Common Agricultural Policy and Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 Debate

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Department: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Common Agricultural Policy and Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Baroness Vere of Norbiton Excerpts
Wednesday 20th March 2019

(5 years, 1 month ago)

Grand Committee
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Earl of Erroll Portrait The Earl of Erroll (CB)
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My Lords, I want to say just a couple of things. I am married to a farmer and in the evenings I have to try to sort out some of the paperwork, mapping, basic payment systems—

Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)
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I do not believe that the noble Earl was here at the start of the debate and therefore it is not really possible for him to take part.

Earl of Erroll Portrait The Earl of Erroll
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I am sorry. I was only going to make a point about the RPA workload.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait Baroness Vere of Norbiton
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Perhaps the noble Earl might speak to the Minister afterwards.

Lord Grantchester Portrait Lord Grantchester (Lab)
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I am grateful to the Minister for his introduction to the bundle of regulations before the Committee today. I declare my interests as listed in the register and that I receive EU funds under the CAP schemes that we are discussing here.

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Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait Baroness Vere of Norbiton
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My Lords, I am afraid the noble Lord was not in the Committee at the start of debate.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait Baroness Vere of Norbiton
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I have written here: “Whitty (late)”.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble Portrait Lord Gardiner of Kimble
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Would it help if the noble Lord and I had a conversation after this debate on the statutory instrument? I am interested in hearing his point.

With your Lordships’ permission, I will conclude my point. In a no-deal scenario, the SI will take effect on exit day; in the case of a withdrawal agreement, it will come into force after the implementation period.

On the noble Lord’s question about Ireland, these regulations will ensure that the same state aid regime applies in the UK and Ireland, because obviously it is bringing back the same arrangements.

My noble friend Lady Byford asked how many farmers fell within the schemes. My memory is that for direct payments, it is about 85,000 farmers, but of course with countryside stewardship and environmental stewardships it is a much smaller sum.