Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Thursday 6th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

The hon. Gentleman had only to consult his colleague on the Front Bench, the hon. Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies), to understand the basis of what we are seeking to achieve. A couple of weeks ago, those on the Labour Front Bench were wrongly accusing the Government of ignoring scientific advice. The hon. Gentleman is now telling us to ignore such advice but I am sorry, we are not prepared to do that. The establishment of marine conservation zones must be done properly and stand up in terms of evidence. In the full spirit of the 2009 Act, on which all parties agreed, we must have absolute clarity on what is meant by ecological coherence, and we will get there.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

2. What recent steps he has taken to ensure that farmers receive a fair price for milk.

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr David Heath)]

After months of hard work, not least by my predecessor, the right hon. Member for South East Cambridgeshire (Sir James Paice), the industry code of practice is now being translated into contracts. I am encouraged to hear of new contracts and pricing mechanisms that improve the transparency and fairness of milk prices for farmers. The Government will soon be consulting on our domestic implementation of the EU dairy package, enabling dairy farmers to form recognised producer organisations to further improve their bargaining power.

[Andrew Selous]

There has been a dairy herd of Holstein Friesians in Eggington, outside Leighton Buzzard, since 1933, but I was concerned to learn from the farmer in July that he is not confident that milk production can continue there, which would be an absolute tragedy. The farmer told me last night that he receives 30.5p per litre, but when I checked this morning, Tesco was selling milk for 86.3p per litre, which is 49p a pint. Is the Minister sure that farmers are getting a fair share, and what can we do to ensure they have a sustainable future?

[Mr Heath]

We need to do a lot of things to support the dairy industry, but I am optimistic. If we can make the voluntary code stick—I have no reason to suppose we cannot—it will go a very long way to improving the transparency of contracts, and, as the hon. Gentleman knows, the Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill is going through the House. The Department will do everything it can to maintain the profitability of producers and ensure that every part of the supply chain is fairly treated, including the retailer and the consumer.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Tony Baldry]

That was a loss for both the diocese of Southwark and General Synod, because my hon. Friend would have made a great addition. He makes a really important point: the Church of England is an episcopal-led Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury-designate and a number of bishops made powerful speeches in General Synod on why it was appropriate and right for there to be women bishops, and I hope that the broader Church will now listen to what the bishops are saying.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

7. What the policy of the Church is when there is a sustained fall in the number of weddings in a parish.

[The Second Church Estates Commissioner]

Church of England marriages increased by 4% in 2010. The increase coincided with a national project by the Church to promote and encourage church weddings and communicate new rights to be married in church where people and their families have a qualifying connection.

[Andrew Selous]

I am delighted to hear about the increase in 2010, but I wonder whether my hon. Friend is aware that the number of marriages in 2009 was the lowest since records began in 1900. In fact, the number of weddings has decreased in England and Wales from 426,000 in 1972 to 232,000. Some clergy do terribly well in increasing the number of marriages, only to see it fall back under their successors. Does my hon. Friend think that bishops could take a slightly closer interest in that, to try to encourage the good work done by some clergy?

[Sir Tony Baldry]

We should all take an interest in that. Everyone in the Church of England wants to attract more weddings in church. Weddings are an important part of Church life. We want to build awareness of the Church’s enthusiasm for marriage. Every member of the clergy would want to care for couples and support them once they have been married in church, and hopefully those couples will want to stick with the church afterwards.