Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the impact of the current level of the pound on food imports and
food security.
(Con)
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question in my name on the Order
Paper and refer to my interests as set out in the register.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs () (Con)
My Lords, I declare my farming interests as set out in the
register. The depreciation of the pound should not have a direct
impact on household food security; however, it may have an
indirect effect if increased import costs cause the price of food
to rise. It is not for His Majesty’s Government to set retail
food prices. Through regular engagement, Defra will continue to
work with food retailers to explore the range of measures they
can take to ensure the availability of affordable food.
(Con)
Given the unprecedented food inflation we have seen—the highest
level for 40 years—and the fact that farmers and consumers are
facing unprecedented challenges, will my noble friend the
Minister take this opportunity to boost farm productivity at home
to stabilise food security and to boost self-sufficiency in food,
which for fruit and vegetables is a woeful 16%? This is a one-off
opportunity to help farmers and consumers with both their budgets
and food productivity and growth.
(Con)
My Lords, we enjoy a high degree of domestic food security and
self-sufficiency but we are not complacent about it. We have
responded to recent events, as in the food strategy, putting food
security at the heart of the Government’s vision for the food
sector. It is absolutely our intention to help farmers become
much more productive in the two sectors that the noble Baroness
mentioned, particularly in horticulture but also in areas such as
seafood. Our farming reforms are designed to support farmers to
produce food sustainably and productively alongside delivering
environmental improvements, which of course we all benefit from.
(Lab)
My Lords, will the Minister focus for a moment on the inexorable
increase in the number of food banks being used by people who
simply cannot afford to shop elsewhere? This is a real problem.
Fortunately for the United Kingdom, people have so far been
generous in supplying food banks, but even now we are reading and
learning that some food banks are simply running out of food.
This is a pretty serious state of affairs and I hope the Minister
will assure the House that it is being looked at.
(Con)
The people who run food banks are some of the best people in our
society, and any of us who have had anything to do with them are
in awe of the work they do. Household income is a complex issue
across many different sectors, and the Government’s job is to
support households, as we are through our £37 billion investment.
This includes £500 million to help with the cost of household
essentials, including food, and brings the total funding and
support to £1.5 billion. We certainly work with the food bank
sector to make sure that for any problems it faces, if the
Government can influence it, we ease those problems and help it
do the work that it does.
(CB)
One of the constraints on the production of home-produced fruit
and vegetables has been the availability of labour. We have been
receiving mixed messages from the Government on their attitude to
seasonal workers. Can the Minister confirm what the current
government policy is please?
(Con)
We are firmly supportive of the Institute for Agriculture and
Horticulture that the noble Lord has been so instrumental in
setting up and running. We want to make sure that we are
improving the skills available and that those skills reflect how
young people want to go into an industry now. They want portable
qualifications that they can take into different areas of
farming, agricultural production or the food industry. Improving
skills is an absolute priority. We will not get the improvements
in areas such as horticulture unless we improve the skills base.
That is why we are determined to see organisations such as TIAH
succeed.
of Hardington Mandeville
(LD)
My Lords, the poorest 20% of the population spend a higher
proportion of their income on food. This makes them vulnerable to
the effects of changing food prices. They are the very people who
need to eat a good-quality, balanced diet to maintain their
health. Will the Minister undertake to lobby his colleagues in
other departments to ensure that they are aware of the health
effects of insufficient food and nutrition and to ensure that
both benefits and free school meals are extended to cover the gap
in rising food prices?
(Con)
The noble Baroness is absolutely right that food inflation
adversely affects those on the lowest incomes and she is right to
raise the issue of healthy food for children. We have increased
the value of our Healthy Start vouchers to £4.25 a week and spent
around £600 million a year ensuring an additional 1.25 million
infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime
following the introduction of the universal infant free school
meal policy of 2014. I am very happy to keep her and other noble
Lords abreast of other conversations we have in the context of
food and the work happening across government to help families
deal with the cost of living crisis.
My Lords, could my noble friend assure us that, when he is
helping to increase the productivity of farming in all its
spheres, it will be done with the best science available, so that
it will improve not only farming but nature at the same time?
(Con)
We operate on the basis of the best scientific evidence.
Sometimes the evidence presented to Ministers can be conflicting,
and we have to make a value judgment. Scientific advice underpins
our new farming systems, and there is a determination to produce
food sustainably and reverse the catastrophic declines in species
that we have experienced in recent decades—which, as the Dasgupta
review pointed out, has an economic cost as well as a cost to our
environment.
The Lord
I thank the Minister for his responses here, but, given the
current value of the pound, which is making our exports so
attractive, what are His Majesty’s Government doing to seize this
opportunity to grow our exports of British produce and therefore
support and really encourage our fantastic and hard-working
farmers?
(Con)
The right reverend Prelate is absolutely right: there are areas
for growth in our farming productivity. We want to see what we
can produce. We are more than self-sufficient in produce such as
lamb and poultry, but we want the opportunity to export as well.
There are huge opportunities in horticulture, which is why we are
working really hard with that sector to improve the productivity
of food production right across the piece, and to look at the
export opportunities that quality foods can achieve.
(Lab)
My Lords, the fact is that a small number of global food
companies are making huge profits out of the current crisis,
which is affecting not only consumers but farmers as well. Why do
not the Government use the powers in the Environment Act to take
action on supply chain regulation to make sure that everybody
shares in the profits available there? Furthermore, why do not
the Government take action to curb financial speculation in the
food markets, because that is at the heart of the problem here?
(Con)
I am very happy to take up any specific cases where the noble
Baroness feels that undue influence has been applied to the
supply chain. We have complex supply chains in this country; she
is quite right to state that some companies are based overseas.
However, where we find problems we can take action, not just
through the Environment Act but through the Groceries Code
Adjudicator, which this Government also set up.
(CB)
My Lords, the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit report last
week found that the combined impacts of climate change as well as
oil and gas prices have driven up food prices by £11.4
billion—that is £407 per household. Obviously, that is much more
serious for those on lower incomes. Of that £407, £170 is due to
climate change and £236 is due to oil and gas prices. That really
tells us, if we ever need reminding, how much the food system is
dependent on fossil fuels. Can the Minister agree and support the
transition now to agroecological food systems? Can he give us any
reassurance that the new ELMS subsidy system will be back on
track with the announcement of the new Prime Minister?
(Con)
I think that it is back on track with the existing Prime
Minister, or the one that is still there as we speak. I assure
the noble Baroness that the very basis of ELMS is an
agroecological understanding of our soil standard, getting proper
functioning ecosystems to support the food that we produce—so I
can absolutely give her that assurance.
