Annual Scrutiny 2015
Examination of Chief Executive and Chairman of
Natural Resources.
Response from the South East Wales Rivers
Trust
This
response is as a critical friend, bringing forward points that
unless addressed could mean that the Rivers Trusts in Wales are
unable to function successfully.
- In
common with all the small Rivers Trusts in Wales the South East
Wales Rivers Trust has always relied on grant funding to carry out
its work to benefit the environment, bringing with it social,
educational and economic benefits to local communities and beyond.
The Trust was formed in 2007 and has delivered a large programme of
improvements across the former Industrial Valleys of South East
Wales from the Ebbw Fach in the East to the Ely in the West. Our
organisation is volunteer based and sets out to run value for money
projects with funding to work on the riverine environment to make
improvements to comply with the Water Framework
Directive.
- Our
concerns centre on the Competitive and Partnership funding
arrangements that were announced by Natural Resources Wales last
year. During the time between the official launch and the opening
of the system for applications, there was a lot of uncertainty
about the timing of the bid process, but we were assured that it
was likely that the deadline for submitting applications would be
December 1st 2014.
- However, when we were invited to apply in September, we were
told that the deadline was only six weeks away. This left us at an
extreme disadvantage to try and look for the 50% match funding that
was required.
- Whilst we appreciate that Natural Resources Wales has a
responsibility to ensure best value from expenditure, the match
funding requirements have a disproportionate impact on small
organisations such as ours. Larger organisations have better fund
raising resources, and financial reserves that can act as a
guarantee for match funding so that credible bids can be submitted
and processed while match funding is sought if it isn’t
already in place. Our Trust has none of these resources, and as a
result had to submit a JWP bid knowing that we were unlikely to
find the required match.
- Rivers Trusts were set up to carry out some of the duties that
Environment Agency Wales was finding difficult to achieve. We
managed to obtain EU funding from Afonydd Cymru as well as small
grants from Countryside Council for Wales, and with the help of
unpaid volunteers have carried out excellent projects to help bring
our rivers towards the European WFD standard. This success
encouraged Environment Agency Wales and then Natural Resources
Wales to joint fund a number of projects under the old funding
arrangements, and we were able to deliver outstanding value for
money. However, the new funding system stands to put this all in
jeopardy.
- This
is no better demonstrated than the case of our Clean the Clun
project. NRW gave us a grant of £25,000 in June of 2014 to
launch a small-scale catchment restoration on a tributary of the
River Ely. We recruited an excellent project officer who has made a
tremendous impact in the nine months that the project has been
running. We were told to apply for funding under both the JWP and
Competitive funds to continue the project for the next three years.
In December we learnt that while we were going to be given some
funding. Imagine our disappointment and surprise when we learnt
that it was only 15% of the annual project budget, meaning that the
Trust would have to find 85% match funding for a project that is
working to restore the worst performing river catchment in South
Wales. At this funding level, the project is untenable, and it is
likely that when the current funding runs out at the end of June
2015, the project officer will be dismissed and the volunteers that
have been recruited will be disbanded.
- One
of the fundamental issues we face is the difficulty in obtaining
match funding for river restoration work. Given that much of this
work is driven by the requirements of the Water Framework
Directive, the response of many potential funders that we have
approached is ‘Why would I give you money to pay for work
that is the responsibility of Welsh Government and Natural
Resources Wales?’ We recognise that one of the best sources
for match funding is the EU, but the length and complexity of the
bidding process is beyond a small organisation such as a Rivers
Trust, again swinging the balance in favour of the large
organisations that have the resources to bid for and win European
money.
- We
are also concerned at the amount of overall funding that has been
directed to river restoration and fisheries. Based on discussions
with other River Trusts, we have concluded that the proportion of
funding that has been allocated to our sector does not reflect the
importance of the fisheries to the Welsh economy, or the importance
of the rivers in delivering ecosystem services. We look across the
border to the Trusts in England that have benefitted over the years
from the River Improvement Fund and more recently the Catchment
Restoration Fund from DEFRA and can only conclude that rivers
simply aren’t a priority in Wales.
- The
future is more uncertain as the Sustainable Fisheries Fund as it
was, originally ring fenced by Welsh Government for this purpose,
has now we have been told due to new ways of working, been put into
a central pot for all departments to bid for. This means less
for fisheries and more uncertainty. A look at what was
achieved by fisheries through the use of this fund would produce
some staggering outcomes of cost benefit.
- The
following question was posed in the West Wales River basin
Management Plan: Removal of barriers to fish migration through
the sustainable fisheries programme in Wales. This
statement flies in the face of the above where for reasons, still
not explained properly, the ring fencing of this fund was taken
away. The question should be asked was this decision taken with the
approval of the Welsh Assembly Government.
Yours sincerely,
Anthony Rees MBE
Chairman