Questions of the Rural Economy (FOI)

​​​Request 664334930

​Questions of the RURAL ECONOMY !

1.From 2014 by year until end of November 2024 how many applications has there been granted for Smallholder licences to occupy land under the AGRICULTURAL LAND ( CONTROL OF SALES AND LEASES ) LAW 1974 ?

2. From 2014 year by year until end of November 2024 how many Vergees of Agricultural land is currently being occupied for EQUINE grazing/ stabling and use ? and please give details of other uses given consent for smallholders to occupy such land under the law.

3. Since 2014 it is alleged to me by a WHISTLEBLOWER that there is and has been a failure by Rural Economy to check the validity of licences issued that they comply with the aims of the law in diversification of the Rural economy ie the checking that the licences meet the rules of the issued smallholder licence, checking the £5000.00 profit, checking annual accounts etc

4. Since 2014 how many licences have been revoked for failure to comply or fail to meet the conditions of the smallholder licence ?

5. If land has been purchased because and with the issuance of a smallholder licence then after issuance they fail to meet the conditions of the licence what action is taken against that person or company ? is the land returned back for bona fida Agriculturalists to purchase or rent or use ?? or does the landowner keep the land and allow it to be fallow and unused ??thus lost to Agricultural use ?

Response

The Department for the Economy have a team who focus on the Rural and Marine sector of our local economy (“Rural Economy”). There are 2 laws that govern agricultural land in Jersey.  Both are administered by the Land Controls section of Natural Environment which is part of the Infrastructure and Environment department: doeenvironmentlandcontrol@gov.je

As you have specified that you require a response specifically from the Rural Economy team, answers are provided by that team. 

1. Rural Economy does not hold this specific data as licenses are administered by the Land Controls section of Natural Environment which is part of the Infrastructure and Environment department. Therefore Article 3 of the Freedom of Information Jersey (Law) 2011 has been applied.

2. Article 3 of the Freedom of Information Jersey (Law) 2011 has been applied to your specific question as this data is not held due to 40% of Jersey’s farmland not within the remit of the Agricultural Land (Control of Sales and Leases) (Jersey) Law 1974. The data set which is collected relates to enterprises on the Rural Support Scheme which represents approximately 25,000 vergees from the total Island farmland area of 33,000 vergees, of which (in 2023) approximately 325 vergees was used for equine grazing. 

3. Rural Economy do not issue licences related to land transactions and are not resourced to enforce these regulations which fall within the remit of the Land Controls section of Natural Environment, which is part of the Infrastructure and Environment department. Article 3 of the Freedom of Information Jersey (Law) 2011 has been applied.

4. Rural Economy does not have this information as licenses are administered by the Land Controls section of Natural Environment, which is part of the Infrastructure and Environment department.  Article 3 of the Freedom of Information Jersey (Law) 2011 has been applied.

5. Conditioned land would need to be occupied by a suitably qualified person/enterprise. Further details are available here: 

How agricultural land is controlled ​and Agricultural land conditions​.

Article applied 

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Internal Review Request 

OFFICIAL COMPLAINT in REGARD to my FOI REQUEST 664334930 

Not even after first email on the 20th December and subsequent email of the 24th December I have still not had any acknowledgement or reply! 

In my former Political life I was the President of The Freedom of Information Committee that took this FOI Law through the States and I am appalled at the amount of blanked out and   redacting  being done on perfectly good  information and non personal public comments. against and for planning applications. I have previously argued that what the FOI team did to the response to my complaint was not compliant with the law and it was in this instance replaced... but it is very worrying that much public information in the public interest is being disallowed by unelected Civil Servants. 

My complaint is in regard to FOI 664334930 in which the information provided by the RURAL ECONOMY DEPARTMENT is totally incorrect ( see email from Mr Huelin of Land Controls )  was this the error of someone who needed to get their eyesight tested or  is the person or persons compiling the response in RURAL ECONOMY are totally unsuitable for the current job they are doing.

