Chris writes...
A year ago I said our workload would include the NFU Tenant Conference in Wigan and key meetings with the farming minister. I’m pleased to say both were completed, supported by a great deal of work from forum members and our superb staff.It was great to see so many members attend our conference and the speaker presentations were well received. We were especially grateful for a video introduction by HRH Prince Charles, who explained the work that the Duchy of Cornwall does for its tenants and his personal enthusiasm for next generation opportunities.
Our meetings with farming minister George Eustice led to a recall of the Tenant Reform Industry Group (TRIG) for a thorough look at how the sector could be improved, focusing on productivity, with special consideration of the opportunities that Brexit may or may not bring.
After submissions with fellow stakeholders we await the minister’s response, but begin 2018 hopeful that key considerations will be adopted.
This is particularly the case around making our Council Farms Estates stronger for the long-term. Decisions by some counties to dispose of them have been made with little regard to thorough strategy. Going forwards we will work to encourage the TRIG suggestion that government becomes more ‘hands-on’, and that each council should submit a long-term plan which could then be challenged at the highest level before major changes were adopted.
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