Brexit: Non-chemical Farming Methods

Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lord Naseby

Monday 6th November 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, the whole role of our committees and regulatory bodies is extremely strong. As I said, there is the Chemicals Regulations Directorate of the Health and Safety Executive, the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides, the Expert Committee on Pesticide Residues in Food and the Food Standards Agency, all of which are tasked with ensuring that our food and environment are safe. That is what we are working on. Of course it is essential that those who work in agriculture are assured in using pesticides and have the right training to do so in a responsible and sustainable way.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, as one who lives in rural Bedfordshire and used to look after rural Northamptonshire, is it not a fact that there are very strict regulations on the use of spraying materials, when crops are sprayed with pesticides and herbicides? Given that Brexit is on the horizon, is this not entirely the wrong time to have an overall review of the role of pesticides? Can we not have complete faith in what our farmers and horticulturists are doing today and have done in the recent past?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, there is an important balance to this, which the industry is seized of. This is why the integrated pest management and agritech innovations will be so important for us, with much more precise use of pesticides. There is a fall in the total weight of pesticides being applied because of newer chemicals having lower doses and new and more efficient methods of application. There are advances in this area that we should all champion.

Retail Prices Index

Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lord Naseby

Wednesday 14th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Naseby]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Office for National Statistics is reviewing the methodology of calculating changes in prices for the purposes of the retail prices index.

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, the decision to launch a consultation on options, which include amending the way that the RPI is calculated, was taken by the National Statistician after taking evidence on statistical best practice and discussion with the Consumer Prices Advisory Committee, which suggested that the use of one particular formula in the RPI should be reconsidered.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Naseby]

Will my noble friend recognise that the RPI has been with us for 56 years and that millions of investors in gilt-edged securities, index-linked National Savings certificates, pensions and businesses have done their forward planning for years ahead on the basis that RPI will be there? Then along comes the ONS’s quiet-as-a-mouse consultation, rather like the cheque consultation that we managed to expose, and the only beneficiary seems to be the Chancellor. In relation to this long-term planning and the disadvantage that it will impose on millions of people, will my noble friend tell the ONS to put the four options away and just accept option No. 1, which is no change?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, this is a consultation about the statistical properties of the RPI and is being undertaken by the independent Office for National Statistics. The UK Statistics Authority is required by statute to promote and safeguard the quality of official statistics, and that is exactly what the Office for National Statistics is doing. I say to my noble friend that things have evolved since 1956, a time when the RPI included the rabbit and the mangle.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, I have to return to why this is happening. It is happening because of the National Statistician and under statute. Having looked at previous Questions when the noble Baroness’s party was in office, precisely these things happened then, too: there were these reviews. This was about an independent inquiry. I hope that I tried to answer the last question, which is why I discussed the Carli index—a key part of RPI. In many countries it has been rejected as the sensible way of dealing with things such as cost of living increases.

[Lord Naseby]

My noble friend positions this as a mechanistic change, which is what the ONS suggests. Nevertheless, is it not true that one of the options is basically looking to a change which will be virtually 1% off RPI? That is hardly mechanistic. In terms of consultation, can we now hope that the ONS will have a full and open consultation and extend the date beyond 30 November so that people can respond?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, my noble friend is right that the consultation closes on 30 November. I actively suggest that, as the Office for National Statistics said, it wishes to hear from as many people as possible as to the opinions on the four options available.