Agriculture Minister promises cut in farmers' red tape

Agriculture Minister Jim Paice vowed to cut 'time-wasting' bureaucracy to help county farmers during a visit to an annual conference in Shropshire.

Mr Paice was a guest speaker at the Institute of Agricultural Secretaries and Administrators annual conference held at the Albrighton Hall Hotel near Shrewsbury and he reassured members he was focusing on cutting down red-tape.

He also stressed the importance of setting up regional Rural Food and Farming Networks.

The role of these voluntary groups is to pick up on problems within the farming community which are then fed back to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Mr Paice acknowledged the difficulties that farmers faced from poor broadband in rural areas but said fixing the infrastructure was not going to happen quickly.

He said he was under no illusion that for many rural businesses this was a serious problem.

Jenny Chessire, spokesman for the Institute of Agricultural Secretaries and Administrators, said Mr Paice had been well received by the conference.

She said: "He was very approachable and the members were most grateful to be able to speak to him and to see how he really does understand farming issues, having had first hand experience before becoming an MP."

Simon Latter, NFU group secretary for Shrewsbury, chaired the conference.

He said: "Mr Paice was very well received and everybody clapped his efforts to prevent the spread of TB in cattle."

More than 140 delegates from all over the country attended the three-day event and took part in workshops and presentations.

Mr Latter added: "It was great that the conference was held in Shropshire this year. People came from all over the country."