Published on Defra Website Tuesday 16 November 2010 at 9:58am

The Government has today confirmed the details of spending on Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) until 2014. The announcement means that farmers who have applied to join the HLS scheme this year, and are waiting to learn if they’ve been successful, can be given start dates.

Taken from an article by Paul Arkle, Cumbria FWAG in the Cumberland News

Contrary to initial concerns that funding for schemes such as Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) would be reduced as part of the cutbacks to Defra, the government decided to ring-fence the flagship programme.

By 2013/14 the budget for HLS will increase by 83 per cent over current funding. This bodes well for farmers in Cumbria, which has been one of the key areas for HLS targeting within the north-west.

The last few days have seen significant media coverage regarding the current suspension to the HLS scheme and the confused messages emerging from last week’s Comprehensive Spending Review. Natural England have now finally published their official Q&A which can be accessed here (click on the file) or via their website at:

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/HLS_Q&A_tcm6-23026.pdf

hls_qa_oct_2010.pdf

However budgetary constraints mean applications will not receive a start date until April 2011 at the earliest.

A spokesman said: “HLS is not suspended – it remains open for business and farmers are encouraged to continue applying.”

natural_england_letter_oct_10.doc

Defra’s overall settlement

The plan aims to help to enhance the competitiveness and resilience of the food chain to ensure a secure, environmentally sustainable and healthy supply of food with improved standards of animal welfare. Secondly, to enhance and protect the natural environment by reducing pollution and preventing habitat loss and degradation.

1091_defra_plan.pdf