Decision to get rid of rural body welcomed

This week Defra took the decision to scrap the CRC, which worked to highlight problems facing those living in rural areas, as well as to merge the two bodies charged with responsibility for animal health, the Animal Health and the Veterinary Laboratories Agencies.

Defra is facing the third highest sum of cuts as a proportion to its overall budget – with some 162m of savings required in 2010/11.

The CRC had a budget of 5.8m and is to be replaced by a strengthened Rural Communities Policy Unit within the department.

The president of the National Farmers' Union (NFU), Peter Kendall, called the move "sensible streamlining from Defra".

He said: "It is also heartening to see Defra is embedding rural issues at the heart of the department, rather than those being delivered by arms-length bodies.

"All industries face tough times and agriculture will not escape from the impacts of government cost-cutting while it steers us through these times of great austerity. I would urge Government to ensure any subsequent reorganisations across government, and its arms-length delivery groups, must not damage UK agriculture's ability to be competitive in a Europe context."

Mr Kendall's view was echoed by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), whose deputy president Harry Cotterell said that the new policy unit within Defra must be left open and accessible to rural organisations.

Mr Cotterell said: "We expect an 'open-door' approach in the bolstered Rural Communities Policy Unit. If it works well, it would benefit the rural economy by giving it a stronger link to Defra policy-makers.

"The renewed focus on rural policy-making at Defra should prove a positive move, although it is a big sea change." Mr Cotterell also praised the work of Dr Stuart Burgess, the CRC chairman, for his work as the commission's head.

Dr Burgess himself said that abolition of the organisation he had led for the past four years did not mean an end of the work that Government would do for rural communities and said that work on priority issues, such as broadband, affordable housing and transport, "continues uninterrupted".

The announcement regarding the CRC was made this week by new Defra secretary Caroline Spelman on the same day the new coalition cabinet met in Yorkshire.

Prime Minister David Cameron hinted at where a solution to the problems of rural broadband could be found.

During a Q&A session with Yorkshire Post readers, Mr Cameron said the telephone tax suggested by Labour was a "bad idea" and that by "opening up the ducts and pipes" owned by BT there could be "proper competition in broadband".