News

DEFRA has released the final list of organisations funded to provide free advice under the Farming Resilience Fund. The list is available online. For more information on the Farming Resilience Fund, see our website note of 14th July....

Thérèse Coffey has been appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.Michael Gove has been appointed Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

After becoming the only candidate to secure sufficient nominations from MPs, Rishi Sunak is to be the leader of the Conservative Party and the next Prime Minister. We now await the formation of the Cabinet and the announcement of new or continuing ministers.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 20th October 2022 Although many now say that the new policies being developed across the United Kingdom will not be substitutes for Basic Payment income, the conversations then slip all too easily to looking to them to make income good, seeking the answer again from government. If not the new schemes, then the talk is of possible income from the as yet largely unformed and fledgling markets in carbon, biodiversity, nutrient...

Prime Minister Liz Truss has this lunchtime announced her resignation. The consequent leadership election is next week.

DEFRA has declared an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) across Great Britain. From midday on Monday 17 October, it will be a legal requirement for all bird keepers in Great Britain to follow biosecurity measures. More detail can be found online. Among other measures, keepers with more than 500 birds should restrict access for non-essential people on their sites, workers will need to change clothing and footwear before entering bird enclosures and site vehicles will need to be cleaned...

Following recent speculation that the Government may scrap proposals to end no fault evictions for residential tenants in England, the Prime Minister, Liz Truss, confirmed during Prime Minister's Questions yesterday (12th October 2022) the commitment to ban s.21 notices. There is, as yet, no timetable for this legislative change. The CAAV Note 16th June 2022 outlines the proposals in more detail....

The QE II Centre in London will see the return of the National Farm Management Conference this November. The event, titled ‘Agriculture’s defining decade: Balancing food and environmental security’ will address the big questions in the industry when it comes to the security of our food and environment. There is a stellar line-up of industry speakers who will discuss and debate how the UK can continue to protect the environment while keeping up with the demand to produce food sustainably....

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 6th October 2022 Substantial areas of the property market are moving into increasingly uncertain waters, taking valuers with them. Factors such as rising interest rates, cost challenges, potential recession and changing market demands combine with the usual economic dynamics of activity moving between sectors and regions make valuation more challenging. A retrospective review for non-domestic property will soon come from...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 29th September 2022 Nature abhors a vacuum. Governments that do not tell their story lose control of its telling as others seize the moment to fill the void. DEFRA let it be known that there was a “rapid review” of the present policies. Little was then said and so, while reasonable for new ministers and perhaps no more than a routine “kicking of tyres”, the void was filled by third party speculation becoming a...

The government has declared Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Essex to be an Avian Influenza Protection Zone (AIPZ) from midday on Tuesday 27th September 2022. All bird keepers, including those with backyard flocks or who keep chickens, ducks or geese as pets, falling within the AIPZ are obliged to follow strict biosecurity measures to protect their flocks and contain the spread of the disease, per DEFRA and APHA guidance. East Anglia joins Cornwall, Devon and parts of Somerset, declared to be an...

Today’s Press Reports The press (Observer, Financial Times, the Times and others) and the BBC (website and the Today programme at 6.39 and 7.50) are carrying the story that the new DEFRA ministerial team, silent so far, are undertaking a “rapid review” of the policies they have inherited. The energy in the reporting seems to come from environmental organisations, concerned to link any possible change in DEFRA environmental re-orientation of payments to the Financial Statement’s plans...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 22nd September 2022 As normal business resumes after the powerful commemoration and funeral of the late Queen, the Liz Truss Government brings a strong sense of a change in the wind. While all Conservative, each new Prime Minister since 2010 has set a very different tone infusing the operation of government This Government swiftly signalled a new course set by the stars of lower taxes (and in that tolerant of increased...

Scott Mann MP has been appointed today as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Lord Benyon has bene re-appointed to the same role in the Lords. Confirmation of the allocation of roles to ministers is awaited. The DEFRA ministers will now be: Ranil Jayawardena – Secretary of State Mark Spencer – Minister of State Trudy Harrison – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Commons Scott Man – Parliamentary...

Whether an unresolved rent review or other issues from end of tenancy compensation to game damage, where an arbitrator is needed the CAAV President is ready to appoint on receiving an application. For an outstanding rent review under either the 1986 or 1995 Acts, the CAAV must receive the application before the term date. The CAAV appointment can be made afterwards, with the same statutory powers as the RICS. Applications can be made on this form on the CAAV website....

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 15th September 2022 There are occasions when the sinews of a country are laid bare, when the veil of daily life and concerns are swept back to reveal deeper things that we rarely see. The combined death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of His Majesty King Charles III is such a moment. We commemorate, with shared and individual memories, and we look ahead. We see the value of a life of service, duty and...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 8th September 2022 Location, location, location. That has been the received mantra for the housing and we now have to thing more about what might be the better uses for the very different kinds of rural land that we work with. We see a wider, more varied and complex range than simply that from silt fen to acid heath, with factors from location to geology and the opportunities and issues in the marketplace. At the same time,...

