The lead commissioner of the independent review of the UK farm assurance system is calling for the views of farmers.
The project, jointly set up by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), along with NFU Cymru, the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) and NFU Scotland (NFUS), will focus on repurposing UK farm assurance for a post-Brexit country.
The commissioners leading the review have now issued an online survey that can be completed by any farmer in the UK, from any sector, that will help provide evidence for the review and will assist in the development of its recommendations.
The independent review of the UK farm assurance system is planned to report at the end of this year.
Lead commissioner of the review, Dr David Llewellyn, said: “We are seeking views, in a variety of ways, across the UK agri-food industry, but this is your chance to tell us your experiences of farm assurance so that we hear directly from the farming community.”
The survey takes around 10-15 minutes to complete.
“Our evidence gathering will also involve direct engagement by the commissioners with other key stakeholders,” Llewellyn said.
“By responding directly to the commissioners and not to the sponsors of the review, we intend to ensure that our work will be both independent and transparent and that we can hear from a wide cross section of stakeholders in farm assurance systems from across the UK.”
The commissioners for the review are:
- Former vice-chancellor of Harper Adams University, Dr David Llewellyn;
- Former chief executive of Scotland Food and Drink, James Withers;
- Chair of trustees for the Farming Community Network (FCN), Mark Suthern;
- Former civil servant holdings position in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Scottish government and as part of the UK Permanent Delegation to the European Commission, Katrina Williams.
