This What's New section is a quick one-stop shop to show you the most recent additions to the Members Area (log-in required) and News items.
This note takes a brief look at the end of cross compliance in England, a signposts readers to the latest Government guidance.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill follows last year’s Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act which ended ground rents for new, qualifying long residential leasehold properties in England and Wales. This Bill proposes larger and longer-term changes for owners of houses and flats on existing long leases, appearing in practical terms to bring much of the ground rent system to an end. This note sets out the main provisions of the Bill....
Round 3 of the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund opens for applications on 11th December. This note has more detail.
Natural England has prepared and published two template documents in relation to habitat management and monitoring for BNG: Template Habitat Management and Monitoring PlanTemplate Monitoring Report There is accompanying guidance published online. This note provides a brief overview....
The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development etc.) (England) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2023 No. 1279 extends permitted development rights in England principally in respect of solar power generation facilities. It also makes minor changes to permitted development rights for telecoms masts and open prisons.
Steve Barclay, the new DEFRA Secretary of State, outlined a series of grants, totalling almost £45 million, to a CLA Conference. The details of these grants are to be announced over coming weeks. They are from within the £168 million total funding announced earlier this year by Mark Spencer at the NFU AGM.
On 29th November, the draft Biodiversity Gain Site Register Regulations 2024 were published on Gov.uk, providing the detail on the use and management of the register. These are reviewed here, and we will update members on any significant amendments. Updated 4th December: Information added on fees and penalties...
The COP28 international summit on climate change in Dubai has announced that 134 world leaders have agreed the COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action. This note provides and overview....
This note reviews the pricing and role of statutory credits for Biodiversity Net Gain in England.
This note looks at the definition and place of irreplaceable habitats within Biodiversity Net Gain.
This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 30th November 2023 While having more Fellows and Probationers than ever, the CAAV is conscious that rural practices feel an acute shortage of staff for the growing range and volume of work coming in. With work growing faster than we are, this feels more than the general shortage of staff in the wider economy. The CAAV has been tackling this with a round of meetings with some employers and the universities to see how we can...
Biodiversity Net Gain requirements for planning applications become mandatory, for most development, from January 2024. Small sites and infrastructure development have staggered implementation dates: April 2024 and November 2025 respectively. Some types of development, however, are exempt from the BNG requirements. This note provides an overview.
Plumpton College is launching a full BSc honours degree in Rural Land and Business Management and to be available from September 2024. This note provides more detail.
The Government has published a range of documents in preparation for the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain in England in January 2024: Draft statutory instruments, amending existing legislation and making provision for the Biodiversity Gain Site Register, excepted sites and irreplaceable habitatsUpdate guidance for BNG, collected here: Biodiversity net gain - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)A revised Biodiversity MetricDraft planning practice guidance on BNG We will follow the announcements with a...
DEFRA has today (29th November) published a series of announcements relating to nature recovery. Drawing a connection to the upcoming COP28 Climate Conference, these relate to a range of ongoing programmes and schemes, as well as providing detail on forthcoming work. This note provides an overview of those announcements relevant for rural work.
The UK Government announced up to £15 million of support will be available to respond to flooding in areas of Northern Ireland in the absence of the Executive. The money has been made available through the granting of a request made to HM Treasury jointly by the UK Government’s Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland’s Department of Finance to reallocate funding from capital to resource budgets – recognising the need to be nimble and act swiftly at times of crisis for communities....
Richard Sanders, technical and policy adviser to the CAAV, offers a quick refresher and update on the delinking scheme. As many listeners will be aware, as part of the post-Brexit agricultural transition, England is moving to a farming support system of public money for public goods. Basic payment has been gradually declining, to be phased out by 2027. So what does the future hold? RPA Delinking Guidance: Delinked payments: replacing the Basic Payment Scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) CAAV...
This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 23rd November 2023 The let sector covers a third of England’s farmland, still with many 1986 Act tenancies but more than half on FBTs, and still large areas of Wales and Scotland. In addition to that scale, it provides a critical means of flexibility in farm structures, entry, expansion and exit from farming, relieving owners of the need to farm and enabling farmers to have the use of land without having to buy it. Its...
On Tuesday night Jeremy Moody was formally bestowed Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Agricultural University (RAU), its highest honour, in a ceremony at the RAU attended by Chair of the Governing Council, Dame Fiona Reynolds, as well as the Vice Chancellor, Earl Bathurst as Vice President and many of the senior leadership team at the RAU. Jeremy Moody was commended to the meeting by William Leschallas. The event was also attended by friends, family and alumni – including the current CAAV...
The Welsh Government has announced proposal to update and reform the Council Tax system in Wales. The consultation seeks views on how and when changes should be made to the basic structure of Council Tax in Wales and update the property valuations used. See the consultation for full details and how to respond. The deadline for the consultation is 6th February 2024.