The President, officers, members and Secretariat of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV) send deepest condolences to the Royal Family on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen’s devotion and service to her country, people and the Commonwealth for the seventy years of Her reign as monarch and the years before that, through war, peace and change, bore out a dedication and a sense of duty that is an example to us all. In particular, we appreciate and honour Her...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 1st September 2022 We said for some years that the 2020s would be decade of change and challenge for rural work, partly as we make our own future outside the EU and partly with the major changes in world markets, public tastes, technologies and climate change. That was before the pandemic, global supply chain disruption and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Just as the mechanics of the global supply chains might be easing, the...

DEFRA and the Welsh Government have set out their policies and approach towards avian influenza in wild birds in their joint publication of 31 August 2022. Guidance to landowners, managers and organisations responsible for areas to which the public have access includes: preparing contingency plans in the event of an outbreak; communication and signage warning of the hazards of avian influenza and how people can protect themselves, kept and wild birds; and improved biosecurity. In a separate...

The second round of the Farming Innovation Programme has opened for applications. See our webnote of 22nd August for more detail.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 25th August 2022 There are some significant misperceptions about agricultural subsidies. An English landowner and farmer, explaining why he had now “re-wilded” a substantial area of very low yielding land, said it was a response to the coming withdrawal of subsidy for his crops. The mystery is that he has not had a subsidy for even general arable cropping since 2004; even the quirks of the Single Payment over set-aside...

Part 4 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 amended the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to strengthen police powers over unauthorised encampments. The amendments create the offence of residing on land without consent in or with a vehicle (Section 60C), provided that: There is at least one vehicle (a caravan counts as a vehicle) on the land.The landowner, his representative or the police have asked that either the trespasser leaves the land or that he removes his...

Scottish Mediation has announced a project to support mediation in 20 disputes between neighbours over the next 12 months. To be eligible for the free service, all parties must live in Scotland and be willing to participate in mediation. At least one party must be in private rented accommodation. More details are available on the Scottish Association of Landlords and Scottish Mediation websites....

Following recent hot and dry weather, the Forestry Commission has published guidance on the force majeure provisions of grant agreements for tree planting. The guidance will be of interest to those who feel that they will struggle to meet the obligations of a tree planting scheme due to the weather. More information is available here: Advice On Hot And Dry Weather Conditions In England....

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 18th August 2022 International comparisons are difficult but a stark figure is that the UK’s GDP per person at $47,000 (including London) is less than 49 of the 50 US states; only Mississippi ($42,000) is poorer. Unless we answer our problem with improved productivity, in agriculture as much as in the rest of the economy, we shall be a poor rich country with expectations of lifestyles and public services, from health to...

The Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) covering England, Wales and Scotland was lifted at midday on 16 August 2022. Separate declarations have been made for each administration and are available on the web for England and Wales. Declarations for Scotland and Northern Ireland are not yet available. For further information and guidance see the DEFRA, Welsh Government, Scottish Government, and DAERA websites; guidance varies between the different administrations....

DEFRA has updated its guidance on Keeping farm animals and horses in extreme weather to include further guidance on how to transport animals in extreme weather. Welsh Government has also published its own guidance on keeping and transporting animals in hot weather as well as requirements on water provisions and conditions in markets....

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 4th August 2022 While it seems that weather records can always be broken, East Anglia, the south east and south central England have, with 5mm of rain, had the driest July since the Met Office was founded in 1836, after England’s driest 8 months since 1976. Temperatures above 40oC broke UK records. In a pattern consistent with but ahead of climate change forecasts, much of the west and north were wetter with Scotland having...

The Bank of England has announced that interest rates have increased by 0.5% from 1.25% to 1.75%.

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on its proposed New Build Heat Standard. The Government has proposed that from 1 April 2024 all new buildings applying for a building warrant will only be permitted to use zero direct emissions heating systems. A zero direct emissions heating system is defined as one by which the building is heated or cooled or by which hot water is made available using thermal energy located within the building or its curtilage and which does not emit...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 28th July 2022 The CAAV’s Soils Event, deferred by the pandemic, was held last week at Norbury Park Estate on the Staffordshire/Shropshire border, enjoying the hospitality of the owner, Professor Jo Bradwell. Soil scientist, Elizabeth Stockdale of NIAB, distinguished “soil character”– is a soil sandy, peat, loam, brash, …? – from “soil health” – is that soil in good heart? As a changeable quality,...

The Green Heat Network Fund aims to support the public, private and third sectors in developing low carbon district heating and cooling networks. The three-year scheme, with a total of £288 million in capital funding, opened in March 2022. It is now open for applications for the second round of funding, with a closing deadline of 26 August 2022. A further nine quarterly funding rounds are planned, with the last one on 29 November 2024. Grant funding is available of up to 50 percent of eligible...