Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution

Summary
1. In outline, the Union recommends that the Commission's attention in the course of its study, should include:
   • consideration of the economic sustainability of farming systems - and of how declining farm output would affect conservation of the environment;

   • acknowledgement of the influences which Land Reform in Scotland might have on land use;

   • recognition of distinctive aspects of the planning system of Scotland and of the separate institutions which advise the actions of devolved government;
   • sensitivity to the differences of pressures on land use in different parts of the United Kingdom;

   • the implications, within national planning for waste management, of regulatory costs. Public funds should pay for regulation carried out in the public interest;

   • the distinction in environmental assessment and in land use planning and control between farming and non-agricultural commercial development. The planning system should not encroach on farming management decisions, as such.

   Background

2. Agriculture is the principal land use in Scotland. Even much of the open ground of the hills, uplands and islands contribute to livestock production. Despite its inherently low productivity, the rough grazing component of that land is nonetheless an important component of the wider whole. These areas provide much of the breeding stock for both specialist beef and sheep production.

3. Elsewhere, management choices in agricultural land use are chiefly determined by latitude, micro-climate, topography and geology. In practice, how the land is used by farmers is quite constrained. The kind of land, and where it is, determine what livestock or crops can be produced. As a result, a distinguishing characteristic of Scottish agriculture, within the United Kingdom, is its dependence on livestock production - most of it extensive rather than intensive.

4. Choices made in support measures and in regulation, both at an European Union (EU) level and at member state level where there is discretion, in large part determine the viability of farming systems. This is additional to the usual influences of market change, technological innovation, relative movements in productivity compared to other countries and currency exchange rates, all of which also affect other industries. So sustainability in economic and social terms, as well as environmental terms is very much a hot topic in agriculture. [A recent paper by the Union is attached to this submission to provide supplementary background.]

5. In Scotland, there is a clear intent to legislate on various aspects of Land Reform. From its distinctive legal system, Scotland has derived a system of land law and of planning control. Now these are potentially extended by devolved government - with executive as well as administrative authority on matters not reserved to Westminster. These should be taken into account.

   The letter of invitation to comment on the topic did not appear to recognise differences of issues as well as of governance, within the United Kingdom.

   Sustainability Objectives

6. The future of rural areas in Scotland is inextricably bound up in the political questions which are involved in interpreting "sustainability". The Union would argue that - as well as economic, social and environmental sustainability criteria - public policy on land use should include the sustainability of local food production.

7. The historic political imperative for strategic food supply has disappeared, for the moment at least. But were agricultural land use to be diminished, much else would be lost. These losses would include loss of "feedstock" for supply to processing industries, loss of jobs in areas where there are often few alternatives and, thereby, an acceleration of rural depopulation.

   Further, by reducing the local content of local consumption, at say, a Scottish level, more energy would be consumed on bringing food from other countries. The idea of "food from our own resources" still has validity in the context of sustainability.

8. This is a rather different perspective - trying to prevent the loss of production - from that which the Commission may learn from other areas. The Union is also concerned with pressures on the countryside which arise from urbanisation - alternative land uses associated with population pressures and, arguably, affluence pressures. That is rarer in Scotland. Development control is also an issue deserving attention. The bigger concern is, at the extreme, land abandonment.

9. Choices for future generations in how they use land resources would be heavily constrained by the present loss of agricultural use of land. It has taken generations to build the quality aspects of food production in Scotland, the fertility of its soils and the mosaic of landscape which derives from multiple land uses. Landscape is a particularly important issue in Scotland because quality of landscape is the bedrock of its attraction to visitors and part of the quality-of-life of its population.

   Environmental Management Issues

10. From the Union's point of view, there are two specifics of the subject area which require attention within the broad remit on which the Commission has embarked:

    -   National waste strategy: who pays for regulation

    -   Land use planning: agriculture's preferred status.

11. National Waste Strategy: a core issue is who pays for regulation. It is fundamentally unjust and provides no incentive to good practice that those whose performance is satisfactory should pay the same to be regulated as those who depend on advice/directive to achieve satisfactory performance. Also, if regulation is undertaken in the public interest - including the general public interest of future generations - it should be publicly funded.

    Where the attention of the regulator has to go beyond assessing that good practice is in place, and has to advise on corrective measures, it is fair that the Polluter Pays Principle comes into effect. Applying charges to those who, in effect, don't need regulating is contradictory to the intention of the Principle.

12. In the particular case of agriculture, although it may apply in other sectors to some extent, producers are price-takers. Good environmental performance is desirable and helps reinforce Scotland's green and clean image as a source of food and drink. But there is no evidence to support the idea that consumers will accept extra costs of regulation being passed on to them. Primary producers foot the bill. They operate in international markets where only intrinsic product quality can achieve a premium. And they operate in domestic markets where even the threat of imports, helped by the strong £, drives down prices. The industry's commercial weaknesses would be magnified by the imposition of additional regulatory costs.

13. Land Use Planning: as noted above, the possible encroachment of urban development on agricultural land is a concern. It also limits land use choices for future generations. It is accepted that environmental considerations should play a part in preparation of development plans as well as in development control. When farmers want to diversify and that new activity puts them beyond the boundaries of what can be considered as agriculture, they should be subject to the same cheeks and controls as other kinds of commercial development. But the Union firmly rejects any erosion of the existing planning exemptions for agriculture.

14. Strategic planning should have a built-in safeguard for retention of agricultural land use, except where overwhelming evidence of a public interest can be demonstrated. But planning control should be sensitive to the commercial needs of farmers who wish to diversify into non-agricultural activities. Failure to accommodate non-farming activities on farms, albeit subject to environmental safeguards, could threaten the economic sustainability of farming enterprises.

    [Enclosure:   "A Sustainable Future for Scottish Agriculture" Available on request from the Royal Commission Secretariat]

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