Oral Answers to Questions
Ann Davies Excerpts(1 week ago)
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Mary Creagh
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind remarks. I met his colleague from DAERA at an inter-ministerial group in September. I am aware of the concerns in rural areas about fly-tipping, which blights swathes of our countryside. I am working with the National Farmers Union and others through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to promote good practice, including on private land. We know from the national waste crime survey that 86% of landowners and farmers have been affected by this terrible crime.
The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Daniel Zeichner)
The hon. Lady will know that there are many facets to food security, but the £5 billion budget settlement for the next two years sends an important message to food producers about the stability and continuity they can look forward to. Our work on supply chain fairness will add to that, and we will be making more announcements in the coming weeks and months.
Ann Davies
Today, the Chancellor is hailing the benefits of free trade in a plea to Donald Trump. However, any future trade deal with the United States will enable cheap food, such as hormone-treated beef, to flood our markets, which would be devastating for farmers and food security. Will the Secretary of State take this opportunity to rule out any trade deal that undermines our British farmers?
Daniel Zeichner
We have always been very clear that we will do nothing in trade deals that would undermine this country’s important standards.
Rural Affairs
Ann Davies Excerpts(1 week, 3 days ago)
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Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)
Agriculture and farming play a very important part in Welsh society, not just economically but culturally and socially. Farming families are custodians of the landscape and language in Wales, with a high proportion of them living and working in the Welsh-speaking heartlands. Agriculture is devolved, but trade deals are not, and neither are taxation and food security. Agriculture is integral to the Welsh economy, employing around 58,000 people. As the climate crisis leads to more food insecurity, supporting our farmers will be key to our future food security.
Despite the importance of farming and agriculture in Wales, this Labour Government have sought to undermine our farmers with the changes announced in the recent Budget. An effective 20% tax rate on assets over £1 million may seem reasonable on paper, but as we know, most farmers are asset rich and cash poor and would be unable to pay this tax. As I mentioned last week, the average wage for an upland farmer in Wales is £18,600.
About 30% of land in Wales is under some form of tenancy or let, with the majority being short term—of only a few years—under a farm business tenancy agreement. What is the Secretary of State doing to protect tenant farmers in Wales, who will be at the sharp end of this tax? The news regarding the changes in inheritance tax will be devastating to farmers, and the Government’s communication of it to the sector has been abysmal.
The election of Donald Trump in the USA has reopened speculation of a US-UK trade deal. The trade deal agreements we have had with Australia and New Zealand have undermined Welsh farmers with cheap imports, and we must not allow that to happen again. All Parliaments of the UK, including in Wales, should have a deciding say on any terms of a trade deal with America, particularly those that affect Welsh farmers. For example, the previous UK Government consulted to make the country of origin clearer on food labelling, so that customers could more easily buy British produce and support local farmers. Will the Secretary of State say what progress the new Government are making in that area, and will he consider going further by ensuring that “Welsh” and not just “British” labelling is included to help customers who wish to support Welsh farmers when they are shopping?
Budget: Implications for Farming Communities
Ann Davies Excerpts(2 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Daniel Zeichner
I also wish my fellow East Anglian MP, the right hon. Lady, good luck in the coming hours. The reason we can look forward to a successful and stable future for farmers across the east of England and the rest of the country is that we have absolutely committed to stability. The reason things have had to be different is that we found—I found this in my Department, just as fellow Ministers found it in their Departments—that the situation was far worse than we had been led to believe. We had to tackle that problem.
Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)
Diolch, Mr Llefarydd. As a tenant dairy farmer myself and chair of the Farmers’ Union of Wales Carmarthenshire, I perhaps understand this issue more than anybody else in the Chamber. The Government are trying to portray farming as an industry of super-wealthy landowners and that is simply not the case in Wales, let me tell them. Welsh upland farmers in mountainous and hilly areas have an average annual income of £18,600—yes, you heard correctly: £18,600. That is far below the national living wage for hours that are way beyond the average 40-hour week. What assessment has the Minister made of the impact of the changes to APR in Wales, where wages for farmers are so low?
