BHIC submission to Commons Select Committee

The British Horse Industry Confederation has submitted evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee Enquiry on The Potential of England's Rural Economy

The British Horse Industry Confederation
1. The BHIC was launched on 3 March 1999 to enable the British horse industry to speak to government with a single voice. The BHIC comprises the British Horseracing Board , the British Equestrian Federation and the Thoroughbred Breeders Association. It also has direct representation from the British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) and the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA).
2. In addition to its role as interlocutor for the industry as a whole, the organisation enables horse organisations to share and to publicise information on policies and issues affecting horses and riders; and to help raise the profile of the horse industry amongst officials and opinion formers.
3. The BHIC welcomes this opportunity to submit a memorandum to the Committee's inquiry into England's rural economy.

Relations with Government
4. The BHIC works closely with Defra and, in December 2005, the first ever Strategy for the Horse Industry in England and Wales was launched by the BHIC in partnership with Defra, the DCMS and the Welsh Assembly Government.
5. Jim Knight MP, the then Minister for the Horse Industry said, "the strategy is testimony to the major contribution which the horse industry makes, both to our economy and to the lives of so many people...from rural regeneration to environmental protection, to health and education, the horse industry has a key role to play in delivering our national priorities."

The Horse Industry: One of the major rural industries
6. Horse riding and carriage driving, together with the significant industry which supports them, constitute a major source of economic and social activity in rural England. Indeed, the industry in its broadest definition can justifiably claim to be the third largest source of economic activity in the countryside after tourism and farming. Moreover, it is an industry which is growing at a significant pace. For example:
• 2.8 million people in Britain have ridden in the past year *
• the value of the industry has been estimated at £3.4 billion †
• it employs up to 250,000 people directly and indirectly †
• 25% of households have some interest in the horse industry *
• the horse population totals over one million, with 721,500 households having responsibility for the daily upkeep of a horse. This is an increase of 20% on 1999 figures.*
• The horseracing and betting industry support some 60,000 jobs, including the equivalent of 1 in 8 agricultural workers ‡
• Over 6m people went racing in 2004 ‡
• At Tattersalls, the UK's biggest thoroughbred auction house, 4,737 horses were sold in 2005 for a total of £185,516,800
*British Equestrian Trade Association 2006 Research
† The Henley centre report of research on the horse industry in Great Britain 2003 commissioned by DEFRA and the BHIC
7. Equestrian activity of one sort or another is often seen as an option for farmers wishing to diversify, as the industry tends to be:
• Labour intensive.
• Environmentally friendly.
• Attractive to tourists.
• Productive of numerous training and career opportunities.
• Well placed to take advantage of sustainable, and often growing markets, with opportunities to market products both here and overseas.
8. Equestrianism also contributes to initiatives designed to tackle social exclusion and promote healthy outdoor activity.
9. The Strategy for the Horse Industry in England and Wales has a number of strategic aims and objectives supported by fifty discrete action points, many of which are relevant to the issues identified for particular discussion by the Select Committee during this enquiry.
10. The main aims for action which we identified were:
• Developing the Horse Industry's national, regional and local impact
• Increasing participation in, and the social contribution of, the horse industry
• Boosting the economic performance of equestrian businesses
• Raising equestrian skills, training and standards
• Increasing access to off road riding and carriage driving
• Monitoring and where appropriate enhancing the environmental impact of the horse
• Encouraging sporting excellence
• Improving the quality and breeding of horses and ponies.
11. We are committed to taking these actions forward, not only to contribute to our own industry's further growth and success, but also to contribute more effectively to current issues such as social exclusion, health (including tackling obesity), biodiversity, rural job growth and rural tourism.

