Defra confirms higher
level stewardship funding and new environmental stewardship payment schedule
The Government has
today confirmed the details of spending on Higher Level
Stewardship (HLS) until 2014. The announcement means that farmers
who have applied to join the HLS scheme this year, and are waiting
to learn if they’ve been successful, can be given start dates.
Further changes to the scheme will focus its role on safeguarding
the environment. More money will go to protecting wildlife and
reducing water pollution and less spent on farm renovations and
access to the countryside.
Agriculture Minister, Jim Paice, said:
“We have worked hard to protect spending on HLS so that it can
increase by more than 80 per cent by 2014. This will guarantee the
future of HLS, ensure that the scheme delivers the greatest
possible benefits for wildlife and the natural environment, and
keep it open to new applicants.
“Natural England will now be able to lift the temporary freeze on
setting up new agreements and farmers will be able to make plans
based on definite funding dates. Natural England will work to
prioritise applications as quickly as possible. A limited number
of priority cases will be given start dates this year but due to a
record number of HLS applications many will have to wait until
April 2011 to join.”
Natural England will inform all applicants about the progress of
their individual applications within the next four weeks.
The year-on-year increase in HLS spending over the next four
years is planned to be:
2010/11 - £84m2011/12 - £118m2012/13 - £136m2013/14 - £156m
Further changes to Environmental Stewardship will focus resources
on key environmental issues such as protecting wildlife and
reducing water pollution. The amount of funding that can be spent
on maintaining and restoring farm buildings will be capped,
meaning that a larger number of smaller projects can be supported.
Farmers will still be able to apply for one-off capital payments
to support access to the countryside or hosting school visits to
farms. This change is designed to get the best out of all
available funding. New applicants won’t be given annual payments
to support these activities but farmers with existing agreements
will not be affected.
The Government have also announced that, following an EU audit,
payments to farmers after 30 June 2011 will move to an annual
cycle. This change will apply to all Environmental Stewardship
agreements that started on or after 1 February 2007 and has been
introduced to protect the UK from expensive EU fines. To help
minimise the impacts of these changes on farmers all payments due
during the first half of 2011 will be unaffected.
Jim Paice continued:
“I deeply regret the impact that the unavoidable change in
Environmental Stewardship payments will have on our farmers, but
this is the only way to avoid large EU fines. We have pushed the
start date back by an extra six months to give as much notice as
possible so that farmers have time to plan for the changes.
“These changes will not affect the total amount that farmers
receive and Natural England will contact agreement holders with
further details in the near future.”
Notes to Editors
1. Environmental Stewardship (ES) is an agri-environment scheme
which offers payments to farmers and land managers in England for
effective land management to protect and enhance the environment
and wildlife. The scheme is delivered for Defra by Natural England
and forms part of the Rural Development Programme for England.
2. The scheme’s primary objectives are to:
· Conserve wildlife (biodiversity);
· Maintain and enhance landscape quality and character;
· Protect the historic environment;
· Protect natural resources (water and soil) , and
· Promote public access and understanding of the countryside.
3. Environmental Stewardship is comprised of:
· Entry Level Stewardship (ELS): Whole farm agreements open to
all farmers and land managers who farm conventionally for simple
yet environmentally effective land management.
· Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS): Similar to ELS, but
offering higher payments for the greater environmental benefits
associated with organic farming and the costs of meeting annual
organic registration requirements.
· Uplands Entry Level Stewardship (Uplands ELS): A new uplands
strand of ELS, launched in February 2010 with the first agreements
starting from 1 July 2010, available to farmers in England’s
Severely Disadvantaged Areas (SDA).
· Higher Level Stewardship (HLS): An environmentally targeted,
competitive scheme with 10-year tailored agreements of high
environmental value involving complex and specialised land management.
4. Take-up of HLS has reached record levels this year. Further
new agreements were temporarily suspended following the Government
Spending Review in October 2010 to allow time for the effects of
the Spending Review to be assessed. This was necessary because new
commitments made this year will impact on the budgets for
subsequent years.
5. Changes to Environmental Stewardship funding will include a
cap of £150,000 over a three year period to be imposed on payments
for the maintenance and restoration of Traditional Farm Buildings.
This will free up funds for other Stewardship priorities and allow
the scheme to move away from having a limited number of expensive
projects, meaning that more farmers will benefit.
6. The current payment system for Environmental Stewardship means
that agreement holders receive payments every six months after the
start of their agreements. The change to an annual payment cycle
means all that after 30 June 2011, farmers will now receive their
two payments in the Autumn and Spring.
7.Further information about these changes can be found at: www.naturalengland.org.uk/es
205/11
Contacts:
Defra Press Office
Phone: 020 7238 6600
NDS.DEFRA@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Laura Hunter
Phone: 020 7238 6299
laura.hunter@defra.gsi.gov.uk