Funding of up to
£26million to support hill farmers and help some of England’s
rural communities to thrive was unveiled today by Environment
Secretary Caroline Spelman.
A new Rural Community Broadband Fund expected to be worth up to
£20million will be set up to help end the digital and social
divide suffered by rural areas and up to £6million a year more
will be available to hill farmers for environmental stewardship schemes.
Caroline Spelman said:
“England’s uplands communities face difficult challenges, as do
other remote parts of rural England, yet these are places with a
remarkable range of human and natural assets and they can have a
bright future. I am determined that these areas will not be
overlooked and that is why I will champion their interests right
from the centre of Government.
“Making a living as a hill farmer can be very difficult without
the payments which reward the valuable environmental contribution
they make, and unless farmers get help to innovate and diversify.
The range of measures announced today will help hill farmers
become more competitive and take advantage of new opportunities to
grow their businesses. They will also help rural communities to thrive.”
The broadband scheme will be jointly funded by the Rural
Development Programme for England and Broadband Delivery UK, which
is the team leading the Government’s drive UK to have the best
superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015.
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Jeremy
Hunt said:
“This new fund will enable some of the most remote communities in
England to bring broadband to their homes and businesses.
“Remote and rural areas have the most to gain from access to
broadband but these are the communities currently missing out.
“The whole of the UK should be able to share in the benefits of
broadband and we are determined to make this happen by the end of
the Parliament.”
The package of measures announced today follows a wide-ranging
government review of policies affecting England’s uplands.
Key measures include:
A guarantee that 100% of hill farmers eligible to enter Uplands
Entry Level Stewardship (UELS) – the key environmental management
scheme for hill farmers - will be able to do so, which would be
worth up to an extra £6m a year from within the Rural Development
Programme for England (RDPE).
Creation of an “Uplands Theme” in the new delivery arrangements
for the socio-economic elements of RDPE to target support to hill
farmers, details of which will be announced later in the year:
areas being considered include grants for small scale capital
investments, help with business and other skills, apprenticeships,
knowledge transfer and demonstration farms.
A commitment to reducethe burden of unnecessary red tape onhill
farmers in the light of the forthcoming report of the Task Force
on Farming Regulation: issues of particular relevance which the
Task Force is examining include livestock movement, regulation of
small abattoirs and farm inspections.
A new Rural Community Broadband Fund, expected to be worth up to
£20million, to allow rural communities - including those in the
uplands - to apply for help with small scale broadband projects:
an innovative way of enabling people in rural areas, including
hill farmers, to access the digital services and business
opportunities most of us take for granted.
A process of consultation on whether the legislation for
National Parks needs to better reflect their role in facilitating
sustainable development, but without compromising the integrity of
our National Parks.
Further announcements on these measures will be made in the
coming months.
Notes to editors
The Uplands Policy Review is online at:
http://ww2.defra.gov.uk/food-farm/land-manage/uplands/The Uplands
Policy Review also sets out how the Government will meet the
commitment in Defra’s Structural Reform Plan to “develop
affordable measures of support for hill farmers”. The Rural
Community Broadband Fund is expected to draw on RDPE European
funds and funding from the £530m BDUK funding announced last year
following the Spending Review. It will provide support to rural
communities across England, including in upland areas, for small
community broadband projects. Details of how the Fund will operate
and how to apply will be announced later in the year. Effectively
use the funds provided to meet the Universal Service Commitment
Increase the penetration of high speed connectivity and plan for
the use of public money (from whatever source) if necessary
Explore the potential for reuse of public networks and assets to
reduce the cost of making high speed connectivity available to
poorly served areas in the UK Work with and influence the other
areas of the public sector (e.g. Ofcom) involved with and
responsible for the delivery of the Coalition Government’s policy
objective to ensure the rapid rollout of high speed connectivity
services across the country. The Rural Development Programme for
England (RDPE) 2007-13 is jointly funded by Defra and EU funding
worth about £3.7 billion. It covers three Axes, or objectives:
Axis 1 is concerned with farming competitiveness, Axis 2 with
protecting the environment and the countryside and Axis 3 with
diversification of the rural economy. Axis 4, the Leader approach
is a community led approach to the programme’s objectives managed
by Local Action Groups.Uplands Entry Level Stewardship (Uplands
ELS) is a strand of Environmental Stewardship designed
specifically for upland farmers, and funded under Axis 2 of RDPE.
Uplands ELS was launched in 2010 and is available to all farmers
in England’s Severely Disadvantaged Area. Current uptake targets
are based on the scheme covering 80% of eligible land by 2015.
Today’s announcement confirms that funding will be made available
from within RDPE budgets to allow all eligible farmers to enter
the scheme. Axis 1, 3 and 4 of the Programme, the socio-economic
elements, are currently delivered by the Regional Development
Agencies. RDPE delivery will be transferring from Regional
Development Agencies to Defra in July 2011 providing greater
national consistency whilst retaining a network of delivery
support. The Uplands Theme will be part of the new approach to
delivery of the RDPE socio-economic elements for the remainder of
the programme period to 2013. Elements including targeted skills
programmes, capital investments schemes and enhanced weighting for
upland areas within other generic schemes under the Programme are
being developed over the coming months. Further details will be
announced later in the year. BDUK is a dedicated team within BIS,
tasked with progressing the UK Government’s policies and
objectives for improving broadband coverage and delivery within
the UK.BDUK currently has four primary goals:
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Contacts:
Defra Press Office
Phone: 020 7238 6600
NDS.DEFRA@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Martin Deller
Phone: 020 7238 5334
martin.deller@defra.gsi.gov.uk