The Manx National Farmers’ Union has formally declared a vote of no confidence in the senior leadership of the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture.
MNFU argues that confidence in the department has “broken down” following a series of disputes over agricultural funding, food security, livestock imports and market access.
In an open letter sent to Chief Minister Chris Thomas, Chief Executive Officer Mark Lewin and Members of Tynwald, the union said the decision stemmed from what it described as a lack of understanding of the challenges facing agriculture, poor delivery of strategy, failures in decision-making and an absence of progress on urgent industry issues.
The six-page letter identifies a number of concerns, including the island’s BSE risk status divergence with Great Britain, support for local food production, agricultural funding, food security policy, ongoing issues at Isle of Man Meats and difficulties importing breeding stock from Northern Ireland.
Significant Losses
The MNFU claims DEFA’s handling of the BSE issue has resulted in “significant financial losses and restricted access to market”, accusing the department of failing to address the impact on farmers and allowing Manx cattle producers to absorb losses caused by factors beyond their control.
The union is also highly critical of the department’s response to problems surrounding the transportation of breeding livestock from Northern Ireland.
It claims senior leadership showed a “reluctance to act in a time critical situation” and argued the department had prioritised concerns over funding arrangements above the safe movement of breeding stock.
In relation to Isle of Man Meats, the letter states that millions of pounds of additional government expenditure had so far “failed to deliver certainty to producers or value to the public”, while claiming the department had permitted the reputation of Manx meat to be “severely damaged”.
Perceived Reluctance
The union also criticises the department’s Chief Officer, stating that “the Senior Officer seems unsure about what can be supported, when and how”, while claiming there is “a perceived reluctance to action anything with DEFA’s agricultural team”.
Concluding the letter, the union states: “The continued decline of Manx agriculture, the loss of market opportunities and the failure to respond effectively to repeated warnings demonstrate that the current Senior Leadership is not capable of delivering what the industry urgently requires.”
The MNFU is calling on the incoming administration to undertake an urgent review of DEFA’s senior leadership and implement changes, including “the replacement of those whose leadership has demonstrably failed the industry”.
The letter does not identify individuals by name, but the department’s Chief Officer is Tim Cowsill. The current DEFA Minister is Clare Barber, who remains in post until a new minister is appointed following the recent General Election. The department’s political member is Tanya August-Phillips MLC.
Manx.News has contacted DEFA for comment.
The full letter is below:
