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	Podcast:		Farming Today
	Episode:		10/05/2023 - Outdated Defra IT systems, pop-up campsites and tulips
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:13:12
	Publish Date:		2023-05-10 05:00:00
	Description:		DEFRA's IT systems are outdated and inefficient, with two thirds of transactions every year still needing paper forms. That's according to a report published by the Public Accounts Committee of MPs, which says a multi-million pound "complete overhaul" is needed, to ensure air quality, safe food and water supply. The Department and it's agencies, provide services ranging from permits to move animals, and monitoring air quality, to paying grants. We visit a pop-up campsite on a farm in Cornwall. Until the end of 2021, landowners and farmers, were granted temporary licences to run pop-up sites for 56 days, using facilities which could be dismantled at short notice. Last year those rules changed again, back to the standard 28 days. Operators are now waiting to hear the outcome of a consultation, which could allow temporary sites to operate for longer. And Spalding Flower Parade used to take place each year to celebrate the tulip growing industry in Lincolnshire. But as tulip growing decreased and more flowers were imported, the parade died out, and the last one was held in 2013. Now,10 years on, the parade is back - and more than a million tulips are being cut, to adorn the floats for the event. Presented by Anna Hill Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
	Total Play:		0