Issues identified by the Select Committee for particular discussion
Defra's objectives for economic development in rural areas, including the relevant Public Service Agreement (PSA) target, and the funding available to achieve them.
12. The horse industry is well placed to contribute to Defra 2005-2008 PSA targets with regards to biodiversity, caring for our natural heritage, improving the health and welfare of animals, and reducing gaps in productivity between rural areas.
13. Several discrete actions within the Horse Industry strategy itself can directly contribute to the PSA targets, such as encouraging the use of our rare native breeds in conservation projects to support wildlife and pasture biodiversity, improving standards of land management and working with local authorities to promote good pasture management and waste disposal practices.
14. The Horse Industry is also unusual as a rural industry in that it is also very well placed to help the Government deliver other important PSA targets, such as those relating to health (both mental and physical), social exclusion, and education.
The role of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in unlocking the economic potential of rural areas, and the effectiveness of Defra's relationship with RDAs.
15. This area leads us to one of the major problems faced by the horse industry in trying, both in attempting to succeed and in attempting to contribute to rural growth. The industry represents a significant portion of rural land use in the UK. For example, the average land grazed by each horse is one hectare. The 2004 Defra estimate of grassland is 6,865,000 hectares, which suggests that horses are grazing more than one seventh of the grassland in the UK. However, because they are not classed as agricultural animals they are often excluded from RDA and other national plans concerning grassland and ‘agricultural' land use. A current and very important example is the recent consultation by Defra on future Rural Development Programmes. Here is an excerpt from the BHIC's response to the consultation (the underlining is our own for emphasis):
16. "Throughout the document Defra refers to "improving the competitiveness of the agricultural and forestry sector". The whole of Axis 1's proposals for the programme is based on the agricultural and forestry sectors. We believe it is vitally important that Defra starts to regard, for rural development purposes, the use of grazing land and agricultural-type activity on rural land within their currently inflexible definition of ‘agricultural activity'.
17. "We would like to see the new programmes, both at national and regional levels, start to mirror the changes coming from Europe by instead referring to rural land-based or agricultural-type, or farming-type activities. The European Commission continues to publicly state that horse breeding, for example, is a quasi-agricultural activity and we believe this should be mirrored in the potential grant aid available to landowners or farmers who wish to raise horses. ... it is essential the horse enterprises are allowed access to funds to help maintain our countryside and land, and that Defra not impose an arbitrary constraint on the ability to propose innovative and successful projects which will be of great benefit to the rural economy and environment."
Agricultural and non-agricultural providers of rural employment, for example horticulture, and possible barriers, including the structure of the retail food sector, to their further development.
18. While the Select Committee has selected horticulture as an example of a significant provider of rural employment, we would stress the larger number of jobs provided by the horse industry  over 50,000 directly [Henley Centre 2004 figures] and 250,000 total employment, if one counts indirect employment such as that relating to horse betting. Employment through horse-related businesses is also important as it usually provides year long employment, unlike rural tourism or some agricultural businesses which have significant numbers of seasonal workers. In addition, the spread of horse-related enterprises occurs throughout the country, and is not restricted to any one region or area. Again, these positives are often overlooked when looking at initiatives to support rural employment sectors.
19. As BETA's research this year demonstrates, the industry is catering for a growing market, yet there remain significant barriers to growth, not least due to equestrian activity getting lost in the gap between agriculture and rural ‘leisure'/small rural business activities. This means that equestrian enterprises are often unable to take advantage of rural development schemes as their definition often excludes horses.
The effectiveness of rural proofing arrangements in ensuring that the rural aspects of economic development are properly reflected in national and regional policy, including planning policy.
20. There are significant problems in the planning and rating systems relating to equestrian enterprises, which can amount to an insurmountable burden, particularly on enterprises like riding schools, which fulfil an important role in many rural communities. Rural aspects of economic development are not properly reflected in national and regional policy including planning policy, and this leads to a patchy, ill-thought out and unfair implementation and interpretation of the rules across the country.

The role of Natural England and the Commission for Rural Communities and their effectiveness in taking forward the work of their predecessor bodies.

21. We support the new remit of Natural England which champions biodiversity and the rural environment, while at the same time promoting leisure and access, and good land management practices. We believe this development is long-overdue, and hope this will lead to a more coherent policy of encouraging access and enjoyment of our countryside, while also overseeing the important land management and biodiversity issues.

The British Horse Industry Confederation
30 October 2006

October 30th, 2006