Select committee: Welsh Affairs Committee
Recommendation 14
5th Report - The economic and cultural impacts of trade and environmental policy on family farms in Wales
Published 7 Apr 2022
Paragraph 58
Addressed to Wales Office
Welsh Affairs Committee The economic and cultural impacts of trade and environmental policy on family farms in Wales All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We are aware of the importance of succession for family farms. One challenge for new entrants into the farming industry is the lack of opportunities available for older farmers to step aside and plan for their succession. We recommend that the UK and Welsh governments work together to understand the drivers for exiting farming and creating sustainable routes that meet financial needs and also enable the next generation of farmers. We note that farmers and land/asset holders might wish to extract capital or divest assets through sale or retain assets and use them to generate revenue (e.g. drawdown or rental).
From: Welsh Affairs Committee, 5th Report - The economic and cultural impacts of trade and environmental policy on family farms in Wales (HC 607), paragraph 58, 7 April 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 July 2022 (deadline 7 June 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government states that it "has carefully considered the Committee's recommendations and has responded to each in turn", mostly describing existing or planned work and, in several areas, noting that policy is devolved and its measures apply to England.
- On trade, it is "establishing a new Food and Drink Export Council" with the Devolved Administrations and industry, whose remit and membership will be agreed in partnership. It "recognises the need" for agri-food attachés with Welsh experience.
- On FTA impact reporting, it points to existing scoping and impact assessments published at the launch and conclusion of negotiations, which cover the nations and regions of the UK, including Wales. It does not state a commitment to publish a separate Wales statement or cumulative modelling data.
- On carbon offsets, it points to the UK Land Carbon Registry for projects under the Woodland and Peatland Codes. For England, it says it has "no plans to monitor the purchase of viable agricultural land".
- On new entrants, it says its funding and new entrant scheme apply to England. Pilots are aimed to launch "this year", after which it "will consider" whether there is a rationale for capital grants. It will share information on the scheme and the Lump Sum Exit Scheme with the Welsh Government.