Working for a safer future for farmers and landowners

How can we develop policy, secure legislative change and improve the sometimes dire situation of rural crime for farmers and landowners in the countryside?

This short blog sets out a few examples of how the CLA has been lobbying behind the scenes on behalf of its members and the wider rural community.

One area which we have lobbied on for a number of years focuses on unauthorised encampments. Following extensive campaigning to the UK Government on the extent of the issue, including detailed responses to a number of consultations, the government accepted there was an issue that needed to be dealt with. This resulted in sections within the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 to strengthen police powers to tackle unauthorised encampments by criminalising this activity and enabling vehicle seizures.

We continue to provide legal advice to members, including details on the extent of the new offence. This can be particularly helpful where police are dealing with such incidents as they may not necessarily be aware of the changes.

The CLA continues to push our five-point plan against fly-tipping, which impacts two-thirds of farmers yearly. This is a nationwide scourge to the countryside and often involves organised criminal networks. We have been successful in securing a strengthening of powers and sentences, but far more needs to be done, particularly on effective enforcement.

Members have long been reporting the negative impact of hare coursing and its increasing prevalence. Outlining the experiences of our members, we have met with ministers to emphasise the impacts of hare coursing on rural businesses and highlighted the deficiencies in the law to deal with this effectively.

Our rural crime team have also worked with others to form a coalition of rural organisations. Together we were central in securing tougher hare coursing laws, with unlimited fines and dog seizures, which should assist in the efforts to deter this destructive crime.

With all of the above, securing legal change is not the end of the story. Our network of CLA professionals across the regional teams, who make up our rural crime team, engage with all levels of the government and police forces.

They will continue to monitor the effect of these and other statutory changes, as well as other areas of law in need of development. The team remain on-alert to highlight where government legislation is not being implemented sufficiently or where the stiffer penalties are either not being issued by the courts or are not translating into an effective deterrence.

In the meantime, CLA members can get further advice when needed from their regional office, from the national team or from our online rural crime hub below.