Oral Answers to Questions

George Eustice Excerpts

Thursday 5th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Dr Lisa Cameron (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) (SNP)]

1. What steps she is taking to ensure that farmers receive a fair price for their produce from retailers.

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice)]

First, I welcome the new shadow Front-Benchers to their positions. I am sure they will find DEFRA to be a fascinating and rewarding, if somewhat unpredictable, brief to be involved with.

In the last Parliament, we introduced the grocery code adjudicator to enforce the principle of the grocery supply code relating to fair practice in contracting arrangements. In addition, we have encouraged large retailers to offer contracts with prices linked to the cost of production. Many of them now do so for their liquid milk, and such contracts are popular with farmers.

[Dr Cameron]

What steps is the Minister taking to alleviate the severe cash-flow pressures on our farmers, and will he consider placing a floor in the market to protect the dairy and lamb industry?

[George Eustice]

We have worked hard with the European Commission to get a support payment. The Rural Payments Agency is processing that now—for Scotland, England and all other parts of the UK. We aim to get that out in the first week of December. That will offer some support to dairy farmers with their cash-flow problems. In addition, we are working hard in England to ensure that we can get the basic payment scheme payments out to farmers on time.

[Helen Whately (Faversham and Mid Kent) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Minister for his response to last week’s debate on the impact of the living wage on fruit farmers. As he knows, fruit farmers in my constituency support the living wage, but they are worried that supermarkets will not pay them a price that recognises the increased cost of production. What steps is he taking to support the fruit farming industry on this issue?

[George Eustice]

My hon. Friend is right that we had a good debate on this issue last week. As a former strawberry farmer, I can say that supermarkets pay a premium for English fruit—the quality is superior and we have better varieties. It commands a premium over both Dutch and Spanish fruit.

[John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab)]

The English Christmas could not exist without Stilton cheese, yet the Minister is refusing to allow the name Stilton to be given to the only English cheese made in the traditional way—Stilton cheese—because of some bureaucracy from DEFRA and him. An entire herd of cows in my constituency survives because of real, traditional unpasteurised English Stilton, with 45p a litre paid, keeping the dairy farmers in good profit. Will the Minister accept a full Stilton cheese to give to the Cabinet, and perhaps provide the biscuits to go with it, so that they can understand the price we pay by denying England its true traditional English cheese—and rethink?

[George Eustice]

I think that the company to which the hon. Gentleman refers is called Stichelton. It produces cheese using raw milk, and as a high-quality product it commands a premium over Stilton. Every single Stilton producer opposed changing the protected food name status for Stilton, and we believe that there should be some sense of consensus before changes to recipes are imposed on producers.

[Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury) (Con)]

Dairy farmers in my Eddisbury constituency, who are on non-aligned contracts, are suffering from the volatility in world dairy prices. What is the Minister doing to assist in making them resilient to that market volatility?

[George Eustice]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. One of the key long-term aspects we are looking at is developing a dairy futures market so that farmers can help to mitigate and manage the risks of price volatility. Such a market works quite effectively in the United States, and the European Commission is setting up a high-level group to look at how to develop such a scheme in the European Union.

[Calum Kerr (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (SNP)]

I, too, welcome the new shadow Front-Bench team. The failure of the market to provide a fair price for what farmers produce means that, for many of them, common agricultural policy payments make the difference between bankruptcy and continuing in business. The Secretary of State has been repeatedly asked to confirm whether those payments would continue in the event of a Brexit. Simply batting that question away is no longer acceptable. What will happen?

[George Eustice]

The RPA is making emergency payments worth about £2,500 to help the average Scottish dairy farmer through this difficult period. We are doing our bit to ensure that Scottish dairy farmers are helped.

[Edward Argar (Charnwood) (Con)]

Farmers can be helped to obtain a fair price for their produce if they act as retailers themselves through, for example, farmers markets and farm shops such as the excellent Roots in Barkby Thorpe and Cook’s in Newtown Linford, in my constituency. What assessment has the Minister made of farm shops as a small part of the way in which producers can be helped to sell their produce at a fair price?

[George Eustice]

I should declare an interest. My family run a farm shop, and I can add to my hon. Friend’s list Trevaskis Farm in Cornwall, which is one of the best farm shops in the country.

My hon. Friend makes an important point. In the last 15 years we have seen a huge surge of interest in food provenance—people want to know where their food comes from—and a significant rise in the turnover of farm shops, which are a good way of enabling farmers to protect their margins.

[Mr Mark Williams (Ceredigion) (LD)]

There is a perception among the dairy farmers whom I represent, and particularly among small farmers, that they are being individually picked off by some of the big supermarkets. What can the Government do to encourage and support the development of producer organisations and real collaboration between individual farmers?

[George Eustice]

I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman. We have been trying to foster the development of producer organisations, and Dairy Crest runs one that is very successful. We provided funds to support the development of dairy producer organisations through the most recent rural development scheme. As the hon. Gentleman says, ensuring that farmers can negotiate collectively is key to enabling them to deal with the fact that they are small and fragmented.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

The number of dairy farms and dairy cattle in Northamptonshire has fallen by more than a third since 2001, largely because the common agricultural policy is rigged in favour of the French dairy industry. Other countries have negotiated early payments from the CAP this year. Why have we not done the same?

