A little noticed aspect of Andy Burnham's speech at the People's History Museum in the northern capital of Manchester was the following statement: "We need to safeguard sovereign manufacturing and production capability across the country in critical sectors like steel, defence, energy, food and farming. Rather than being prepared to let it go as we have sadly done in the past.”
Including farming in this list is interesting given the Labour Government's fractious relationship with agriculture after the inheritance tax changes.
There is great scope for improving productivity in this sector using new technology, but this requires more capital investment, training and knowledge exchange. The maximum grant available under Defra's ADOPT (Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies Fund) has been doubled, but the fund itself does not meet the challenge.
The maximum eligible project cost has increased from £100,000 to £200,000. A new funding window will open every eight to nine weeks.
Projects have to be collaborative with the lead partner in England rather than elsewhere in the UK. Projects should run for between six and 24 months and will receive 80 per cent of eligible costs, alongside facilitator support from the ADOPT Support Hub delivered by ADAS, UK Agri-Tech Centre and the Soil Association
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