Daniel Zeichner
The hon. Lady is absolutely right that farming is very tough right across the country and very difficult in Wales. It is a devolved issue, so I will not comment on specific schemes in Wales, but I point her back to the Treasury figures that show the number of people who made claims for APR. It is relatively few, and I would say it is probably relatively few in Wales.
Independent Water Commission
Ann Davies Excerpts(4 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Steve Reed
I thank my hon. Friend for her question. She is, of course, a well-known environmental campaigner who stands up for her constituents and for the many businesses, including tourism businesses, that are adversely affected by the appalling state of our waters. It is clear that regulation and governance have been inadequate for a long time. This is a reset moment, where we can finally strengthen those things and deliver the clean water that her constituents, mine and those of all Members across the House expect to see.
Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)
Diolch, Mr Llefarydd. Water is devolved, but we in Wales do not have the full range of powers needed to address this scandal. For example, the Senedd cannot regulate the transfer of water by private companies whose catchment area straddles the border, which of course includes the likes of Hafren Dyfrdwy. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the commission considers the full devolution of powers over water and sewage licensing to Wales to empower the Senedd to set higher targets?
Steve Reed
Diolch yn fawr. The commission is jointly set up by the UK Government and the Welsh Government, and it will report back to both. It will inform the actions that both Governments take subsequently, including looking at infrastructure and how we make catchment areas operate better, particularly when they cross borders, as so many do between England and Wales.
Farming and Food Security
Ann Davies Excerpts(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Steve Reed
The hon. Lady has made that point to me before, and I reassure her that, even at their most ambitious extent, solar farms would not cover more than 1% of agricultural land. For farmers, climate change is also a significant concern. The reason we are seeing such heavy rainfall is climate change: that is what is leading to the flooding and droughts that are damaging farmers. If we do not take action to transition to a clean energy economy, farmers will continue to suffer from things that none of us wish them to have to deal with.
Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)
As a dairy farmer and a tenant farmer, I perhaps have unique experience in this matter. Obviously I am Welsh as well, and I realise that agricultural policy is devolved to Wales. This issue involves the aftermath of Brexit. Under the EU common agricultural policy, Wales received around 9.5% of the total UK CAP budget, which was based on our rural lifestyle in Wales and farming criteria such as the size, number and nature of farms. If allocations are calculated using the Barnett formula and population figures instead, we would have only 5.6% of the total agricultural budget.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)
Order. Can I remind the hon. Lady that interventions need to be short?
Ann Davies
Sorry—I am very new and I apologise. Can the Secretary of State guarantee that Wales will not miss out on any increases in the UK funding settlement for agriculture and rural development due to the reduced allocation?
Steve Reed
I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention and can reassure her that I have had multiple conversations with the Welsh Deputy First Minister, who is also the Environment Minister in Wales, to ensure that those concerns are heard as we go through the spending review process. It is always difficult in the couple of weeks running up to the Budget, because I cannot give definitive answers, as she will understand, but that will become clear once the Chancellor has made her statement towards the end of the month. We will use the Government’s purchasing power to buy more British produce for our hospitals and prisons—again, putting money directly into the pockets of British farmers.
Crime was another issue that was running out of control under the Conservatives—and no wonder, after they took so many police off our streets. Crime in rural areas has skyrocketed by almost a third since 2011. Our new deal for farmers will see the first ever cross-Government rural crime strategy to crack down on antisocial behaviour, fly-tipping and GPS theft—issues that have repeatedly been raised with me by farmers and people living in rural communities.
Sheep Farming
Ann Davies Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)
I am a tenant farmer, so I am very aware of the issues that the hon. Member is bringing to the table, and I am delighted to support him. I agree with the hon. Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) that we are fortunate to have many excellent sheep farmers throughout Wales.
I will bring up two issues. The last Government, as we know, failed to pass much-needed legislation on sheep worrying. It is unclear what plans the new Labour Government have for tackling the problem. Does the hon. Member agree that it is important that the new UK Government commit to introduce legislation to tackle sheep worrying, which causes so much financial and mental hardship for farming families?
