Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in Tier 4 of the Agricultural Reform Programme: A consultation

Section 13: List of questions in consultation

Section 1: Users of the CPD system

Question 1: Should the CPD system apply to businesses with a BRN that is actively claiming agricultural support? Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 2: Should the CPD system apply to the persons on the BRN who are designated as the “Responsible Person” and the “Business Representative” (with the exception of “Advisory firms”)? Yes / No / Don’t know.

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 3: Should other people in a business that is actively claiming agricultural support be brought within the scope of the CPD system at a later date? Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 4: Do you agree or disagree with the proposed groups of workers that should not be included in the scope of the CPD system? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 5: Do you think that CPD should only apply to certain types / groups of farmers, crofters and land managers such as new entrants? Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 6: Should the CPD system apply to advice or service providers who do not currently undertake CPD? Yes / No / Don’t know

Question 7: If you answered yes, please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 8: Should advice or service providers who are required to undertake CPD in connection with that advice be required to undertake particular or further CPD? Yes / No / Don’t know

Question 9: If you answered yes, what should these requirements be?

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Section 2: Scope of the CPD system – mandatory or voluntary

Question 10: Do you have any comments on the five potential options for the approach that could be taken for the introduction for the CPD system? Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 11: Are there other options that could be considered. For example, should certain CPD be compulsory to undertake for a business but voluntary to undertake for individuals within a business? Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 12: Do you think that there should be mandatory CPD for some topics (eg health and safety or understanding elements of the whole farm plan) but voluntary CPD for other ones? Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Section 3: Key elements of the CPD system

Question 13: Do you agree or disagree with the proposed four subject headings or pillars of the framework for CPD activities? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it using 2000 characters or less.

Question 14: Do you agree or disagree with the broad formal and informal categories of activities that can be undertaken as CPD in the CPD system? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Question 15: Do you agree or disagree with the range of activities that can be undertaken for CPD in the CPD system? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Question 16: Are there any other activities that should also be included in the CPD system?

Please set them out.

Question 17: Do you agree or disagree with the types of activities that should not be able to contribute to CPD in the CPD system? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it using 2000 characters or less.

Question 18: Do you agree or disagree that up to 50% of the CPD to be undertaken should be of “formal” CPD activities and the remaining CPD should be of “informal” ones? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Question 19: Do you agree or disagree that there should be no restrictions on the use of particular activities in the formal and informal headings of CPD? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Section 4: Amount of CPD to be undertaken in a year

Question 20: Do you agree or disagree that the main way that the amount of CPD to be undertaken should be in CPD hours? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Question 21: Do you agree or disagree that there should be points allocated to some activities that are not time-based? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Question 22: Do you agree or disagree with the specific activities that have points allocated to them? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Question 23: If you have any comments on how we propose to calculate how CPD is undertaken please set them out.

Question 24: Do you agree or disagree that CPD points should be awarded where an individual is undertaking a scheme that involves CPD and they provide proof that they have completed its requirements in the current CPD year? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Question 25: What other schemes that involve CPD should we recognise with the allocation of CPD points?

Please list the schemes.

Question 26: How many points should be awarded in recognition of undertaking and completing CPD in another scheme?

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 27: Do you agree that users of the CPD system could undertake at least 30 hours of CPD in a year? Yes / No / Don’t know

Question 28: If you disagree, how much CPD should they undertake?

Please state a figure and give reasons for your answer.

Question 29: Should there be different amounts of CPD to be undertaken for different users of the CPD system, for example part-time workers? Yes / No / Don’t know

Question 30: Should there be an alternative approach whereby the amount of CPD to be undertaken is linked to specific schemes in Tiers 1-3 of the Agricultural Reform Programme? Yes / No / Don’t know

Question 31: Please give reasons for your answer.

Section 5: Exemption from undertaking CPD for part or all a year as a result of specific circumstances

Question 32: Do you agree or disagree with the list of reasons for exemption from undertaking CPD for part or all of a CPD year? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Question 33: If you disagree, should there be any changes made to the list of specific reasons for exemption from undertaking CPD for part or all of a CPD year?

Please state your answer.

Question 34: Do you agree or disagree with the types of evidence to support an application for exemption from undertaking CPD for part or all of a CPD year? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Question 35: Do you have any further comments on exemption from undertaking CPD for part or all of a CPD year?

Please state your answer.

Section 6: Support to assist users of the CPD system

Question 36: What formats of guidance will help make the CPD system more accessible and user-friendly?

Please provide an answer and give reasons for it.

Question 37: Do you agree or disagree that individuals should have to complete a Personal Learning Plan (PLP)? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Question 38: Do you agree or disagree that the completion of a PLP could be used as a requirement to attend some CPD activities or apply for specific support? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Question 39: Do you have any further comments on support for users of the CPD system?

Please state your answer.

Section 7: Encouraging the uptake of CPD

Question 40: How do we encourage the uptake of CPD especially where it is voluntary to undertake?

Please state your answer.

Section 8: Some technical aspects of the CPD system

Question 41: Do you agree or disagree that the CPD system should be able to link individual CPD logs within a BRN, subject to safeguards being introduced? Agree / Disagree / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Section 9: Good practices in CPD systems

Question 42: What features are there in CPD systems that make them easy to use, accessible, and encourage their use?

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Section 10: Assessing the impact

Question 43: Are you aware of any potential costs and burdens to farmers, crofters and other users of the CPD system that you think may arise as a result of the proposals in this consultation? Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 44: Are you aware of any impacts, positive or negative, that any of the proposals in this consultation may have on the environment? Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 45: Are you aware of any impacts, positive or negative, that any of the proposals in this consultation may have on children and young people who can be employed in agriculture? Could there be any improvements made? Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 46: Are you aware of any impacts, positive or negative, that any of the proposals in this consultation may have on data protection or privacy? Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 47: Are you aware of any ways in which the proposals in this consultation may impact positively or negatively those with protected characteristics? (Protected characteristics included age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation) Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 48: Are you aware of any ways in which the proposals in this consultation may impact positively or negatively on groups or areas experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage? These could be households with low incomes or few resources; families struggling to make ends meet; people who experienced poverty while growing up: or areas with few resources or opportunities compared with others. Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Question 49: Are you aware any ways in which the proposals in this consultation might impact, positively or negatively, island communities in a way that is different from the impact on mainland areas? Yes / No / Don’t know

Please state your answer and give reasons for it.

Section 11: Monitoring and evaluation

Question 50: Do you have any comments on the proposed approaches to the monitoring and evaluation of the CPD system?

Please state your answer.

Section 12: Looking ahead after 2031

Question 51: Do you have any comments on how we could develop the CPD system to support agriculture after 2031?

Please state your answer.