Groceries Code Adjudicator

Chris Davies Excerpts

Tuesday 17th November 2015 Westminster Hall

[Julian Sturdy]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. He is absolutely right that some of the voluntary codes are working well and are successful, while others need much more work. I would welcome the codes falling under the remit of the Groceries Code Adjudicator. As I will set out, there needs to be a much wider remit for the adjudicator, especially given that the Minister will review the remit in March 2016.

To go back to the history, the Groceries Code Adjudicator oversees a sector that is worth £177 billion and employs 3.8 million people—14% of the UK workforce or one in every seven jobs in the country. It is also our largest manufacturing sector, worth almost a fifth of our manufacturing output, which is more than our car and aerospace manufacturing sectors combined.

Supermarkets are huge wealth creators in this country, and I am sure that many hon. Members present will have first-hand experience of the community work that supermarkets do in their constituencies, so this is not about being anti-supermarket, as they play a huge role in our economy and society. However, in the light of the sheer scale of the grocery industry, it is about fairness. Given the scale of the industry, it might come as a surprise that the adjudicator is employed for only three days each week and is assisted by a team of just five people. I have always been a champion of lean and efficient public bodies, but the current resources do not appear appropriate for the challenges at hand.

[Chris Davies (Brecon and Radnorshire) (Con)]

May I echo the words of my friend the hon. Member for Ceredigion (Mr Williams)? I am delighted that my hon. Friend the Member for York Outer (Julian Sturdy)has brought this debate to Westminster Hall and highlighted this very important issue. While he is on the history, can we go back a little further? He will remember, as I am sure all hon. Members do, the great anticipation that there was for a Groceries Code Adjudicator. Various Governments had promised to create that role, but it never came about. When we brought it forward, there was great anticipation among the farmers and producers in my constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire that this organisation would have real teeth to deal with the situation with the supermarkets. As my hon. Friend rightly says, supermarkets are a very important part of—

[Mr James Gray (in the Chair)]

Order. Interventions must be brief.

[Chris Davies]

Yes, Mr Gray. The supermarkets are very important, but so is this adjudicator and so indeed are suppliers. When we look at the history, we see that we need to strengthen—

[Mr James Gray (in the Chair)]

Order. Interventions must be brief.

--- Later in debate ---

[Anna Soubry]

I will get a barrage now, having shot a few foxes.

[Chris Davies]

I thank the Minister for giving way. May I say, very briefly, that the collective discussion we have had and the collective request we have made are not about making a complaint against the adjudicator? It is just that her powers do not go far enough.

[Anna Soubry]

I will deal with that one as well, if I may, because I am reliably informed that the problem for the adjudicator is that, as has been identified, she has no power to address matters falling outside the code, for the following reasons. First, the Government cannot change the code. As hon. Members have made clear in their speeches about the history of the establishment of the Groceries Code Adjudicator, the code came about from the work of the Competition and Markets Authority, arising from an investigation that it conducted into competition. Forgive me for saying so, but once again the clue is in the name and the history: it was all about unfair competition. I must say to the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Stuart Blair Donaldson) that it was never about pricing. If there are to be changes to the code, they can be made only by the CMA.

Also, with great respect to everybody, the 2013 Act was passed by a previous Parliament; it was what Parliament decided. The Government could give the adjudicator additional statutory duties outside the code, but that would involve amending primary legislation and it would have to be debated in Parliament. There is nothing wrong with that, but just so everybody understands: new legislation would be needed.