I also note that sheep farming in upland Wales has faced an unsustainable 33% decrease in income over the past year. We need to do everything we can, including tackling sheep worrying, so that our farms are as viable as they can be.
Joe Morris
The hon. Member makes a valid point, which takes me back to a conversation about rural crime that I had near Byrness in my constituency. A local farmer told me that when criminals came out, she had to wait 45 to 50 minutes for the police to arrive. I hope that the Government will look carefully at sheep worrying as part of a broader rural crime strategy and I look forward to the Minister’s answer on that.
On trade deals, we must look at the lack of basic oversight and scrutiny in our trade negotiation processes. I know that is not the Minister’s responsibility, but I hope that he will energetically lobby his colleagues at the Department for Business and Trade to make sure that decisions are made with the security of our farmers in mind.
I spoke to farmers who were consistently worried about rising input costs, with the rise in the cost of energy and the rate of inflation biting away at their takings. More than most, farmers have been hit by the chaos inflicted on the country by the mini-Budget and the previous 14 years. They saw their income drop because of the playing field being rigged in favour of producers from other countries who did not have to meet the same welfare and production standards. They also saw big business whittling away at small farmers and able to continually—
Torcuil Crichton (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Joe Morris) for securing this debate and herding us in.
As we are gathered here today, some 4,500 sheep and lambs will be sold at the community-owned and run Lewis & Harris Auction Mart in Steinish, which is outside Stornoway in my constituency of Na h-Eileanan an Iar. The sheep will end up with finishers across the UK, and represent the culmination of a year’s work for crofters in Lewis. They also represent the deep connection that we see here today between the Hebrides and Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland, which is probably best symbolised in this place by the Woolsack that the Lord Speaker sits on in the other House.
Wool and sheep are not worth as much as they used to be. I will not give you live market prices, but I know that with the main store lamb sales season in full swing prices are up. In Stornoway, prices were up by £11; in Dingwall, where Lewis lambs are sold, they were up by £6.85; and at Lochboisdale prices were up by £12. It is unfortunate that the corresponding lamb sale in Lochmaddy in North Uist has not gone ahead this year, but hopefully it may be restored. That shows the economic and cultural importance of sheep to my constituency and the Outer Hebrides.
Sheep have played and will continue to play a great role in keeping communities alive. I come from a crofting community. I grew up on a croft rearing and sheering sheep, sending them out to the moor to our common grazing land, and overwintering and feeding sheep. Ironically, the common grazing lands, which we no longer use so much for sheep, now house wind turbines that bring community profit to the tenant crofters in our area.
The crofting communities are in good shape, and they are in good shape because of sheep. Crofting is best described as small tenant farming, and it is the small tenant farmers who held together communities, towns, villages, language and culture across the whole north-west of Scotland and the islands. The backbone of crofting is, of course, sheep, but the sheep alone will not support us. The industry needs accessible and proportionate support to ensure its future.
A recent in-depth report highlighted the importance of crofting and agriculture to island economies, but it also revealed the extent of the decline in sheep farming in the Western Isles in the last 20 years. Sheep numbers in the Outer Hebrides have decreased by 52% in the last 20 years, down from nearly 300,000 to 143,000 in 2021.
Ann Davies
It is really interesting to hear from you when we are talking about crofting and tenant farmers. As other speakers have noted, when we are talking about access to land there is such an issue with farm business tenancies at the moment. The maximum term being offered is 10 years and the average can be as little as five to seven years.
Most tenant farmers work as well as keeping their holdings, as you will know, and over the long term, because of the incomes involved, that is unsustainable. We need an understanding and legislation that secures tenancies in the long term, offering our young farmers —we have talked about young farmers and the YFC movement—security when they start their farming careers. We do not have that at the moment with the current farm business tenancies, so we need to look at introducing legislation from this House.
Dr Rupa Huq (in the Chair)
Order. I appreciate that there are new Members present and not everyone may be aware of this, but I am being reminded by the Clerk that Members should not use the word “you”. “You” means me, because I am in the Chair. That is just a general reminder for all.