Welcome to our update on key land management, farming, planning and energy issues.

Environment

UK Environment Bill aims to start delivering the vision set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan

The Queens Speech included an Agriculture Bill and also the much-anticipated Environment Bill. Its main proposals include:

• Policy makers must pay ‘due regard’ to a set of environmental principles, which include environmental protection should be integrated into policy-making; preventative action to avert environmental damage; the precautionary principle; environmental damage should be rectified at source; the polluter pays.
• A new statutory cycle of target setting, monitoring, planning and reporting, with the targets reviewed on a five-yearly basis.
• The Office for Environmental Protection will become the new ‘independent watchdog’. It will have a power to apply for a judicial or statutory review if it thinks a public body is not complying with environmental law, but only as a last resort. It will not have the power to fine the government for environmental transgressions, which would have been a strong tool to have.
• Net biodiversity gain: developers must provide a 10% gain in biodiversity over and above any negative impacts that developments create. The detailed rules for the policy will be agreed over the next two years, including ‘biodiversity metrics’ used to calculate the ‘biodiversity value of any habitat’.
• Where biodiversity gains can’t be delivered locally, developers must buy ‘biodiversity credits’ so the work can be funded elsewhere.
• Any habitats created to deliver net gain must be maintained for “at least” 30 years.
• Local nature recovery strategies: councils must produce these strategies and administer the system. This includes producing statements of biodiversity priorities for their area and identifying where compensatory provision of biodiversity can be delivered. The government has said it will fully fund local authorities for delivering these new responsibilities. These will be some of the building blocks for Nature Recovery Networks.
• On waste, it is not clear whether the Bill will be as strong as the May-government’s commitment to the EU’s ‘circular economy’ directive, which would make producers pay 80% of the costs for disposing of the packaging that wraps their goods.
• S&P comment: we will know quite how green this Bill is once more of the details are published and implemented. In a sharp reminder of always thinking about what is not in a Bill, the BBC has painted out that the government is still committed to aviation expansion, fracking, North Sea drilling, building roads that experts say will generate traffic, blocking onshore wind power, and cutting support for home insulation and solar. And its Committee on Climate Change says that only six of 21 the indicators in the second carbon budget were on track. Actions speak louder than words.

Farming

EU’s policy on the Mercosur trade agreement links market access to welfare standards for the first time

The EU is going to impose hen welfare standards on egg imports from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay under the new trade agreement. It is the first time the elimination of tariffs has been conditional upon particular animal welfare standards being upheld. Despite this, the trade agreement continues to be criticised, by EU farmers for opening them up to unfair, lower standard competition, and by environmentalists for not making the conditions to prevent deforestation of rainforests stronger. This is a complex issue. The Guardian claims that some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets are struggling to avoid deforestation in their supply chain as they, for example, source UK meat that has been fed soya from deforested land in Argentina.

2019 Basic Payment Scheme payments to be worth about the same amount as last year

The exchange rate used to calculate the value of payments is €1=£0.89092, which is almost exactly the same as in 2018. The exact value of each entitlement will not be confirmed until November, as it is based on the total number of hectares of eligible land claimed for in each region. However, payment values will be very close to last year’s – £228/ha for lowland England, after the Financial Discipline Mechanism had been applied. These payments will be made, at this level, even if the UK leaves the EU on 31 October.

Energy

Scottish government fracking ‘ban’ to continue indefinitely

The Scottish Government has confirmed its policy of ‘no support’ for fracking – using planning policy to block the technology rather than implementing a legal ban. The announcement of this ‘final policy position’ comes after eight years of controversy, including a moratorium, three consultations, a raft of expert reports, and a high-profile court case. The government says that allowing the extraction of unconventional oil and gas would be incompatible with its policies on climate change and energy decarbonisation. The policy will be included in the next national planning framework, expected in 2020-21.

Environment

State of Nature report

The report has again described the UK as ‘among the most nature-depleted countries in the world’. The reasons cited are intensification of farming, fertiliser and plastic pollution, habitat destruction for house building and invasive alien species. It claims that populations of our most important wildlife have fallen by an average of 60% since 1970.

Forestry

EU plans to halt global forest loss by 2030

Farm ministers from across the EU have accepted that farming contributes to deforestation across the world, as forests are cut down to grow crops, such as soya and palm oil. It is estimated that farming is responsible for around 80% of global deforestation. The ministers have supported plans by the European Commission that include encouraging consumption of products from deforestation-free supply chains, deforestation proofing international aid, international cooperation, redirecting finance to support more sustainable land use and supporting access to information on forests. The objective is to halt global forest loss by 2030.

Property

Consultation on Future Homes Standards mainly applies to new builds but existing buildings will follow

Although this consultation is mainly focused on new builds, it applies to all homes and does mention existing dwellings in places. It talks about carbon saving technologies and high standards for building fabrics, all of which are either not practical or are very costly to implement to an existing dwelling. Until further consultation on its application to existing dwellings is carried out (and it is expected in late 2019), the main action for property owners is to continue to apply Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) to achieve a rating of an E. These two standards will become more significant when they rise to increase energy efficiency over time. The Committee on Climate Change’s 2019 Progress Report to Parliament sets out the expected increase in energy efficiency standards over time.

Rural economy

Brexit Support Grant available to Scottish SMEs

The grant is for £2,000 – £4,000 and is primarily aimed at assisting with planning for measures to mitigate any negative effects of Brexit. It can be spent on professional advice on, for example, Brexit impact scenario planning, legal and contractual issues, modelling cashflow changes, modelling the impact of changing customs / tariffs / VAT, and strengthening financial and currency management. It can also cover the cost of (up to two employees) attending training courses relating to any of the above topics. S&P comment: this is a better offer than the £1,000 on offer from the Farm Advisory Service. Please contact Mary Munro for more details and to discuss whether S&P can provide your business with advice funded by the scheme. NB Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are under 250 employees, and with a turnover of less than €50m or balance sheet of less than €45m.