Politicians at Stormont have voted to initially support a bill which aims to reinstate the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) scheme in NI.

The bill, which has been brought forward by Sinn Féin MLA Declan McAleer, passed the second stage debate on Monday with 41 votes in support and 37 members opposed.

However, several MLAs made clear that continued support for the bill depends on the ANC scheme being funded from outside the existing agricultural budget.

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“There are areas on which the Ulster Unionist Party requires significant clarity before it can move beyond conditional support. The first pillar of that is funding. Where will the money come from?” said Lagan Valley MLA Robbie Butler.

A similar point was made by both Timothy Gaston from the Traditional Unionist Voice and the SDLP’s Daniel McCrossan. “We will support the bill if Sinn Féin puts its money where its mouth is,” McCrossan said.

The DUP and the Alliance Party voted against the bill from the outset, citing concerns about funding availability and the long-standing issue of civil servants not being able to justify an ANC scheme through a business case.

DAERA funds

In his remarks, Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir made clear that additional money is not currently available within DAERA to fund a new ANC scheme.

The Alliance MLA said ANC payments to around 10,000 farmers in Severely Disadvantaged Areas (SDA) would therefore have to be funded by reducing Farm Sustainability Payments to all NI farmers.

He also questioned the need for ANC payments at all, given that the move towards flat rate entitlements from 2015 to 2020 continues to benefit SDA farmers.

“Since 2018, incomes for SDA cattle and sheep farms have remained stable, and the distribution of livestock across regions has not materially changed,” he said.

Payment rates

As currently drafted, Declan McAleer’s private members bill requires DAERA to re-start ANC payments at levels which are not lower than the last year of the scheme, which ran in 2018.

Back then, ANC payment rates were set at £26.57/ha for the first 200ha of SDA land, with £19.93/ha applying thereafter.

The bill also includes a requirement that payment rates should be linked to inflation, although several MLAs pointed out that this could add to the budgetary issue.

In response, Declan McAleer said his bill is not about “the funding aspect” of a new ANC scheme, as this would be “thrashed out” after next year’s Assembly election.

“The bill is not about allocating money but about providing the legislative framework for doing so,” the Sinn Féin MLA said. Outside the Assembly chamber, the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) said it supports the bill, with the caveat that ANC payments should be funded with new money.

“Farmers cannot afford to see existing support diluted to fund another scheme,” said UFU deputy president Glenn Cuddy.