Dr David Llewellyn, lead commissioner of the UK Farm Assurance Review (UKFAR), has published an update with further information on its monitoring and reporting stage.
Lead commissioner of the UK Farm Assurance Review (UKFAR) Dr David Llewellyn has released a statement updating the report, published in January, which made nine strategic and 56 operational recommendations to address farming industry concerns about Farm Assurance.
The statement noted: “The recommendations require action by over 50 organisations, including the 12 Farm Assurance schemes studied in the Review, the four UK Governments and their agencies, processors, retailers and a variety of farming organisations.”
Dr Llewellyn said: “The sponsors of the Review, the AHDB and the national farming unions, have agreed that there is a need to monitor these actions to ensure that progress is made in addressing the recommendations. I have been appointed, again on an independent basis and with support from Promar International, to undertake this task.”
A series of meetings with the bodies identified in the report are being held in the coming weeks. The meetings will be used to brief them about the monitoring and reporting stage of the Review in order to better understand where the organisations believe they are already compliant with relevant recommendations and can provide evidence to the effect, or if they believe there are obstacles to action being taken and how they will develop “appropriate solutions”.
A “comply or explain” approach
Progress reports will be published in this autumn and in spring next year. A “comply or explain” approach will be taken, so that information about what actions have been taken or not yet taken by organisations will be publicly available.
“To deliver meaningful change it will be necessary for the identified organisations to participate fully in the monitoring and reporting stage.”
Dr David Llewellyn, lead commissioner UK Farm Assurance Review
The update continued: “Last year, a compact was agreed between the UKFAR commissioners and the sponsoring bodies to enable the commissioners to report independently on the evidence that they had gathered from farmers and the wider industry. The same arrangements for independent monitoring and reporting will apply to this stage, focused this time on gathering information and evidence from the organisations identified in the recommendations in order to produce the progress reports.
“To deliver meaningful change it will be necessary for the identified organisations to participate fully in the monitoring and reporting stage, and to have time to determine how they will implement the Review’s recommendations. At this point, it is clear that a number of organisations have already considered the recommendations and have expressed their intent to take action, so it is anticipated that the first monitoring report, later this year, will be able to provide feedback on the actual steps that have been taken. Some of these steps will involve collaboration with other organisations, and/or will require consultation with other stakeholders. This will, in turn, require those involved to coordinate their efforts to implement the relevant recommendations and to report back on what has been done.”
Signing off, Dr Llewellyn noted that the sponsors of the UKFAR have “committed to supporting this second stage of work so that momentum is maintained in changing and improving the farm assurance system”.
