Farming Minister David Heath announced on Thursday that the government will push ahead with plans to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board "as early as next year". The board sets pay and conditions for employees in agriculture across England and Wales.

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The government first expressed its intention to do away with the AWB, the last of the country's wage boards, in 2010 during its 'bonfire of the quangos.' The board negotiates pay for over 150,000 workers in England and Wales, in meetings between farmers' representatives, government officials and union delegates.

Mr Heath made the announcement after plans to abolish the board were added as an amendment to the Department for Business Industry and Skills' Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill. Defra said the AWB could be decommissioned as early as 1st October 2013.

The devolved governments of Scotland and Northern Ireland have opted to retain their wage boards; announcing her decision to preserve the board in Northern Ireland, agriculture minister Michelle O’Neill said in September, "I firmly believe that the AWB structure is a valuable forum for wage negotiations and importantly is used as a benchmark for the wider agri-food industry. It will now continue to protect the rights of low paid agricultural workers, including migrant workers, here by ensuring enforceable employment conditions which can only have a positive impact on the sustainability of the rural economy."

Welsh farming groups and Young Farmers' Federation have also come out in opposition to the plans, which they say will increase the burden on farmers and drain money from the rural economy, impacting severely on some of the most deprived areas of the countryside.

Nevertheless, on Thursday (20th December), Defra minister Heath said "Scrapping these outdated and bureaucratic rules will significantly reduce burdens to farmers while keeping workers extremely well protected. I’m convinced it's the right move to help agriculture take advantage of the huge opportunities to prosper in coming years."

Defra consultation document examines 'costs and benefits' of AWB abolition

Defra held a consultation on the plans last month; organisations representing workers said the four-week consultation window was too short and accused the government of deliberately narrowing its consultation period to limit the ability of workers and their representatives to respond.

Critics have argued the abolition of the wages board supports recent accusations levelled at the government since the Autumn Statement that its policies are targeting the poorest in society, to create more favourable conditions for the wealthy. In its consultation documents, outlining its intention to do away with the board, Defra states that "The net benefit of changes in payments to workers is zero, as a cost to workers is a benefit to farmers." 

Furthermore, whilst acknowledging workers will be squeezed in an already low-paid sector, Defra asserts that farmers will benefit from the "Reduction in sick pay paid by farmers, value of labour to farmers of decreased annual leave, reduction in wages paid by farmers."

Adding weight to Welsh farming organisations' criticisms that changes being wrought in the sector are ideologically driven, and will not reduce bureaucracy as promised, Defra concedes,  "Employers will need to familiarise themselves with relevant legislation instead of the AWO. Workers and employers will need to spend time on negotiations to agree pay levels & other terms & conditions individually."

Although Defra claims the board's abolition "will lead to a more flexible market and make it far easier for employees to receive annual salaries, rather than hourly wages, in line with modern personal finance arrangements," there is scant evidence to support this.

When consultation on AWB closure ended in November, Unite spokesperson Julia Long said the Board’s dissolution "Is a senseless act by a government that is simply not on the side of either working people or our countryside." 

Unite accuses Defra of 'cowardly attack'

Reacting to the government's fast-tracking of the AWB closure, representatives of trade union Unite accused the government of "another cowardly attack on working people." Unite claimed Defra had ignored information submitted to its consultation on the AWB, stating that "the majority of responses to the government’s consultation on the future of the AWB were in favour of retention."

Condemning Thursday's announcement as evidence the government is "putting the interests of big business over those of people and communities," Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said, "If the case for scrapping the board, which has served generations of rural workers and their communities, is so compelling, then the government should publish the evidence. Its reluctance to do so suggests that this is another shameful assault on workers for which there is no evidence base. 

"This is just one more disgraceful act by a government that has no economic plan for our nation other than to strip back workers' rights.  This will ill-serve our rural communities driving already low wages down further still for vulnerable rural workers and swelling even more the profits of the big supermarkets."

McCluskey added, "Scrapping the board will save the government a paltry £50,000 per year yet it will see millions of pounds that ought to be workers' wages transfer to the wealthy retailers and big employers. David Heath, the Liberal Democrat minister who is presiding over this shameful wealth transfer, and who once stood up to defend the AWB, would do well to consider his future.  His seat is a marginal one and agricultural workers are unlikely to forget either his hypocrisy or this malign act any time soon."