Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to encourage those dairy processors and farmers who have not participated in the scheme to reduce milk supply by around five per cent to join that initiative to address over-supply.

Dairy farmers are crucial in ensuring that food supplies remain resilient in this difficult period. While the vast majority of Britain’s dairy farmers are largely unaffected, some have been impacted by the closure of the food service sector as a result of the lockdown measures taken in response to Covid-19. Between 5 and 10 per cent of total milk production goes to the food service trade. While there is no Government-backed scheme to reduce milk supply, we fully support industry efforts to voluntarily reduce milk production where necessary.

In addition to the wider steps the Government has taken to support businesses impacted by COVID-19, a statutory instrument laid before Parliament on 1 May temporarily relaxed some further elements of competition law making it easier for the dairy industry to collaborate to maximise production, processing and storage efficiency in order to avoid wastage and to ensure that as much product as possible can be processed into high quality dairy products. The SI is available at the following link.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/481/contents/made

We will continue to engage closely with representatives from all parts of the dairy supply chain to support the sector throughout this challenging period.