Farming Today - 15/10/2010

Charlotte Smith asks how rural communities will be affected by the bonfire of the quangos. DEFRA will scrap more than 50 bodies, and radically reform the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Forestry Commission. The RSPB tells Farming Today wildlife may suffer as a result, but some landowners are relieved there will be less red tape, and more opportunities for the private sector. Richard Benyon, minister for the environment, says the reforms are not just to save money, but are needed to make government work efficiently. British Waterways is one of the organisations which will change, to become a charity. To see what work the organisation does, Charlotte Smith goes fishing for invasive species on the river Lee.