because corn is high.” The price of corn rises with the demand for it since, in Adam Smith’s phrase of forty years earlier, “Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production”. Production has no value unless...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 17th June 2021 The completion of the tenancy legislation for England under the Agriculture Act 2020 has prompted a new edition of the CAAV’s Schedule of Time Limits for Valuers and a moment for reflection before it goes to members with the News Letter, the Agricultural Tenancies Update and Value to an Incoming Tenant. There is continuity. With statutory tenancy regimes, previous Schedules have long aided members since...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 10th June 2021 The CAAV’s Annual National Conference, being held virtually on Thursday 24th June with support from the AMC, McParland Finn and Michelmores, is one key part of the Association’s life. Ordinarily, it is a major opportunity for renewing fellowship with other members and guests from across the country and further afield. As a conference, it covers current subjects with either a range or a focus that takes...

The Scottish Land Commission has launched a campaign aiming to connect people to the land around them, using inspiring stories to show how Scotland’s land ownership, use and management impacts the lives of the public. See the Scottish Land Commission website for more detail.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 27th May 2021 With new tenancy regulations published on Tuesday, this part of the Agriculture Act is now complete for England. Welsh regulations are expected as the newly elected Senedd gets to work. These Regulations set out the Act’s tenancy changes that most directly bear on England’s Agricultural Transition Plan’s two goals: a competitive agriculture and environmental improvement. Three years notice is given for...

The Environment Bill has today (26th May) returned to Parliament for Report Stage and Third Reading in the House of Commons. See the press release for more detail.

The Government is inviting local authorities in England and Wales to bid for up to £100,000 of funding to help develop their capacity to enforce the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in the private rental sector. A lack of resources has been cited as one reason for the lack of policing of compliance with the Regulations to date....

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 20th May 2021 Past the mourning for the Duke of Edinburgh, the purdah for devolved and local elections and Queen’s Speech, DEFRA policy statements are now coming thick and fast. The policies proposed in the 25 Year Environment Plan and the 2018 Health and Harmony paper are now becoming real, demonstrating the importance of advice to clients navigating the new world. Tuesday saw: the Tree Action Plan with plans for...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 13th May 2021 The Queen’s Speech is both ritual and manifesto, bringing the Lord and Commons together for an outline of the Government’s intended legislation and policies for the coming year. Tuesday’s Speech can be seen as the real start of this Government’s busy domestic programme, eighteen months after its election, having been preoccupied with Brexit and the pandemic, albeit with the Agriculture Act done. Now...

The RPA has now paid over 66,000 farmers their Basic Payment Financial Discipline reimbursement payments. The remaining 10,000, save for small number, are due to be paid in the next two days.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 6th May 2021 The gathering momentum of our apparent recovery from the pandemic, led by rural areas, sees more return to offices and meeting clients on farm, contractors or other parties in negotiations. Face-to-face contact offers immediacy, directness and subtleties, not mediated by a glowing screen with slight delays and connection failures, and brings the opportunity for the informal side conversations that help build the...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 29th April 2021 This CAAV e-Briefing was first issued a year ago as we absorbed the possible length and scale of the pandemic’s challenge and looked for means to support and brief members. The kind comments we have had over the year suggest that it has helped, while the CAAV has both sustained its activity and been recognised again in statute. Among the year’s themes has been the acceleration of change anyway caused by...

The application window for Forestry England’s new woodland creation scheme will close on 1 June and landowners are urged to apply in time. The Forestry England Woodland Partnership was launched in March, and is aimed at landowners including public bodies, environmental NGOs and farmers, offering an annual, guaranteed rent in return for a long-term lease on land of at least 50 hectares. The Forestry England Woodland Partnership is a chance to diversify landholding and farming businesses and...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 22nd April 2021 While the long-awaited DEFRA consultation on the lump sum option and delinking for Basic Payment has been twice delayed by the “purdah” periods for mourning and the Scottish, Welsh and local elections, the Prime Minister has this week announced a significantly more demanding target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Its potentially radical effects are described by the Financial Times as laying: “the...

