Farming and Food Production

Debate between Baroness Hayman of Ullock and Lord Wigley

Wednesday 10th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

Part of the reason we decided to do a 25-year farming plan is to work with farmers and rural communities to ensure that they have some kind of certainty, some sort of security for the future, because there simply has not been enough of that in recent years. We feel that having a long-term approach that is worked up with farmers, the people who are on the ground and who understand that long-term thinking and security, can help to support them as businesses and our food security for the future.

[Lord Wigley (PC)]

My Lords, does the Minister accept that the backbone of food production in rural Wales and in many other areas is small family farms but that one of the banes of their lives is the red tape levels they have to face in undertaking their work? Will the Government please review the red tape pressure that is on such farms in taxation and other matters to lessen this burden and let them get on with what they are best at, which is producing food?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

As I mentioned earlier, my mother’s family had a small family farm in Wales. My uncle had to do another job because he could not make sufficient money just from the farm, so I know the tough challenges that hill farms in Wales face. Obviously, it is a devolved matter. I assure the noble Lord that I talked regularly in the past to my colleague and I very much look forward to meeting the new Plaid Cymru Minister. I will continue to work to reduce red tape in whatever way we can for farms.

Flooding Interventions

Debate between Baroness Hayman of Ullock and Lord Wigley

Tuesday 6th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

As I mentioned earlier, we have invested a record amount of money in addressing flooding. We have also reviewed the way funding is applied and how communities, businesses and so on can apply for it. The new programme we have set up has four metrics, and if I briefly go through those, it will help to answer the noble Lord’s question.

There are two outcome metrics and two output metrics. The first outcome metric is around economic benefits. It captures all the damage that has been avoided to properties, infrastructure, agriculture and a range of other areas, as well as the positive economic benefits of such things as natural flood management, which we are very keen to invest in. The second is around the risk to properties. The Environment Agency is developing a way of reporting on the reduction in flood risk due to the investments made through the national flood and coastal investment programme. I think that is due to report in April.

The first output metric is around how properties benefit from the new investment. That is made up of three parts: whether it is large reductions in, small reductions in, or prevented increases in any size of flood risk. The last metric is around asset condition, which initially remains the percentage of Environment Agency high-consequence assets at target condition. So we have a whole new system of managing exactly those outcomes and investments.

[Lord Wigley (PC)]

My Lords, the Minister will be aware of the floods that occurred in Wales in recent months—in particular, the difficult ones just before Christmas in Monmouth, a border community. She may also be aware of the Written Questions I tabled on whether there is adequate co-ordination of efforts on the Welsh side and the English side of the border to minimise the danger. Can she confirm that she has had discussions with Welsh Ministers or civil servants to minimise that danger?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

Absolutely. The noble Lord makes an important point: floodwater does not recognise boundaries, as I think we all know. I live in Cumbria, which, again, is a community with a border with one of the devolved nations. I meet regularly with my Welsh and Scottish counterparts, as well as those in Northern Ireland. It is important, as we make policy decisions and decide what legislation investments we are going to make, that we all work together. It is something I am very committed to.

Farmers: Competitiveness

Debate between Baroness Hayman of Ullock and Lord Wigley

Tuesday 3rd June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I am afraid I have to admit to the noble Lord that I know nothing about New Zealand’s inheritance tax law, but I am more than happy to look into it.

[Lord Wigley (PC)]

My Lords, I draw attention to my registered interests in asking this question. Does the Minister accept that it would be helpful for farmers in England, Wales and Scotland if all the supermarkets in the UK were required to show the flags of the countries of origin of meat that they sell in their supermarkets, particularly in view of the possible threats coming from imports from the USA?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I am sure the noble Lord is aware that there was a consultation on labelling fairly recently, which we are looking at. There are certain issues. What do we want on our labels? Country of origin is clearly something the public are particularly interested in. Also, what are the standards and the methods of production? There is a lot of interest in what labelling could include. We also need to be careful to ensure that the labelling that exists currently, and any future labelling brought in, is honest, because sometimes things that look British are not necessarily so.