Rural Economy

Lord Rogan Excerpts

Thursday 19th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rogan (UUP)]

My Lords, I also congratulate the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Albans on securing this timely debate. Given that it is a UK-wide debate, noble Lords will not be surprised to learn that I intend to concentrate my remarks on the contribution of rural areas to economic prosperity in Northern Ireland.

According to the most recent figures published by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, more than half of Northern Irish businesses—58%—are located in rural areas. People living in rural areas are more likely to be employed, with almost three-quarters—74%—in work. Workers living in rural areas are more likely to have high skills and report greater job satisfaction than their urban counterparts; both those figures are at 84%. Finally, between 2001 and 2020, the population of rural areas rose by 20% compared with an increase of just 7% for urban areas. In short, Northern Ireland is highly dependent on a healthy and expanding rural economy for its prosperity. His Majesty’s Government, in collaboration with the Northern Ireland Executive, must do everything they can to support and protect it.

One way the newly elected United Kingdom Government have acted positively was by finally signing off the remaining two growth deals for Northern Ireland. As the House may be aware, the previous Conservative Government announced four city and growth deals for the Province in the Belfast City region, Londonderry and Strabane, Mid South West, and Causeway Coast and Glens.

However, on taking power, the Labour Government chose to pause the growth deals designed for predominantly rural areas in the Mid South West and Causeway Coast, with Ministers resorting to the now familiar excuse of a hole in the public finances. That situation was rectified by the Chancellor in her Autumn Budget Statement, but the level of uncertainty, disappointment and worry felt in those rural areas was palpable and did nothing to build confidence that the new Government have either understanding of or empathy with those seeking to grow the rural economy in the Province.

As I made clear in my remarks in this House last week, the Government seem to have little understanding of the farming community in Northern Ireland, or indeed elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Agriculture provides £6 billion to the Northern Ireland economy. However, the Chancellor’s decision to slap an inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million has placed the future of many farms, and indeed a way of rural life, under grave threat. According to analysis by the Department of Agriculture, around half of the 26,000 farms in Northern Ireland could be impacted by the tax changes. This will account for 80% of farmland across the Province, including 40% to 45% of cattle and sheep farms and 87% of dairy farms.

The Windsor Framework, which the current UK Government are fully behind, is making life for the people of Northern Ireland more difficult by the day, and it is having a particularly detrimental impact on local agriculture. A succession of Ministers in this House—I hope the Minister will not be the latest—have habitually fended off concerns about life in Northern Ireland by saying that any particular issue is a devolved matter. However, Budget decisions and responsibility for the disastrous Windsor Framework, agreed in partnership with the European Union, are not devolved. This Government have the power to fix them, thereby helping Northern Ireland’s rural economy. I urge the Minister to heed what I say and act accordingly.

Finally—and I accept that this is a devolved matter—according to the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland, rural crime is costing the Province’s economy £2 million every year. In an effort to combat this, the Rural Crime Partnership has been formed. It is made up of numerous organisations, including the Department of Justice, the PSNI, the Department of Agriculture, the Ulster Farmers Union and the Federation of Small Businesses. The group is engaged in several initiatives to tackle this scourge on the local community, including Rural Crime Week, which runs each September.

As well as people falling victim to petty crime, a sad reality in many parts of society is that rural communities are regularly targeted by organised crime groups. This criminality takes various forms, including waste crime, animal and machinery theft, and illegal puppy breeding and smuggling, and the proceeds are funnelled back into further criminality. Given the organised nature of these activities, will the Minister say whether there is scope for police and security forces across the United Kingdom to work more closely together to tackle this rural crime? Our Prime Minister is fond of telling us about his previous role in taking down gangs. This might present an ideal opportunity to show the country what our Prime Minister is made of.

Hunting Trophies

Lord Rogan Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

I can assure the noble Baroness that my colleague and noble friend Lord Goldsmith has the full confidence of the Prime Minister and is very active on these issues. He would be answering this Question if he was available.

[Lord Rogan (UUP)]

My Lords, I note that the Defra consultation on this matter received over 44,000 responses, with 86% of respondents supporting the proposed ban. As the noble Lord, Lord Selkirk, said, 300 trophies have since been bought into the United Kingdom. Can the Minister tell the House how many more trophies are likely to be imported into this country before the long-awaited ban is implemented?

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

The noble Lord knows the length of time it takes for legislation to get on to the statute book, but once it is there, imported trophies will be banned. I would expect that, if the Bill comes in in the relatively near future, by this time next year the noble Lord’s ambitions will be realised.

