(Bristol East)
(Lab):...County farms are an undervalued national asset, and
they could play a significant role in the future of UK farming. I
have the support of the Campaign to Protect Rural
England, Sustain and the Landworkers Alliance for the new
clause, which is aimed at rejuvenating the county farms project and
improving the information that the Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs holds on the estate. It would require councils to
submit a report to the Secretary of State within 18 months of this
Act’s becoming law, saying how they would make best use of their
smallholdings to support new entrants to farming. We have heard,
and it is generally accepted, that the price of land in particular
can act as a real deterrent to new entrants...
...At the very least, I hope the new clause will encourage councils
to look favourably on including enhanced management and
environmental obligations as part of the tender process and
management. This is about not only allowing access to land through
the county farm movement, but encouraging people to farm in a
certain way. CPRE’s recent report on county farms
highlighted the fact that a number of councils already view their
estates as a crucial lever in responding to the climate
emergency...
(Cambridge) (Lab):...Last
December, a report for CPRE by the New Economics
Foundation, Who Owns England? and Shared Assets looked at what
would need to be done to revive our county farms. The report
said:
“The government should protect the future of the county farm
estate by legislating for a ministerial lock on their disposal,
and a rejuvenated purpose statement. A forthcoming Agriculture
Act should safeguard county farms from extensive disposal by
making it incumbent on councils to submit a report to the
Secretary of State for the Department for the Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs (Defra). This should detail how they plan to
best manage their county farms to deliver on a range of
stipulated social and environmental purposes, and - if they wish
to sell off county farms - how doing so accords with these
purposes.”
That is exactly what our new clause would achieve. I invite the
Government to support the new clause because they believe in the
importance of county farms and they now have the opportunity to
put that in the Bill...
