David Miliband has made another £3.9 billion available for the new Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), which runs from 2007 to 2013.
Mr Miliband’s announcement confirmed that £3.3 billion of the total budget will be allocated to agri-environment and other land management schemes. This funding will help farmers manage the land more sustainably and deliver important environmental outcomes on biodiversity, landscape and access, water quality and climate change.
Around £600 million will also be made available to make agriculture and forestry more competitive and sustainable and to enhance opportunity in rural areas.
The regional development agencies will manage the delivery of the support under the RDPE programme, targeted towards the competiveness and sustainability of agriculture and forestry, and enhancing opportunity in rural areas.
Richard Ellis, chair of the East of England Development Agency, which leads on DEFRA matters for the RDA network said: “This is good news for the rural economy. The regional development agencies have worked closely with partners and Defra to ensure that regionally-agreed priorities will be at the heart of this national programme, alongside the extra money that will now be on the table.
“We will also be working with regional and local partners to take a more proactive and strategic approach to align the money with other public and private-sector investment in the rural economy.”
The £3.9 billion budget for the new Rural Development Programme for England 2007 has not yet been made available.