Culling of Pigs

Lord Rogan Excerpts

Thursday 14th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rogan (UUP)]

My Lords, over recent days, a succession of government Ministers have told us how much they value Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom. As a unionist, I warmly welcome that. However, almost a month ago, Mr Victor Chestnutt, the president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, warned publicly that the Province’s pig farmers may have to start culling their animals because of labour shortages. What contacts have the Minister or his officials had in the intervening weeks with the Department of Agriculture in Northern Ireland and the Ulster Farmers’ Union to help address this perilous situation in Northern Ireland?

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

I know that my colleague Victoria Prentis, the Minister responsible for this area, has had frequent conversations with all the devolved Governments on these issues. I am not certain when she last spoke to the individual the noble Lord mentioned, but it is vital that we look at this problem not just within the constituent parts of the United Kingdom. This is an issue that runs right across the union, and we want to make sure that we are protecting pig farmers everywhere.

Livestock Feed: Processed Animal Protein

Lord Rogan Excerpts

Tuesday 6th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

May I reassure the noble Lord that we are not talking about BSE here? We are talking about the products of pigs and poultry, for which there is no evidence of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. He can be assured that the strictest regime remains in place to protect the public and our animal health, and that any changes we make can reflect this. To the wider public I would just say, “Buy British”.

[Lord Rogan (UUP)]

My Lords, the Prime Minister’s decision to sign up to the Northern Ireland protocol has placed the Province’s agri-food businesses in an increasingly perilous situation. We were promised that Brexit would improve food standards right across the United Kingdom, but this will not be the case if processed animal protein is allowed to enter the food chain in Northern Ireland. The noble Lord, Lord Moylan, mentioned Northern Ireland. What representations have her Majesty’s Government made to Brussels to stop this policy being extended into Northern Ireland? Can the Minister tell the House whether Boris Johnson was aware that the EU’s ban on animal protein was about to be lifted before he agreed to place a regulatory border in the Irish Sea?

Food Supply and Security

Lord Rogan Excerpts

Thursday 14th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Caithness (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, for this important debate and her comprehensive introduction. Will my noble friend the Minister join me in thanking our farmers and agribusiness for adapting so quickly and keeping food available to us all at a still remarkably low price? It is a sadness that some farming businesses, particularly dairy and ornamental businesses, have not survived or will not survive.

As Covid-19 is a worldwide problem, food imported from overseas will affect our food supply later this year. Some countries, such as Russia and India, are restricting exporting some foodstuffs, while the USA will dump surplus grain on the market. When considering this trade, however, we must remember how important our own food exports are to our industry.

When looking at any food system, one needs to look at health, the environment and food security. Perhaps more challenging to our farmers than Covid-19 has been the weather of the last nine months. Clearly, climate change will alter what we farm and the way we farm it. Our farmers are adapting to this and to the need to improve our biodiversity. In the past they have done what the Government requested, and they will continue to produce top-quality food—but much of this will then be processed, as the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, told us. No one would put diesel in a petrol vehicle. Given the harm this food does to us and the cost to the NHS and the economy, what plans does my noble friend have to stop us being the processed food capital of Europe and eating so much poison?

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Rogan) (UUP)]

Lord West of Spithead. No? I call the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Lord Rogan Excerpts

Wednesday 13th March 2019 Grand Committee

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

The successor to TRACES, IPAFFS, was launched on private beta on 14 February, for organisations with the greatest need. It will be operable for all third-country exports from the day we leave. We intend a separate system for imports from the EU, with IPAS coming into play in the summer, I think. I would not like to give a precise date, but obviously we want this working effectively, and I will write to the noble Lord—

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Rogan) (UUP)]

My Lords, there is a Division in the Chamber. The Committee will adjourn for 10 minutes.

Agriculture: Regulation

Lord Rogan Excerpts

Tuesday 29th March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rogan]

My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, for initiating this timely debate. Agriculture is a devolved matter, but we are speaking about British agriculture, and I trust that a few words and examples from Ulster are germane to the wider debate. Although it has been many years since agriculture was a mainstay of the British economy, even in a rural region such as Northern Ireland it is still an important source of employment and wealth creation. Indeed, during the recent recession and ongoing economic turmoil, Northern Ireland's agri-food sector has been one of the few industries to continue to grow and prosper. It has grown and prospered despite the best efforts of regulators in Belfast, London and Brussels to smother it in red tape.

Ridding the sector of unnecessary and burdensome bureaucracy is, as we have discovered in Northern Ireland, no easy task. We do not need a bonfire of red tape; rather, we need to adopt that robust, age-old farming practice of slash and burn. Two years ago, after not inconsiderable effort, the Ulster Farmers Union welcomed a report from the Better Regulation Task Force, a creation of the Northern Ireland Assembly, which was apparently going to stop the pernicious spread of farm bureaucracy. In particular, there were concerns about burdens caused by farm inspections, the single farm payment scheme, the administrative stress induced by TB policies, and the stupefying complexity of guidance notes and terms and conditions issued to farmers for every scheme and regulation imaginable under the sun. What, you may wonder, happened to such laudable ambitions? What, indeed. One year later, the Ulster Farmers Union was bemoaning the abject absence of action by Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture. Despite having accepted nearly all the recommendations identified the year before, the department was making slow headway in actually removing any red tape. Indeed, the most tangible outcome appears to have been the creation of that great oxymoron of government, the working group, to consider further action.