[George Eustice]

This year we decided to issue the full BPS payments as quickly as possible and as early as possible in the payment window. About 60% of the entry level and higher level stewardship payments have now been made. We are working on the dairy crisis fund, and we aim to issue the majority of basic payment scheme payments in December and the vast majority by the end of January.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Given that farmers are struggling, may I ask by what date the last farmer will have received this year’s cheque from the Rural Payments Agency?

[George Eustice]

As with all years, the payment window runs from 1 December until June. In each year there are some highly complex cases—typically involving non-governmental organisations, such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which run large schemes and do not receive their payments until later—but, as I have said, we expect to issue the majority in December and the vast majority by the end of January. We hope to issue the payments in respect of common land during February, because those cases are more complex.

[Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)]

2. What assessment she has made of progress on flood plans for Gloucestershire; and if she will make a statement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

7. What estimate her Department has made of the number of households affected by lack of food security.

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice)]

The factors that affect household food security are complex and difficult to measure. However, a recent report comparing OECD countries found that a proportion of those who said that they are finding it difficult to afford food went down from 9.8% in 2007 to 8.1% in 2012.

[Debbie Abrahams]

One million people relied on food-bank meals last year, which is an increase of 38% on 2013. In Oldham, 5,000 people, including 1,500 children, relied on Oldham food bank. Given the Resolution Foundation’s estimate that an additional 200,000 children will be pushed into poverty as a direct result of the social security and tax changes that this Government are intending to implement, what is the Minister doing, working across Government Departments, to address the issues of food insecurity?

[George Eustice]

Let me point out a number of things. First, food prices have fallen for the first time in around 15 years. They went down by 2.3% over the past year. In addition, since 2010, we have seen an increase in household disposable income; it is up by around £900 according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. Finally, we must bear in mind that the way to get people out of poverty and to tackle poverty is to get people off benefits and into work. That is exactly what our welfare reforms are doing.

[Chris Davies (Brecon and Radnorshire) (Con)]

8. What steps the Government are taking to promote regional food and drink.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Green (Bolton West) (Con)]

10. What steps the Government are taking to use science and data to increase productivity in the food and farming industry.

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice)]

The Government are investing £90 million in centres for agricultural innovation to ensure that our world-leading science is improving farm productivity. Just last week, I visited the Rothamsted research institute to launch a new agrimetrics centre that will develop the use of modern data analysis and management.

[Chris Green]

I understand that the Minister is working on a 25-year food and farming plan and that many farmers and businesses in the north-west have been involved in the discussions. How central will data and technology be to the plan and what benefits will it bring to farmers and food producers in the north-west?

[George Eustice]

We held a workshop in Manchester as part of our food and farming strategy development and I am delighted that some of my hon. Friend’s constituents were able to contribute. Data and technology will form a crucial part of our food and farming plan. We are using the way in which we can harness data to improve plant health, animal health and crop yields, for instance. It is therefore vital to the future of our agriculture.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

11. How many flood schemes are due to begin construction in 2015 under the Government’s six-year flood defence programme.

--- Later in debate ---

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

T5. As a beekeeper, I recently met the British Beekeepers Association, with which I am keen to restart the all-party parliamentary group on bees. One of our prime objectives is to bring together farmers, scientists and environmentalists with the common aim of improving the nation’s bee colonies. Is the Minister willing to offer support and encouragement to such a move?

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice)]

I am absolutely delighted to offer my hon. Friend that support and encouragement, and I will be more than happy to attend the all-party group. We have a new pollinator strategy in place, and around half the expressions of interest that we have received for the new mid-tier countryside stewardship schemes include pollinator packages. I can also report that our own DEFRA beehives are doing quite well and that we harvested our first honey this year.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

T8. This Government are all over the place on the issue of fracking in national parks and protected areas. Having vowed to ban it in January, they last week proposed to allow it, and now they say that they want to ban surface drilling inside those areas again. Can the Secretary of State confirm whether fracking will be allowed under national parks and protected areas, and what effect that will have on noise, light and air pollution?

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

T7. South Essex is home to many small and medium-sized food businesses. What progress has been made since the launch of the 2013 food and drink international action plan to help those businesses export more?

[George Eustice]

We run a food export forum with industry, which I chair, and we are making progress. We have now helped around 4,000 companies to export overseas, which is four times more than we intended to in the initial strategy.

[Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)]

T9. There seems to be a vast gap between the Government’s ambition for forest and woodland planting and reality. Yesterday, Confor and the Woodland Trust proposed at the all-party group on forestry a target of 7,000 hectares of planting a year. If it is planted sensibly, that could mean 15 million trees a year, but the funding currently available will help deliver only between 2,000 and 2,500 hectares a year. How will the Government work with Confor and the Woodland Trust to achieve more?