The Alliance has published a paper on next steps for the 25 Year Environment Plan which welcomes the fact that, for the first time, the plan approaches the natural and historic environments on an equal footing.
In theory heritage is a funding priority, but in practice it is deprioritised because it is not covered by EU Directives. Heritage currently recieve just ¼ of one per cent of £2.1bn total CAP funding (England). As the Plan says, “our failure to understand the full value of… the environment and cultural heritage has seen us make poor choices. We can change that…”
The Alliance asks Government to work with us and other stakeholders to:
1. Phase out per-hectare support, as the Plan says: funding should be for public goods. The main public good is environmental enhancement, and the new Environmental Land Management System should “incentivise land managers to restore and improve our natural capital and rural heritage”.
2. Fund public goods valued by the public, with the historic and natural environments on an equal footing, piloted from 2018-19.
3. Ensure that the new Agriculture Act maintains and updates the 1986 Act, obliging the Secretary of State to put heritage on an equal footing in funding and other decision-taking with the natural environment, the social and economic interests of rural communities, and public enjoyment of the countryside. The proposed new statutory body should have to hold government to those objectives.