A Call for Evidence to explore the proposal for a Tenant Farming
Commissioner and encourage more collaborative tenant-landlord and
advisor relationships has been launched by the government today
(Thursday 16 November).
The Call for Evidence will build on important insights from the
Rock Review by seeking industry views on the extent of poor
practice in the sector – such as a lack of communication between
landlords, tenants and their advisors on key business issues such
as tenancy renewal and rent reviews - and how to encourage more
collaborative tenant-landlord and advisor relationships.
It will also gather evidence on whether existing ways to register
complaints in the industry are effective in addressing poor
practice and examine the potential role of an independent Tenant
Farming Commissioner who would provide more scrutiny of conduct
in the sector and promote codes of good practice.
Farming Minister said:
Tenant farmers are at the heart of our rural economy. We’ve made
significant progress in delivering our response to the Rock
Review, including making our Environment Land Management schemes
more accessible to tenant farmers, and will continue to work
closely with tenants, landlords and the wider industry to drive
further positive change.
The Call for Evidence is a further important step forward in
achieving this and I encourage farmers, landlords and advisors to
express their views to their relevant trade body to make sure
experiences from all parts of the sector are heard.
Today’s announcement builds on the significant progress the
government has already made to deliver on key recommendations
from the Rock Review.
This includes the establishment of the Farm Tenancy Forum in July
2023 to prioritise the delivery of the commitments in the
Government response to the Rock Review. This Forum is made up of
industry representatives of tenant farmers, landlords and
professional advisors and is working to consider the unique
challenges facing the sector, facilitate more collaborative
relationships between landlords and tenants, and help shape
farming policy.
We are also making our Environmental Land Management schemes more
accessible to tenant farmers, with thousands of farmers on
tenanted and mixed land having expressed an interest in the
Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and over half of applications
in the first round of our Landscape Recovery scheme involving
tenanted land.
The government is also:
- Working with the sector to develop a new Code of Practice
setting standards of responsible conduct for all parties to
tenancy agreements.
- Committed to offering more actions on three-year agreements
under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) without requiring
landlord consent from 2024.
- Encouraging collaboration with a wide range of land managers,
including tenant farmers, through our Landscape Recovery Scheme.
- Exploring support for New Entrants through a pilot scheme
earlier this year where over 80% of participants who took part
came from a non-farming family background. The pilots looked at
how we can best support people to enter the sector and increase
their opportunities to access land and finance, including support
on pitching for tenancies.
- Tracking data on the amount of land in the tenanted sector to
pick up any emerging trends on land resumption and looking for
ways to identify drivers of change.
This comes as the government is providing more than £168 million
in grants this year across the industry, including tenant
farmers, to drive innovation, support food production, improve
animal health and welfare and protect the environment.
The Call for Evidence will run for 12 weeks until 8 February
2024. Industry trade organisations and professional bodies
representing the views and interests of tenant farmers, landlords
and professional advisors, as well as from sector experts and
forums who have insights and experience within the industry, are
invited to respond.
ENDSNotes to Editor:
- This is a targeted Call for Evidence which has been issued to
industry organisations and professional bodies representing the
views and interests of tenant farmers, landlords, and
professional advisors who work in the tenant farming sector. The
Call for Evidence will be open for 12 weeks to ensure that
industry organisations and professional bodies have time to
engage with their wider membership to gather views on the issues
we are exploring. We will also invite responses from other sector
experts, and organisations who may have insights, experience, and
evidence on the issues we are exploring in this Call for
Evidence.
- The Government Response to the Rock Review was published in
May 2023 Government response to
the Rock Review: full report - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- The Rock Review was published in October 2022, led by
and the Tenancy Working
Group, with input from all parts of the tenanted sector
including tenants, landlords and agents: Rock Review: working
together for a thriving agricultural tenanted sector
- The joint industry and government Farm Tenancy Forum was
established in July 2023 with a key focus on supporting the
delivery pf the government response to the Rock Review, the Terms
of Reference and membership can be found here: Farm Tenancy Forum:
terms of reference - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
