News

Please note that the CAAV office is closed from lunchtime on Thursday 22nd December 2011 and will reopen on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.

The High Court has given permission for a Judicial Review of the Government's plans to cut the Feed-in Tariff rates for solar pv. The review, which will take place next week (20th and 21st December) will consider whether the decision to cut the tariffs with effect from 12th December, before the consultation on the proposal closes, was lawful. The action is brought by Friends of the Earth with two solar pv companies.

Caroline Spelman has announced that a controlled cull of badgers will go ahead as part of a package of measures to control bovine TB. Further information is available on the DEFRA website.

The Chief Executive of Natural England, Dr Helen Philips, is to take up a new role as Executive Director of Yorkshire Water from 1st March 2012. Further information is available on the Natural England website.

The National Assembly for Wales has approved the Welsh Government Budget 2012-13. A response from Jane Hutt, Wales' Finance Minister, is available on the Welsh Assembly Government website.

Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead has said that 75% of Single Farm Payments will be made within 15 days of the opening of the payment window on 1st December. See the Scottish Government website for more details.

Alun Davies, Wales' Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and European Programmes, has announced that 88 per cent of farmers (14,596 claims) in Wales will receive their Single Payment Scheme (SPS) 2011 payment when the payment window opens later this week on 1st December. Further information is available on the Welsh Assembly Government website.

DEFRA has announced that £20 million funding is to be made available via a new Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme (FFIS). Grants of between £2,500 and £25,000 will be available for qualifying capital items. Further information is available on the DEFRA website. A guidance booklet on the FFIS is also available on the DEFRA website. The application form for applications under the first round should be available to download from 16th November 2011 when the application period opens. It...

As part of the commitments laid out under the Natural Environment White Paper (NEWP) published earlier this year, DEFRA has offered funding to twenty-two Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs). Further information and a list of the areas that have been awarded funding may be found on the DEFRA website.

DEFRA has announced the first new members of the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England, the formation of which was announced on 26th April 2011. The Board is chaired by Michael Seals who was appointed in August. The new members are Stewart Houston, Stuart Roberts, Mark Tufnell and Tim Morris. Further information is available on the DEFRA website.

Please note that this CAAV briefing is now FULLY BOOKED. CAP reform post-2013 will however form part of the 2012 CAAV Spring Briefings:- - Friday 24th February - Belton Woods, Lincolnshire - Thursday 8th March - The Gables Hotel, Falfield, Near Bristol Further details and booking forms for the 2012 CAAV Spring Briefings will be available in due course.

European Commissioner, Dacian Ciolos, has this morning presented the CAP reform post-2013 legislative proposals to a meeting of the European Parliament Agriculture Committee. A Press Release is available on the Europa website. There is also a more extended summary available on the Europa website. Further briefing and analysis will be given on this website later today....

Natural England's Board has agreed to recommend an expansion to both the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks. Further information is available on the Natural England website.

DECC has announced that the loophole which allows developers of solar pv sites to claim FiTs at the original rates for extensions to the site will be closed with effect from 18th October 2011, when a new Feed-in Tariffs Order will come into effect. More detail is available in the Members' Documents section.

Following the introduction of the new HLS 3-tier process from 1st July 2011, Natural England is now inviting agents to attend HLS Farm Environment Plan (FEP) clinics during September to discuss holdings which may be suitable for a HLS agreement in the 2012/13 year. Agents will need to complete a HLS authorisation form signed by their client and a Holdings Detail Form which is available on the Natural England website. Further information is available on the Natural England website....

11 new Enterprise Zones in England have been announced. The sites will have simplified planning rules, tax breaks for new businesses and superfast broadband connections. The full list can be found on the DCLG website.

Natural England is encouraging some 15,000 "classic" scheme agreement holders (Countryside Stewardship and ESA) to consider Environmental Stewardship when their current agreement expires. Please see the Natural England website for further information.

Caroline Spelman has announced a package of measures aimed at reducing the incidence of bovine TB in England which includes a statement that the Government is "strongly minded to allow a science-led cull of badgers" in the worst affected areas. The full statement can be read on the DEFRA website.

With effect from 5th July, Great Britain has been declared as officially free from Bluetongue. Further information on the implications for livestock keepers is available on the DEFRA website.

Agriculture Minister Jim Paice has today updated Parliament on progress with 2010 SPS payments following the end of the regulatory payment window on 30th June 2011. Details are available on the DEFRA website.

A new 3-tier HLS application process is being launched by Natural England from tomorrow (1st July) which will see HLS applications being classed as either "Fast-track", "Standard" or "Complex", with "Fast-track" applications being done wholly in-house by Natural England advisers. Further information is available on the Natural England website.

Welsh Environment Minister John Griffiths has today announced that the implementation of the proposed badger cull in Wales as part of their TB Eradication Programme is to be delayed whilst a review is carried out of the scientific evidence base regarding the eradication of bovine TB in Wales. Further information is available on the Welsh Assembly Government website....

HMRC's SDLT online filing system will be shut down between 25th June and 4th July and online SDLT returns cannot be made during this time. For more information, see the HMRC website at www.hmrc.gov.uk/sdlt/filing-sdlt-returns.htm.

Agriculture Minister Jim Paice has announced the lifting of export restrictions on sheep and cattle which were put in place as result of bluetongue. The Bluetongue Free Status will come into effect from 5th July 2011 and will mean that farmers can no longer vaccinate livestock. Further information is available on the DEFRA website.

DEFRA and the the Environment Agency have announced that parts of the Anglian region are now in an official state of drought. Other parts of South-west England, the South-east, Midlands and Wales are also causing concern. A meeting is being held today between DEFRA and water abstraction representatives to discuss how to better conserve and use the water available. The situation will continue to be monitored. Further information is available on the DEFRA website....

DEFRA has launched the Natural Environment White Paper which sets out the Government's vision for the natural environment over the coming 50 years. More information is available on the DEFRA website and a briefing note for CAAV members is available in Members' Documents (please see What's New).

As a result of the current dry weather affecting farmers, Natural England has issued advice for Environmental Stewardship agreement holders with regard to derogations which will be made available in particular with regard to grassland management affected by the dry weather. Further guidance is available from the Natural England website.

Natural England (NE) is urging farmers who have been offered HLS agreements which should have a 1st June 2011 start date but are yet to return the signed declaration to NE should do so before 31st May. If they do not they will find that their agreement will be given a post 1st June start date which will then affect the timing of their payments as a result of the EU audit of agri-environment schemes in England which would see them having to wait for a further 16 months until their first payment....