Westminster update – a busy week for all things pigs

Another incredibly busy week in terms of all things Westminster, and that is before we even get on to the Labour leadership contest or the rise in popularity in some corners for a lesser spotted Count Binface.

 

EFRA Committee

Earlier this week, the Secretary of State, Emma Reynolds, was in front of the House of Commons’ EFRA Select Committee to face questions on the work of her department. While we saw questions relating to everything from water company boss payments to nature recovery and coastal erosion, there was a lot to take away from the perspective of the pig sector.

Looking first at the newly published Farming Roadmap, the Secretary of State stressed that her priority remained that she wanted a farming sector, which is more productive, more profitable, more resilient and more sustainable. She also wanted to see greater amounts of nature friendly farming and a shift away from imports.

The committee chair, Alistair Carmichael (Lib Dem, Orkney and Shetland) was firm in his questioning on the roadmap feeling it lacked certainty and direction from government. In particular he suggested the document did not provide farmers with the clarity and direction they needed from government with regards to their future ambitions and whether or not they had a target for the future value of agriculture or measurables such as livestock numbers.

It was positive to see the Secretary of State recognise that a key barrier to growth in agriculture is planning. There is an outstanding commitment from the Secretary of State to the NFU that she would convene a roundtable with the Secretary of State responsible, Steve Reed, but at the moment she said such a date “remains to be seen”. Emily Miles, one of the department’s director generals, confirmed that they have had helpful input from industry on what the planning barriers are. She went on to say that they are quite broad and “some of them get solved by the national planning policy framework that we have referred to. Some of them are about how we implement the environmental guidance with Natural England and the Environment Agency”.

Carmichael once again pushed the Secretary of State, saying that it is one of the most regularly raised things with him when he speaks to farmers across the country.

Moving on to fairness in the supply chain and Ben Goldsborough (Lab, South Norfolk) kicked off with questions on pricing. While he was referring specifically to horticulture, the points are just as relevant to the pig sector. He said that “farmers are, at the end of the day, price-takers, not price-makers, … [and] many profitable businesses are becoming unprofitable, despite producing exactly what the market needs”. He called for a market code of practice to help route out bad behaviour.

This was quickly followed by questions from Charlie Dewhirst (Con, Bridlington and The Wolds) on the current market challenges in the pig sector. He simply said that the “sector is on its knees at the moment, losing £50 a pig. …that may mean that towards the end of the year we have about 10,000 pigs being produced per week without an outlet in terms of an abattoir”. He asked the Secretary of State whether she felt the Fair Dealing Regs were working as intended and whether she had met with the industry representatives of farmers to try to support them through this difficult patch.

The Secretary of State responded initially telling the committee that she was “aware that this is a very difficult time for the pig industry. We have had a change of Minister recently, so forgive me, but I do not know whether Stephen has met with the industry in the last two weeks. I would think that Angela did”. Sadly, we were unable to hold any bilateral meetings with Angela Eagle before she was reshuffled out of Defra.

Emily Miles followed up by telling the committee that Defra’s sector team engage with the pig sector on a weekly basis and that this is a “very active conversation”. She went on to say that they are “aware that there have been some termination notices served and they are “keeping quite a close ear to the ground, including with the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator, to see if there have been any contacts and if people are concerned about the way that those contracts have been terminated. We think that it is all happening in keeping with the fair dealing obligations, but if anyone does have a concern, they can raise it with the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator”. The NPA would broadly agree with that analysis of the situation.

The final section of note related to the, now delayed, SPS and reset deal with the European Union. Sarah Bool (Con, South Northamptonshire) opened the questions on this section and asked whether Defra were able to provide anything by way of an update on the negotiations. Emma Bourne, Defra’s DG with responsibility, said that while they cannot give a running commentary negotiations “have continued in earnest, with multiple sessions between EU and Defra teams each week”.

The discussion shifted to discuss how future legislation would be implemented, particularly for areas within the ambitions of the Farming Roadmap, and whether the UK would simply become a rule taker. Bourne said that while it is correct to say the UK will not have a voting role because we will not be an EU member state, the UK Government are negotiating what is described as “decision-shaping arrangements”, which are set out in the common understanding.

Similarly, when questioned about how this would help or hinder efforts to tackle illegal meat imports, Bourne said “in many ways, that is outside of the scope of the SPS agreement”.

Given how much of a priority this remains for the NPA, it was encouraging to hear that this is one of the things that Defra are” actively looking at in parallel with, not instead of, the SPS agreement”. Baroness Hayman is currently preparing work on an illegal meat action plan for the autumn, again something we shall be taking further involvement in.

 

Defra Oral Questions

The committee session on Tuesday was quickly followed by oral questions in the House of Commons on Thursday morning, where MPs can quiz ministers on anything to do with the Defra brief. Ahead of those questions we were pleased to see that John Lamont (Con, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) was successful in securing a question on the order paper about the steps Defra is taking to support pig farmers.

Mr Lamont followed this up by praising independent pig producers before going on to raise his concerns about the low prices being seen and the losses many producers are now making, as much as £50 per pig.

Norfolk MP and EFRA Committee member Terry Jermy (Lab, South West Norfolk) immediately followed Mr Lamont and raised his concerns about what the situation might look like later this year once notice periods have expired on those terminated contracts, with a likely scenario of seeing upwards of 10,000 pigs a week with no outlet to be sold.

Another key priority for the sector is maintaining a healthy national herd, especially given the reality that diseases like FMD and ASF are active in Europe. As such it was really positive to see Shadow Minister Dr Neil Hudson (Con, Epping Forest) maintaining pressure on the government to ensure we stem the flow of banned meat products entering the country illegally.

Later during the session, Seamus Logan (SNP, Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) returned to the current market situation facing the UK pig sector and once again highlighted the vulnerability of independent pig producers, calling on ministers to take steps to help protect this vital part of the sector.

The session was aptly finished off with a final question from the EFRA Committee chair, Alistair Carmichael (Lib Dem, Orkney and Shetland) who was keen to stress the urgency of the situation with ministers, pressing them to convene an emergency summit with all parties as soon as possible.

Responding to all these questions the minister, Stephen Morgan (Lab, Portsmouth South), stressed that they “recognise the challenges that pig farmers are facing” and are taking steps to “strengthen protections for pig farmers, particularly where there are severe losses and disruption, as the sector has been facing in recent years. We will ensure fairer, more transparent contracts to build a resilient and profitable industry”. He also assured the House that he will instruct officials to bring forward a meeting with the NPA as soon as possible.

You can watch highlights of the session on the NPA X page.

 

Westminster Hall Debate

While this was a busy week for us in terms of public affairs activity in Westminster, this will carry on next week during the final sitting week ahead of the long summer recess (and change in Prime Minister). On Tuesday afternoon we are pleased that Harriet Cross (Con, Gordon and Buchan) has been able to secure an hour-long Westminster Hall debate on the “government support for pig farmers”. The debate will take place on Tuesday 14 July and we have briefed MPs in advance.