Talk, as they say, is cheap, and farmers in Northern Ireland want action, not words. They had been promised that the administrative burden on farmers and agri-food businesses would reduce by 25 per cent by 2013, saving them upwards of £15 million in the process. I rather fear that they will have to wait somewhat longer. There is nothing sedate or comfortable about the fiercely competitive market in which farmers operate; we are all part of the global village, with every possible foodstuff available in and out of season. There is no fat in the industry and no capacity to carry unnecessary administrative burdens. I commend the noble Baroness for securing the debate and encourage those responsible for regulating to pause before putting pen to paper and to consider the anxiety and annoyance that they spread in farmhouses throughout the length and breadth of the British Isles.

Rural Communities: Prince’s Countryside Fund

Lord Rogan Excerpts

Thursday 7th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rogan]

My Lords, when I was growing up in rural County Down, I never envisaged that there would come a day when rural living would come to be thought of as something exotic and unusual; something, indeed, to be protected and nourished. But that is where we find ourselves today.

The post-war generation was brought up on the slogan “Dig for Victory”. We took it for granted in those days that self-sufficiency was the natural order of things. Seasonal vegetables were just that—seasonal, not air-freighted. Rural practicalities infused every aspect of society in Northern Ireland. People were very close to the land. There were few who could not name a close relative who lived on, and worked, the land.

I moved to suburbia many years ago and have no plans to join the recent trend for country living, but I have not forgotten my roots. Nor do I imagine that sentiment alone will save the countryside—it will not. However, practical support and a proper appreciation of how rural life has shaped the national character will. For those reasons, I am very keen to welcome the Prince's Countryside Fund.

Some people will ask: “What is the problem? We live in an urbanised, service-based economy linked to global trading patterns. The countryside is not going anywhere. There are more pressing things to concern ourselves with”. We should be concerned, though. How often have we seen today's complacency translate itself into tomorrow's failings?

Anyone who visits Northern Ireland cannot help but be impressed by the rural beauty of the Province. Agriculture and rural life still play a more dominant role in this part of the kingdom than elsewhere, and our countryside reflects that stewardship. However, all is not well in the countryside. Currently, 80 per cent of the land in Ulster is used for agriculture. More than one-third of our people are rural dwellers, compared to just one in five in the UK as a whole. Agriculture's gross value add to the local Northern Ireland economy stands at almost 2 per cent—four times the national average—and our agri-food sector has been one of the few success stories during the past few years of global economic turmoil.

Maintaining the fabric of rural life is more important to Northern Ireland than to other regions of the kingdom. However, if you scratch beneath the surface and look beyond the tidy fields and hedgerows of Antrim and Londonderry and the orchards of Armagh, there has been a massive change. The relative importance of agriculture to Northern Ireland's economy has halved in the past 15 years. The number of farms in the Province has fallen by a third since 1980 and the number of people working on farms has halved; yet the average farm size is still about half that of the average UK farm size.

Fewer of our farms have diversified into areas such as tourism or direct produce sales—a poor 6 per cent compared to 20 per cent in England; higher value organic farming is seven times less prevalent; and a massive 87 per cent of our farmers cite practical experience as their sole basis for farm management. Incomes in the wider rural community remain lower than in urban areas, full-time employment is more difficult to come by, and access to public services and affordable housing remains a challenge.

When the Prince of Wales launched the countryside fund, he stated:

“I for one want to keep our countryside a living, breathing, working place so that it is there for everyone to appreciate”.

I agree wholeheartedly. I, too, want everyone to enjoy the countryside. But I also want Northern Ireland to achieve more from farmland, which I believe is our single greatest national resource.

In the UK, we need to learn to appreciate the long-term strategic and environmental benefits of producing a greater proportion of our food supplies locally. In Northern Ireland, in particular, we need to look at ways to push agricultural production further up the value chain. Maximising the potential of our countryside is not just about amalgamating farms or dispatching farmers off to college to learn about the latest techniques. It is also about sustaining and supporting rural communities. It is about creating an environment where the sons and daughters of today's farmers can see a viable and profitable future from the land, and imagine a community in which they would like to stay and raise their own families. This touches on issues of housing, education, local retail services, a local post office—the list is endless.

For that reason, I commend the countryside fund and congratulate those in business who have committed financially to its operation. I also trust that the fund will go on to provide practical support throughout the kingdom; and, perhaps more importantly, to act as a pathfinder to devise and develop new programmes and projects that will be copied and that will help to inform government policy.