Lawrence Woodward comments on the recent NAO report about OELS taken from the lastest issue of the Organic Research Centre's Bulletin.
The difference between price and value “Its money for old rope” - I was half listening to Edward Leigh, Chairman of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. At the end of a parliament disgraced for all time by its attitude to expenses and ruinous banking practices, was he talking about being an MP or a banker?
He then mentioned “letting your hedges grow” and I reasoned he was referring to that irresponsible, unnecessary activity ironically called hedge fund management. That’s one type of hedge to be cut down or grubbed up instead of getting laid, I thought, when I woke up and realised he was actually talking about the Organic Entry Level Scheme (OELS). Or more precisely the National Audit Office report on OELS.
In the wake of the financial crisis, it is difficult to think of any occupation more likely to get things wrong than politicians and auditors. Clearly Edward Leigh is wrong about hedges; it’s not easy to manage a hedge properly. And the NAO knows little about the management of ecosystems (see article page 3). Even worse its report is uninformed, unimpressed or at odds with the approach known as “broad and shallow” on which many of Europe’s environmental stewardship schemes are now based.
It is not alone in this, which is concerning, as discussions of CAP reform begin again in earnest. Framing the concept of “value for money” solely around things that are easy to count and easy to price leads to a very limited perspective; missing the interactions that make ecosystems work and the way farming systems can enhance or destroy them. This audit of OELS was undertaken because as a small scheme it was easy for the NAO to do. Criticisms contained in the report also apply to the bigger ELS. These schemes and others were a good starting point to encourage environmental stewardship on farms. They might now reasonably be made less shallow, but they are about land use and should be broad and will therefore continue to be difficult to audit using narrow pricing methods. That doesn’t mean they are not value for money.
Lawrence Woodward
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