CLA urges farmers and landowners to follow hedge cutting and trimming rules

THE Country Land and Business Association (CLA) is reminding farmers to ensure that they follow the rules with their hedge cutting and trimming at this time of year. Not following the rules would be in breach of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), and for those farmers claiming BPS (Basic Payment Scheme), they may not be complying with the rules that have to be followed. Between 1 March and 31 August 2021, hedge cutting and trimming is not permitted, especially since this is the main bird breeding season. However, there are the following exceptions:-

► The hedge overhangs a highway, road or footpath over which there is a public or private right of way and the overhanging hedge obstructs the passage of, or is a danger to, vehicles, pedestrians or horse riders.

► Obstructs the view of drivers or light from a public lamp post.

CLA North Adviser Jane Harrison said:- "On the odd occasion it is visually evident that some farmers and landowners have not adhered to the rules around cutting their hedges. The only exception to the rule is when it is justifiable to undertake hedge-cutting for practical reasons around safety and public amenity. The CLA encourages farmers and land managers to manage their hedges in accordance with the rules, and it is also advisable to kindly remind neighbours on the other side of their boundary to be compliant in maintaining their hedges.�

Derogations on hedge trimming or cutting during August can be obtained from the Rural Payment's Agency. Although derogations are at their discretion, these are usually granted to allow for the sowing of oil seed rape or temporary grassland during the same month.

In any circumstance, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) all wild birds are protected and extra care should be taken to avoid the disturbance of nests in hedges, eggs and young chicks.

Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC) can be accessed here.

Southport BID is encouraging local businesses to think about putting themselves forward for the Queen's Award for Enterprise 2022

WITH Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee taking place next year, now more than ever is the time for Southport firms to be recognised for their achievements. The Queen's Awards are the most prestigious awards for UK businesses and a Royal endorsement that winners say gets their business noticed, above and beyond the competition, both at home and overseas. Other benefits which winners have reported include:-

► Excellent marketing opportunities and press coverage. 

► Worldwide recognition as an outstanding British company .

► Increased turnover and international trade .

► A boost to staff morale, and also  to partners and stakeholders .

Southport BID CEO Rachel Fitzgerald said:- "There are so many great reasons why it is worth putting your business forward for a Queen's Award for Enterprise. We have some superb companies here in Southport, and these awards are the perfect way of seeing them earn the recognition they deserve. Everyone has had a tough few months due to the Covid19 and the various lockdowns. The Queen's Award for Enterprise is hopefully something that will be a cause for real celebration locally instead."

The Award scheme has four categories:-

► Innovation which recognises businesses who demonstrate strong commercially successful innovative products or services.  

► Sustainable Development, whose winners demonstrate sustainable products, services, or interventions for more than 2 years and can provide evidence of the benefits or positive outcomes of their actions and practices. In 2020, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales recorded a video message to support the refocus of this award and to explain why he takes a close personal interest in the Awards.

► International Trade which recognises businesses who have demonstrated substantial growth in overseas earnings and commercial success within their sector. 

► Promoting Opportunity (through social mobility) - which recognises and rewards those providing high quality social mobility initiatives and programmes that specifically reach out to and support people from disadvantaged backgrounds, in order to inspire and guide the best talent into their organisation and beyond. This Award was refocused last year, to allow  for: -

◌ Organisations with social mobility as a core aim to apply.

◌ Organisations which do not have social mobility as a business wide objective, but have a programme that supports it to apply.   

Each Award category has its own additional eligibility criteria. A full list of the eligibility criteria can be found here.

Winners are permitted to use the recognised Royal Emblem for 5 years. The Award is presented by Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant at their premises which is a great opportunity to gain press coverage and celebrate together with their employees, local MP, local authority representatives, supply chain and other stakeholders. Winners will also be invited to a celebratory Royal reception. The QAE are national awards and offer local and global recognition for business. Winners have said that the Awards are now more important than ever as the Emblem is a royal seal of approval which helps them to compete on the world stage with much larger companies. It also offers winners an opportunity to connect with and do business with other winners and help and assist other companies. Businesses may have been affected in many shapes and forms by things such as Brexit, flooding and Covid19. Therefore, during these uncertain times, it is important to ensure we still celebrate British businesses. To support this, there have been some positive amendments to the application process to ensure applicants are able to provide appropriate evidence to support their application.   

For the 2022 round, the eligibility criteria remains unchanged. However:-

► Applicants can manually input financial years figures, enabling them to wind back a year if their last financial year has been affected by Covid19, storms, or flooding. For example, an International Trade applicant whose sales were badly affected in 2020, could  provide  figures  for:- 2015 to 2019, rather than up to:- 2016 to 2020. Alternatively, they may prefer to submit figures over a shorter period of time. ie:- 3 years instead of 6 for International Trade and 2 years rather than 5 for Innovation.

► Greater discretion will also be granted to assessors to evaluate commercial success. They will also take into account sector specific effects of the Pandemic and will not compare one application against another. It is important to still see the trends and patterns of each business' commercial success, to see how well they performed before these challenging times.  

This year, over 90% of winners were SMEs, with 44 businesses having 10 employees or less. The Awards are a self-nominating process and are free to enter, so to apply please go to:- Gov.UK. The applications for the next round are now open and will close on 8 September 2021. Should you require any support or assistance, please either contact your local Lord Lieutenants' Office or contact The Queen's Awards Office via email:- QueensAwards@BEIS.Gov.UK or telephone:- 02072156880 who will be happy to help you.

CLA urges farmers and landowners to follow hedge cutting and trimming rules

Southport BID is encouraging local businesses to think about putting themselves forward for the Queen's Award for Enterprise 2022

Total UK cases Covid19 cases in and around Liverpool City Region