Restructuring of the five agricultural levy boards has been put back to April 2008 to enable sufficient time for the single board, which will replace them, to be properly established, food minister Lord Jeff Rooker has announced.
Originally restructuring of the British Potato Council; Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC); Milk Development Council; Horticultural Development Council; and Home Grown Cereals Authority, had been expected next year. But Rooker said the delay was necessary to ensure sufficient time for the new chairman and management board to be appointed. He stressed his intention for the board to reflect a more fair gender balance.
The restructuring proposals followed a wide-ranging review of the levy boards carried out by former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner Rosemary Radcliffe, and a subsequent consultation exercise with stakeholders. As well as the single board, six sector companies will be created beneath it: horticulture; cereals and oilseeds; milk; beef and lamb; and pigs. The chairs of these companies will sit on the new board together with four independents, which will include the board chairman.
Rooker stressed that monies collected from the six sectors will be spent within those sectors. Radcliffe added: “This is not an exercise in cross subsidy.”
“We have retained the levy because there was overwhelming support for this from farmers and growers during the public consultation,” said Rooker. “But changes are still needed to the current structures to help the industry meet future business challenges.”
While the chairman of the new board will be instructed to conduct a ‘Fresh Start’ review of the requirements for each sector, Rooker was at pains to stress that detailed decisions would be the board’s responsibility. He would not be drawn on any specific cost saving measures, such as the sale of assets, or other reports that the MLC’s headquarters in Milton Keynes might provide the board’s future home. “This is not a cost cutting exercise, because the savings overall are modest anyway,” he said.
“I firmly believe these changes will be to the advantage of levy payers,” said Radcliffe. “They should result in improved accountability, improved efficiency and altogether should give levy payers better value for money.”
The proposals were warmly welcomed by the president of the National Farmers Union, Peter Kendall, who said the main challenge would be to identify what levy payers wanted from the new body. The British Meat Processors Association also welcomed the proposals.
Rooker expects the shadow board to be up and running by February or March next year. Once formed, it will be the board’s duty to appoint a chief executive and make key decisions ready for vesting day on April 1 2008.