The CAAV has published a new paper, Future Rural Land Uses in the UK, reviewing the pressures and opportunities for rural land.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 8th April 2021 Despite the late spring, the pace of policy change here is quickening and that will see change on the ground. We should shortly have DEFRA’s consultation on the lump sum option and delinking of Basic Payment in England. Whether or not the lump sum option for 2022 proves attractive, simply considering it draws attention to how little life is left for English Basic Payment entitlements. Entitlement...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 1st April 2021 In a sector of family businesses, a quarter or more of farms and estates might see generational change in any decade. Some may take longer, as where the business has no natural successor; others will come faster, whether by chance or necessity. This is likely to accelerate in the 2020s as the pressures for change intensify, often in circumstances requiring careful advice, personal support and good management....

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 25th March 2021 Three recent decisions on utilities regulation are intended to enable more investment by them, resulting in more work on clients’ land. Since their privatisation, the main utility companies, with their access to the consumer’s doorstep, have been closely regulated. Concerns about affordability and hostile press coverage has put a public focus on regulating the prices charged for water, gas, electricity and...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 11th March 2021. Barely two months after the EU Transition Period, the pace of post-EU policy development is sustained, especially in England and perhaps particularly with DEFRA. Without the 28 state, 3 institution haggling of the EU (the post-2020 CAP is still unresolved), George Eustice saw Brexit as the opportunity to do domestic policy better while some in Government already see the urgency imposed by a 2024 election....

Charles Cowap is delivering a 5-part training course with Ecosystems Knowledge Network on Applying a Natural Capital Approach. The course starts on April 19th and runs over five 90 minute sessions. Details are available on the EKN website.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 4th March 2021 Yesterday’s Budget heralds two years in which companies will be paid to invest in plant and machinery. An investment that would now have an 18 per cent capital allowance against tax will from next month have a 130 per cent capital allowance (the “super deduction”) and those that would get a 6 per cent allowance will be allowed at 50 per cent. A lack of business investment has been seen as a key part...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 25th February 2021 Do we know what it means for a landowner to enter into an agreement for carbon sequestration? What are the implications of “selling” carbon for the land and its users? Are we at risk of uncritical assumptions that: this is a significant source of value for an average landowner?that, being associated with positive change, it imposes no practical constraints? that now or soon is the time to sell? Simply...

It is being widely reported in the press this morning (24th February) that the Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday will be extended until the end of June. An announcement from HM Treasury is expected in next week's Budget.

Environment Secretary George Eustice set out more details on DEFRA's approach to future agricultural policy in his speech to the NFU Conference 2021 today (23rd February).

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 18th February 2021 Reflecting on conversations over the last week, one common theme has been the importance of looking beyond the immediate challenge. Seeing where the world is moving will aid better decisions that are more effective for the longer term when meeting immediate issues. The pressure for climate change mitigation and other environmental goals is now a central part of policies across the United Kingdom....

We are told that Rural Payments has this morning unexpectedly issued e-mails to Countryside Stewardship agreement holders reminding them to submit their claim. This appears to be quirk of the IT system and we are asked to assure members that these should be ignored with no action to be undertaken in response.

The CAAV is pleased to be assured today that work is now in hand to provide documents on Countryside Stewardship in pdf format. The rules for the GOV.uk website require material to be presented in html format for reasons of accessibility but the professional need for these documents to be available as pdfs is recognised and we hope to have them soon.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 11th February 2021 Economic shocks, like the pandemic, both bring damage and precipitate change shaping a new economy, as energy, skills and assets find new opportunities, often with new technologies. Only hindsight might tell which was which, as it is easier to see losers than those building the future. Accelerated change for physical retail, under long-run pressure and particularly burdened by business rates, sees talk...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 4th February 2021 With the current focus on the development of schemes and grants for public goods and productivity, it can be easy to overlook another key component of the new policies. This is the move to a “regulatory baseline” – simply put, what the law will require of farmers as it requires standards from others. Whether under England’s ELM, the Welsh Sustainable Farming Scheme, the Animal Health and Welfare...

Gordon Lyons has been appointed as the new Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland, replacing Edwin Poots who has stepped down for health reasons.