UPDATE ON THE UK FARM ASSURANCE REVIEW

The comprehensive independent evaluation of the UK’s farm assurance schemes announced by the Commissioners of the UK Farm Assurance Review has been underway since the summer.

The project, jointly set up by the National Farmers' Union (NFU) and AHDB, along with NFU Cymru, the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) and NFU Scotland (NFUS), is focussed on repurposing UK farm assurance for a post-Brexit world. The independent review of the UK Farm Assurance System is planned to report at the end of this year.

The Commissioners leading the review launched a number of calls for evidence over the summer that invited submissions from individual farmers and producers, farming organisations, assurance scheme bodies, policy makers, food processors, retailers, foodservice operators and consumer groups, as well as relevant trade associations and representative bodies.

Dr David Llewellyn, the Lead Commissioner, said: “We would like to thank all of those who responded to the various calls for evidence we made. This included over 3,600 farmers and another 150 supply chain organisations. The Commissioners also visited 12 key agricultural and trade events across the UK during the summer and autumn to engage with key stakeholders and farmers.

The primary research stage has now been completed. We are currently analysing the considerable amount of data and information of which we are now in possession.

It is still, at this stage, the intention of the Commissioners to report to the project sponsors by the end of the year. It was intended that any organisation from the agri food and farming supply chain who wanted to express a view about farm assurance, was able to do so. We believe as a group we have a strong evidence base to work from. This will assist in the development of a series of robust recommendations as we complete our review”.

About the Commissioners

The following were appointed to act as Commissioners for this review:

• Dr David Llewellyn CBE (Lead Commissioner) – former Vice Chancellor of Harper Adams University
• James Withers – former Chief Executive Officer of Scotland Food and Drink
• Mark Suthern – Chair of Trustees of the Farming Community Network (FCN)
• Katrina Wiliams CB - a former senior civil servant holding positions in Defra, the Scottish Government and as part of the UK Permanent Delegation to the European Commission

Further details

For further details about this Review and how it will be managed, please feel free to contact:

• The UK Farm Assurance Review

UK-farm-assurance-review@genusplc.com