Farm Inspection & Regulation Review – Q1 2019
This is a short summary of the 131-page report, which we will update when there are significant developments. We have highlighted key points in yellow on the report.
The feedback we receive from most of our clients is that current regulation is too complicated, has elements of unnecessary bureaucracy, and that enforcement can be disproportionate. So we welcome a very significant change from the current regulatory system, which is what the Review proposes.
It recommends that all of the regulators in ‘Defra’ bodies, apart from the Environment Agency, would be combined in a new single regulatory field force. The new regulator will have very significant powers, including the ability to prevent certain farming activities unless the farmer is licenced and withholding public funding if a farmer consistently does not comply with regulations. While the case for such powers is forcefully made in the Review and already exists for some sectors, there should be a clear system of ‘checks and balances’ to ensure that the new powers are used in a proportionate, risk-based way.
One way of doing this would be for the new regulator to set a long-term objective for the desired outcomes of regulation and five-yearly plans on how it will achieve them. It should report progress to Parliament annually. This is a similar approach to the one used by the Committee on Climate Change, which works well in ensuring the organisation has set clear objectives and is delivering them.
This is a short summary of the 131-page report, which we will update when there are significant developments. We have highlighted key points in yellow.
