Environment Agency look to recruit 50 new farm inspectors

The Angling Trust has been campaigning hard for the Environment Agency to get a grip on the unsustainable amount of agricultural pollution that has had such a damaging effect on our rivers, lakes and oceans for many years. As part of our Anglers Against Pollution campaign we have consistently called for more boots on the ground in the form of EA staff who actually visit farms and enforce the laws we have to protect our waters from pollution. So it’s come as a much needed piece of positive news that the EA are now looking to recruit an additional 50 Agriculture Regulatory Inspection Officers in England.

Farming weekly The government is adopting a carrot-and-stick approach to ensure that farmers in England are abiding by water pollution rules.

It follows an Environment Agency (EA) decision to adopt a more proactive approach for enforcing Farming Rules for Water, which have been in place since 2018.

Farmers will face more inspections, but at the same time they will receive additional advice and support to tackle pollution.

See also: Farming rules for water: What’s in store?

EA inspections on farms in England are set to increase following a £1.2m recruitment drive to expand regulatory inspector numbers from 28 to 78.

The agency is advertising job vacancies for 50 new agriculture regulatory inspection officers to carry out targeted farm visits.

The new recruits must be “willing to undertake regulatory enforcement action, prosecutions and the serving of notices, when needed”.

The job advert suggests that the inspection officers, who will be paid up to £34,208 a year, may need to have “difficult conversations” with farmers to “influence them to change their practice”.

The EA says the inspectors would work with farmers to increase their levels of compliance with existing environmental regulations. This would help the farmers “safeguard and improve the environment and ensure they are in a robust position to secure future funding through the Environmental Land Management schemes”. Click here to read more