Labour is set to spend an eye-watering sum of taxpayer cash sending civil servants to farms so they can educate themselves about how they operate.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), under Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, was awarded a four-year agreement valued at £650,000 to provide its employees with agricultural education through countryside visits.
The programme combines theoretical instruction with hands-on experiences at working farms, and plans to give the Westminster visitors insight into the ins and outs of the sector.
For a significant number of those taking part, the training will mark their first direct interaction with farmers.
Shadow Defra Secretary Victoria Atkins argued the scheme reveals a fundamental absence of farming expertise within Government following Labour’s major U-turn over an inheritance tax raid on family farms.
“It will not be a surprise to any farmer to learn that many civil servants, like the current crop of ministers they serve, have no clue about farming or the countryside,” she said.
Ms Atkins continued: “Unlike the Government, Conservatives understand rural areas.
“Since the general election, I have been meeting thousands of farmers up and down the country to hear their concerns and raise them in Parliament.
For many civil servants, the plans will mark the first time they have directly interacted with farmers
|
PA
“Ministers and civil servants could learn a lot from them, including value for money.
“As hard-pressed taxpayers struggle with ever-higher taxes under this Government, they will ask what else ministers are wasting money on.”
The £650,000 contract was awarded to the Allerton Project, an initiative run by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.
Joe Stanley, who leads the training initiative at the Allerton Project and also operates as a livestock and arable farmer himself, defended the scheme’s necessity.
Joe Stanley, who leads the training initiative at the Allerton Project, said the majority of departmental personnel lack agricultural backgrounds despite being required to make crucial decisions
|
PA
He said the majority of departmental personnel lack agricultural backgrounds despite being required to make crucial decisions which could have dramatic effects on the farming industry.
“Most Defra staff are not from farming backgrounds, yet they have to make important decisions that affect the agricultural industry,” he said.
“This contract enables us to share our knowledge and upskill the Defra team, providing a solid foundation to assist in policy and practice.”
However, Gareth Wyn Jones, a sheep farmer from Llanfairfechan in Conwy who has gained prominence online, suggested Defra was approaching the problem incorrectly.
Farmer Gareth Wyn Jones said Labour is ‘definitely doing things backwards’
|
GB NEWS“They definitely are doing things backwards, they need farmers advising them,” he said.
Ian Lomas, who runs a dairy operation in Matlock, Derbyshire, expressed reservations about whether brief farm visits could deliver a genuine understanding of farming operations.
Although he supported the scheme in prinicple, he suggested better value for money could be achieved by simply “hiring people from farming backgrounds”.
A Defra spokesman said: “We’re backing British farmers as part of a new era of partnership to create a productive, profitable and sustainable future for farming.
“Farmers’ experience remains central to our policy decision-making and this programme, delivered by a leading countryside organisation, will help further upskill staff to ensure they have a practical understanding of onfarm realities.”