It is very worrying that I have several cases of lack of checking and compliance not being followed up by RURAL ECONOMY in issuing "small holders licences " allowing non agriculturalists to occupy up to 20 vergees of prime land which must be for the genuine farmers who need it for our food security. 

Many residents of St Martin are concerned at the inactions of Planning Enforcement and the RURAL ECONOMY DEPARTMENT and we will be seeking very soon a REVIEW BOARD HEARING and investigation into their current and recent decisions and lack of. 

I need honest answers to my questions and complaint please!

Internal Review Response 

This internal review has been conducted by an official of appropriate seniority who has not been involved in the original decision. As part of their review, they will be expected to understand the reasons behind the original response, impartially determine whether the response should be revised, and how so, considering the request and the information held, any relevant exemptions, or other relevant matters under the Law.  

The Internal Review Panel was asked to review the original response and confirm the following:  

Does the FOI request relate to a body to which the Law applies, or information held by a body covered by the Law?  

If the answer is no, all the other questions are not applicable.      

Further questions if above is a yes:   

i. Was the right information searched for and reviewed? (supply audit if possible) 

ii. Was the information supplied appropriately (supply evidence if possible) 

iii. Was information appropriately withheld in accordance with the articles applied and were the public interest test/ prejudice test properly applied? (supply supporting documents re the test if possible)  

Following discussion, it was agreed by the Panel that...  

Further detail located by The Department for the Economy has been added to the following response. 

1. R&M deal with applications from businesses to become recognised as a registered small holder or Bonafide agricultural business. This involves completing an application form called application for an approved agricultural business. (Application for approval as a registered smallholder or Bonafide agricultural business). If approved this is referred to as a smallholder or Bonafide business license and acknowledges the enterprise has passed the economic test to enable occupancy of conditioned agricultural land. 

There have been 31 approvals of new agricultural businesses since 2019. Data prior to   2019 is not held by Rural Economy. 

Breakdown by year, 2019 (7) 2020 (3) 2921 (2) 2022 (5) 2023 (4) 2024 (10)

Registration of an enterprise as an approved agricultural business is not a licence to occupy specific agricultural land, as this process is managed in accordance with the Agricultural Land (Control of Sales and Leases) (Jersey) Law, 1974, which falls under the remit of the Minister for the Environment.

The process to obtain a licence to occupy conditioned agricultural land would be that the applicant would then need to complete a land transaction form (we understand from the response received on 13th Jan that this is administered by the Regulation Licencing team within I&E).  This will then enable them to occupy suitable land. https://www.gov.je/SiteCollectionDocuments/Industry%20and%20finance/F%20%202018%20Land%20Transaction%20Form%20Editable%2020180823%20DM.pdf

It is clear from the data requested in this form that further detail relating to the questions asked would be captured and then be held by IE.

The form states that “It is a legal requirement to obtain the consent of the Minister for the Environment to enter into a land transaction”.

Rural Economy do not have access to data collected under this process.

2. Has been answered and Economy are happy with this response.

3. The department only holds records from 2019.  Records show that of the 31 that we have issued, 6 have not been checked for compliance but the remaining 25 have and have been found to be in order. This is due to a lack of resources and lack of visibility as to the land actually occupied by approved agricultural businesses .

4. Again Economy only holds records going back as far as 2019. Of the 31 licences approved as outlined in question 1 none have been revoked since  however 2 businesses have ceased trading.

5. As per original answer Again depending on the “licence” referred to either as 1 above of under a land transaction application (administered by I&E) R&M could be checking but do not currently have resources to do so. All land uses like these should be subject to a land transaction application form (held by I&E) it is not known if these forms are actually completed and actioned as R&M do not hold or administer this data.

R&M do not know if/when land has been purchased or leased for agricultural use by way of smallholder or Bonafide business as this is administered by I&E not Economy.