Call for Evidence: encouraging good practice in the tenant farming sector and examining the potential role of a Tenant Farming Commissioner in England

Overview

Tenant farmers are hugely important stewards of the countryside doing invaluable work to keep food on our tables and nurture our natural environment for the next generation.  Approximately a third of agricultural land in England is occupied and managed under agricultural tenancy agreements and a diverse and vibrant tenanted sector is vital to the future of agriculture. 

The government response to the Rock Review on Tenant Farming recognises that there is a need to balance the rights, interests and obligations of both tenant farmers and landlords to ensure the tenanted sector can thrive. As the Rock Review recognised, many tenants, landlords, land agents, rural surveyors, and other advisors work collaboratively and positvely to navigate and balance their interests for mutual benefit. 

However, the Rock Review also highlighted examples and concerns about poor practice and negative relationships which can lead to a breakdown in communication and curtail the ability of some tenanted farm businesses to thrive. The evidence provided in the Rock Review shone a light on the impact poor practice can have on some tenant farmers and provided very important insights on this issue. Through this targeted industry Call for Evidence, we want to complement that evidence by exploring in more details the extent and nature of poor practice in the sector and the extent to which existing industry complaints and dispute mechanisms are effective or could be improved. We also want to explore what more industry and government can do to spread collaboration and responsible conduct throughout the whole of the tenanted sector. This Call for Evidence does not set out new policy, it is however intended to gather in evidence and views to help us explore in more detail: 

• The issues identified in the Rock Review on Tenant Farming about tenant, landlord, land agent/rural surveyors and other advisors' practices and the extent and nature of poor practice in the sector. 

• Whether existing complaint routes and dispute mechanisms are effective in addressing issues of poor practice and if not, how they could be improved in future.

• The role of new mechanisms in addressing poor conduct including: a new Code of Practice on expected standards of responsible conduct for all parties in the sector; and the potential role of a Tenant Farming Commissioner (TFC) in England to provide oversight and scrutiny of practices in the sector.

Alongside evidence already gathered in the Rock Review the views and evidence provided through this targeted industry Call for Evidence will help to inform future policy development in this important area. Agriculture is a devolved matter in the UK and this Call for Evidence and any subsequent policy development relates to England only.

Why your views matter

Audience

During the Rock Review the views of individual tenants, landlords and advisors were sought through townhall events around the country and an online survey. Evidence and insights gathered from that process are summarised in the Rock Review report. This targeted industry Call for Evidence is complimentary by seeking evidence and views from representative industry organisations and professional bodies from across the whole sector. The Call for Evidence will be open for twelve weeks to ensure that industry organisations and professional bodies have time to engage with their wider membership to gather in views to inform their response. We will also invite responses from some sector experts/academics, and organisations who may have insights, experience, and evidence on the issues we are exploring. This approach will enable us to gather in detailed representative responses from all parts of the sector.  A list of trade bodies, organisations, and experts that we have invited to respond to this Call for Evidence is attached at Annex A separately.

As we are seeking consolidated views from representative organisations, forums, and experts/academics we will only be analysing responses from those we have directly invited to respond. We encourage individual tenant farmers, landlords and advisors to contribute their thoughts to their relevant trade / professional body.

Why your views matter

The views and evidence gathered through this Call for Evidence will sit alongside the evidence gathered through the Rock Review to deepen our understanding of the issues and solutions to inform future policy development on how collaboration and responsible conduct can be spread throughout the whole of the tenanted sector.

It would be helpful to include in your response an overview of the range of insights from your membership’s views and experiences on these issues. This could include where members views have already been sought and collated on some of these issues. However, if any survey data is provided, please clearly document the survey methodology together with an assessment of how representative you feel the views are for your organisation and membership base as a whole.

We do encourage all organisations and respondents to complete the online survey wherever possible. If you have evidence to share that you cannot otherwise share, attach, or upload to your response, please email us at agriculturaltenancies@defra.gov.uk.

What happens next

A summary of the responses to this Call for Evidence will be provided to all the invited organisations that have responded. The summary will include a list of  organisations that responded, but not personal names, addresses or other contact details. However, information provided in response to this Call for Evidence document, including personal information, may be subject to publication or release to other parties, or disclosure in accordance with access to information regimes, such as the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

If you want information, including personal data that you provide to be treated as confidential, please say so clearly in writing when you send your response to the Call for Evidence (if responding via mail or email) and explain why you need these details to be kept confidential. If responding via Citizen Space, you will be asked whether you would like your response to be treated as confidential or not. If we receive a request for a disclosure under the FOIA, we will take full account of your explanation, but due to the law we cannot provide any assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as a confidentiality request.

Defra is the data controller in respect of any personal data that you provide, and Defra’s Personal Information Charter, which gives details of your rights in respect of 15 the handling of personal data, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs/about/personal-information-charter