Red Tape review presentation

Posted 17 May 2011

Watch the video on our YouTube channel.

The Farming Regulation Task Force today published its report to Government. It contained 200 recommendations and prompted a pledge from Agriculture Minister Jim Paice that work to cut red tape in farming will begin immediately. 

Ahead of the report publication, Task Force Chairman Richard Macdonald visited Harper Adams, and gave a preview of the group’s findings to staff and students. He explained that professional training, such as that offered a Harper Adams, could play an important role in reducing regulation

“A key part of my recommendations will be what I call ‘earned recognition’. If I am a good business and I have earned recognition through private sector interventions, then I have a proven track record.

“Recognition can be earned, to make a business trusted and have higher value. It might be earned through a training module that Harper Adams has put on; there are a variety of ways that we can accredit people as having demonstrated trust, and those people should be given a lighter touch in terms of regulation, with much less inspection.

“It’s about driving excellence. It is my view that if you are excellent and you are doing well you should get reward for that in the market place and in terms of less intervention.

“The converse of that, if we are to go into a more trusted world, is that if you are constantly flouting the rules, constantly in trouble, if you are constantly below the standard: I think we should throw the book at people like that, because regulation is created on the back of the five or ten per cent who let the side down.”

The Task Force reviewed all the regulations that affect farmers and food producers and the way they are implemented.

Announcing the group’s findings today, Mr Macdonald said: “Our recommendations won’t all be easy but they are credible and, I believe, now is the time for change. The farming and food processing industries need to contribute to economic recovery and produce more food in a sustainable and safe way. To make this happen, the Government needs to change the way it deals with them. By accepting our recommendations, Defra will show that it is prepared to do this. It is now for Defra, its agencies and delivery partners, and industry to respond to the challenge.”

In response, Agriculture Minister Jim Paice accepted the challenge: “This is an impressive piece of work with strong recommendations for reducing the burden that red tape has on the people who produce our food. I asked them to explore how we can move from regulations that focus on process to those that achieve the best end result and they have done this.”

Mr Paice added:  “We have already identified a number of areas from the report where we can take immediate action, such as reducing the paperwork required under Nitrate Regulations and moving towards reporting all pig and cattle movement online. I’m also pleased to announce the creation of a new Strategic Regulatory Scrutiny Panel, tasked with challenging and advising us on the way we think about regulation.

“In the longer-term my priority will be to cut the unnecessary paperwork that farmers and food producers have to deal with and, wherever possible, move remaining paperwork online.”

To see the full report visit the Defra website