Changes to LandSkills West Midlands

11/03/2011 - On 27th February the Minister of State for Food and Agriculture, Jim Paice MP issued a written ministerial statement on the future delivery arrangements of the Rural Development Programme for England 2007-13 (RDPE).

 

The impact on this to our LandSkills West Midlands is that the area of the RDPE which funds this programme will be transferred to Defra from July 2011. 

The statement confirms that following the 2011/12 Spending Review, funding will continue, however budgets are constrained. 

Advantage West Midlands (AWM) who we manage LandSkills WM on behalf of, has now received its indicative budget allocation for 2011/12 and are now discussing with individual programmes how best to manage delivery in light of these cuts. 

We are pleased to inform you that the skills element of the RDPE remains a priority within the coalition government and that LandSkills West Midlands will continue to provide an exciting and varied programme of training and knowledge transfer activities throughout this period. 

There will however be no further mini-competitions nor a further round of  Farm Health Plans.  We are therefore working with AWM to review all contracts to look at maximising delivery through those providers who are delivering to target.

Any questions please contact the LandSkills West Midlands team on 08452 788800 or email the LandSkills WM team.