Agricultural Holdings Act 1969

Summary

The requester asked for statistics on farm tenancies under the 1969 and 2008 Acts, young farmer support, and government land holdings. The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture disclosed that it no longer holds data for most questions due to legislative changes and refused to compile financial data, but provided specific counts of government tenants and their lease terms.

Key Facts

• The Department ceased recording information under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1969 upon the commencement of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 2008.
• The Department is not involved in recording tenancies under the 2008 Act as the legislation allows flexibility between landlords and tenants.
• The Department holds 13 individual tenants on government land, including leases, grazing licences, and farm business tenancies.
• Nine of the government tenants hold agreements under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1969.
• Three of the government tenants hold agreements under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 2008, with terms of 10 years (two tenants) and 21 years (one tenant).
• Financial support data for Young Farmers over the last 10 years was refused as extracting it would require substantial compilation of information.

Data Disclosed

• 13 individual tenants
• 9 tenants under 1969 Act
• 2 tenants under 2008 Act with 10 year terms
• 1 tenant under 2008 Act with 21 year term
• 2018-08-29
• 2018-09-14
• 10 years
• 5 years
• 12 months

Exemptions Cited

• Section 8(3) of the Freedom of Information Act (no requirement to create, derive, research, analyze, or substantially compile information)

Original Request

Please advise; How many farm tenants are currently tenants under the 1969 Act? How many of those tenants have no successor as defined by the Act? Since 1969 how many farm tenants are known to have bought the farms they rented? How many farm tenants are currently Tenants under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 2008? Of those Tenants under the 2008 Act how many are let for a term of 5 years or more? Of those Tenants under the 2008 Act how many would be classed as "Young Farmers" under the DEFA definition? What is the total financial support given to Young Farmers in the sector over the last 10 years broken down by year? What is the total percentage of land farmed on the Island under tenancy terms and the percentage farmer owned? How many tenant farmers does the IOM Government have on land owned by the various departments, including MNH and Utilities? How many are written under the 1969 Act, the 2008 Act, and in the case of the 2008 Act for what length of term?

Data Tables (2)

Data Tables (reformatted)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator Corporate Services Directorate Thie Slieau Whallian, Foxdale Road, St John’s, Isle of Man, IM4 3AS Tel no (01624) 685854 Fax no (01624 685851 Email: defa@gov.im www.gov.im

Our ref: 587133 14th September 2018

Dear ###,

We write further to your request which was received on the 29th August 2018 and which states:

"Please advise; 1. How many farm tenants are currently tenants under the 1969 Act? 2. How many of those tenants have no successor as defined by the Act? 3. Since 1969 how many farm tenants are known to have bought the farms they rented? 4. How many farm tenants are currently Tenants under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 2008? 5. Of those Tenants under the 2008 Act how many are let for a term of 5 years or more? 6. Of those Tenants under the 2008 Act how many would be classed as "Young Farmers" under the DEFA definition? 7. What is the total financial support given to Young Farmers in the sector over the last 10 years broken down by year? 8. What is the total percentage of land farmed on the Island under tenancy terms and the percentage farmer owned? 9. How many tenant farmers does the IOM Government have on land owned by the various departments, including MNH and Utilities? 10.How many [of those included in answer to Q9 above] are written under the 1969 Act, the
2008 Act, and in the case of the 2008 Act for what length of term?"

Note: the numbering has been added for ease of reference. Questions 1 to 6 and 8 above While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested in relation to questions one to six and eight above. Agricultural Holdings Act 1969 Upon commencement of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 2008 the Department ceased to record the information that was recorded under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1969. Agricultural Tenancies Act 2008 This legislation was instituted with the intention of allowing greater flexibility between landlords and tenants. At that time the Department was removed from any regular or statutory involvement in recording tenancies. Question 7 above Young Farmers receive financial support as part of their payments under the Agricultural Development Scheme, Advisory Grants and the Agriculture & Fisheries Grant Scheme however the way in which these are calculated and paid means that it would be a complicated exercise to extract the information to cover the ten year period you request from the various calculation spreadsheets. Consequently, in this case a practical refusal reason applies, namely: Section 8(3) Nothing in this Act requires a public authority to — (a) create or derive information from information that it holds; (b) undertake research into, or analysis of, information that it holds; or (c) undertake substantial compilation or collation of information that it holds.
Question 9 above The Department has 13 individual tenants. These include leases under the 1969 and 2008 legislation, grazing licences (usually less than 12 months) and farm business tenancies. This Department can only provide information that we hold. If you require information from other Departments or government bodies please submit separate requests to them. Question 10 • Nine of the tenants mentioned above have agreements under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1969. • Two of the tenants mentioned above have Farm Business Tenancy Agreements covered by the Agricultural Tenancies Act 2008. Both of these agreements are for ten year terms. • The other tenancies are grazing licences for land that cannot be let on a longer term basis. • One of the tenants has an agreement under the 2008 Act for a period of 21 years. Further Information In addition to the answers above I respectfully remind you of the advice given on the Government website in relation to “Writing your Request” which states: “Aim for one question per request.” This can be found here:

https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of-information/ In this case each of your individual questions is clear, relates to a single issue and has been reasonably straightforward to answer. I request however that, in future, you limit the number of questions in an individual request and consider submitting a number of requests over a period of time. In that way we will be more able to manage the workload and may be able to provide more information. I also realise this request is probably linked to the current consultation so that may not have been possible this time. If this situation occurs in future I am happy to speak over the telephone to provide advice about how to focus your request in a way that would suit both the Department and yourself. Please quote the reference number 587133 in any future communications. Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely