Natural Resources Wales propose increases to regulatory fees and charges

12 December 2022

NFU Cymru has expressed concern at proposals for eye-watering increases to Natural Resources Wales’ (NRW) regulatory fees and charges.

NRW is consulting on their charging scheme to be implemented from 1 April 2023, subject to Welsh Government approval. The consultation includes a number of concerning proposals relating to farming including:

A ten-fold increase in the cost of new applications to £3,728 for land spreading of spent or unused sheep dip.
Changes to permits for farming installations for the rearing of pigs and poultry with the cost of new applications rising from £7,322 to £9,270. The cost of permit variations is proposed to rise from £388 to £5,562.
NRW is also proposing a 6% increase for a number of the annual fees it charges to recover the costs of monitoring and assessing compliance with permit conditions

'Dismay'

Commenting on NRW proposals, NFU Cymru Rural Affairs Board Chairman Hedd Pugh said: “In the context of the very significant inflationary pressures faced by farm businesses for key inputs such as energy, feed and fertiliser, many farmers will be dismayed at NRW’s proposals. While we understand that NRW has a duty to recover costs and is unable to cross-subsidise various charging regimes, farmers will be astonished at the scale of the proposed cost increases and disappointed that NRW has not made more effort to streamline the application process and deliver efficiencies to reduce costs.

Sheep scab

“There can be no doubt that NRW proposals to increase the costs for sheep dip disposal by 10 times will hinder efforts to eradicate sheep scab, which has been identified by the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework Group as a long-standing priority. Given the limited options available for treatment of sheep scab - with dipping one of the best options available - farmers will be justified in feeling frustrated at the complete lack of co-ordination across government and its agencies. The proposals are short sighted and ill thought out and NFU Cymru will be seeking a full breakdown and justification from NRW for these eye-watering increases.

Pig and poultry

“For pig and poultry farmers, the proposed increase in charges for new and variations to permits come at an already worrying time for the sectors.

“We want farming to continue to improve its environmental performance, but these cost increases could be seen as a disincentive to improve management practices or limit the availability of diversification and management options for farmers in Wales in the future.”

Working collaboratively

NFU Cymru has joined forces with the CLA and FUW to call on NRW to revisit the proposals in the context of unprecedented uncertainty in Welsh agriculture.

The three bodies who represent Wales’ farmers and rural businesses will be scrutinising NRW’s impact assessments and arguing that where dramatic changes are to be introduced, they need to be graduated and greater flexibility introduced for new entrants. Support is needed for businesses struggling with input-cost inflation.

The farming community understand that costs need to reflect inflation. However, it is highly irresponsible for an agency of the Welsh Government to put businesses at risk without properly considering cost savings and efficiencies in their processes to reduce costs.

NFU Cymru, the CLA and FUW are clear that farmers have already been hit by high costs of fuel, fertiliser and feed. As the cost-of-living crisis continues NRW need to urgently reconsider the proposals put forward that only add further costs to food production in Wales.

Closing date

Ahead of the consultation closing date on 6 January 2023, NFU Cymru are consulting with its members and exploring every opportunity to keep costs to a minimum.

Members can respond to the consultation via the NRW website.

Information and advice on how to respond can be found on the documents below.

File downloads

Briefing on the NRW Consultation Strategic Review of Charges - October 2022 Briefing NRW Consultation - Responding to SROC (Dec 2022)

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