The Heart of the South West LEP commissioned CCRI to undertake research in order to understand what, if any, obstacles exist for farmers and land managers to maximise their access to SFI and future ELMs schemes. This work in the Great South West region came off the back of previous successful work in calculating the impact of the reduction in the Basic Payment Scheme on Gloucestershire.
In the Agricultural Transition Plan published in Dec 2020 the government set out the changes in agricultural support. The most striking is that the Basic Payment Scheme will be phased out starting with reductions in 2021 and the last payment in 2027. Nationally in England this is close to £2Billion a year but the impact on the South West is unknown. This research sought to determine the impact of NPS reductions and the subsequent offers under ELM to the counties and districts across the Heart of the South West LEP. The aim is to share this widely in order to generate debate and the report will be framed in such a way to assist this. In addition, the report and recommendations will support the Heart of the South West LEP to deliver efficient and effective interventions for farmers and land managers.
The CCRI team, led by Chris Short, consisted of Rob Berry, Janet Dwyer, Theo Lenormand and Sofia Raseta. The research was completed during the first quarter of 2022, culminating in the report and recommendations that will support the Heart of the South West LEP to deliver more efficient and effective interventions for farmers and land managers.
A news item reporting on the findings of this study is available from this website.
Further information about the work in Gloucestershire is available from the Gloucestershire LNP.
CCRI REF: 2021-098
