Queen’s Speech

Baroness Byford Excerpts

Monday 13th May 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Byford]

My Lords, the Government are committed to building up the economy, supporting growth in the private sector and the creation of more jobs and opportunities. This is welcome. I also very much welcome the maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Lane-Fox of Soho, because she spoke on the important topic of digital online and the growth of online services. Increasing the coverage of broadband and improving broadband speeds is but one way of achieving this goal. A survey of the Institute of Directors in January 2013 found that fixed-line broadband for urban businesses is generally good but that in rural areas growth was unsatisfactory. Its conclusions state that,

“broadband in rural areas is an urgent priority”.

The CLA estimates that 18% to 20% of rural areas cannot get broadband. This affects around 100,000 businesses, with a turnover of up to £60 billion, many of which are obviously farming or farm-related businesses. Rural broadband influences diversification and has enormous potential for on-farm increases. The noble Baroness stressed the importance of digital growth and online services. She commented that there should be a universal UK system and that it was a basic right for everyone.

I am grateful to the NFU for its briefing on broadband services. Defra’s whole-farm approach involves moving most or all of the farming-related services online and is run through Business Link. Without adequate broadband services many businesses are unable to progress and grow. The House of Lords Communications Committee report of July 2012 criticised the Government’s broadband strategy for failing to create a future- proof national network, concluding that the current programme risks leaving people and businesses in certain areas of the UK behind.

In his introduction to the debate on the report, my noble friend Lord Inglewood highlighted three key elements. First, broadband policy should be driven by the need to arrest and ultimately eliminate the digital divide. Secondly, it should be driven by a long-term but flexible view of the infrastructure’s future; the report referred to fibre-optic hubs that could bring open access into or within reach of every community. Thirdly, it should strive to reinforce the robustness and the resilience of the network as a whole.

I should have spoken in tomorrow’s debate, which obviously covers agriculture, but I cannot and so I have tried to pick three issues that are common to the debate today—namely, regulatory reform, broadband and local government. I move swiftly to regulatory reform.

My noble friend Lord Forsyth, who has just left his seat, said that he felt that there was no need to have in the gracious Speech a Bill to look at the effectiveness of the regulation of business. I am not sure that I agree with him but I share some of his thoughts. Within the agricultural sector, a farming regulation task force was set up in July 2010. It was asked to carry out an independent review of ways to reduce the regulatory burden on farming businesses. The report brought forward some 200 recommendations.

Defra responded in February 2012 and followed up with an implementation group chaired by Richard Macdonald. One year on, it has identified five priority issues. First, there should be a culture change, focusing on outcomes rather than on processes. Secondly, there should be a system of inspection and earned recognition allowing farmers to demonstrate best practice and earn recognition, which would reduce the number of inspections made on-farm. Thirdly, data-sharing and paperwork across Defra and its agencies should be improved. Fourthly, a system for overseeing government projects and developing ways to deliver simplified and integrated environmental regulatory messages should be followed. Fifthly, the electronic reporting of animal movements should be extended.

I have gone into some detail as the evidence reflects that change comes slowly. In its briefings, the NFU recognises that progress has been made but that it is slow, which results in frustration. Its plea is that the recommendations should be driven forward urgently, with the impact on the ground being the real test for delivery. I suspect that other noble Lords will have had similar experiences within their own range of businesses.

Finally, I turn to local government and particularly to planning. In a Written Statement last week from the Department for Communities and Local Government, it was stated that the secondary legislation will, among other things, allow underused and old-fashioned offices to be revamped as dwellings and existing unused agricultural buildings of 500 square metres or less to be used for new businesses, all without recourse to the planning system. As the Written Statement points out, the rural economy will be given a boost,

“while protecting the open countryside from development”.—[Official Report, Commons, 9/5/13; col. 5WS.]

The simplification of planning guidance and a careful relaxation of planning law will benefit both town and country—provided, that is, that the remaining rules are observed, and strictly enforced by local government where they are not.

It is known that in some areas the flouting of planning laws leads to both a marked decrease in community spirit and, in too many cases, to an increased risk for local inhabitants. An obvious risk is where a business is established in premises with poor access to a main road and where planning permission would have been turned down by the Highway Authority if it had known about it. Figures on serious road accidents have already shown a rising trend in rural areas.

A less obvious problem is that businesses without planning permission tend not to advertise their presence. Visitors in vehicles of all kinds use postcodes. Google focuses each postcode on one particular building and satellite navigation systems take drivers to what might be a private dwelling. I know of one dwelling occupied by a single, elderly lady which receives unwanted callers several times a day, from 7.30 am until 9.30 pm. The drivers are looking for second-hand car offers, for sale over the internet, from premises on the other side of the road. Clearly, that site should not have been approved, and it was not.

On 24 April, permission was granted in another place for a Bill requiring local authorities to impose substantial fines for the flouting of planning regulations. Such a move would not affect legitimate development. However, it would support the National Planning Policy Framework, which explicitly recognises that effective enforcement by local government is necessary for maintaining public confidence. Is the Minister confident that local authorities have the planning officers and the finance to make sure that this happens?

Finally, I turn briefly to direct farming issues. Farms and the farming industries provide a variety of different businesses within the whole. They produce food, look after the countryside, care for biodiversity and are involved and engaged in energy projects. One thing makes the farming community different from all other businesses: it is subject to the vagaries of the weather. Over the past year, snow, sunshine and drought followed by floods have obviously had a big impact. Farm incomes for 2012 show a bottom-line decrease of some 14%. UK agriculture is but part of the food industry, but it is an enormously important one that wants to play its part. It needs people with vocational training and appropriate skills. Science and technology are hugely important, while innovation is key to making our businesses grow. Farmers are responding to these issues and they are willing to take calculated risks. They look to diversity and growing new ideas outside their businesses.

I welcome many of the proposals in the gracious Speech, but the Government are supporting many other things beyond the Bills set out in it.