Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill [Lords]

Susan Elan Jones Excerpts

Monday 19th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Susan Elan Jones (Clwyd South) (Lab)]

I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Miss McIntosh), who, as ever, speaks with great authority and expertise in this area.

I welcome the Bill. The creation of the groceries code adjudicator is an important step, and it is vital that we get the best adjudicator possible. This issue is not about urban and rural communities; it is fundamentally about supporting producers who produce food in our rural areas. If we do not have that, there will be no locally grown food for markets in our country.

This Bill is about the creation of a level playing field for farmers, small retailers, supermarkets, and the hard-pressed consumer. I heard what the Minister—in consultation with the dog on her shelf—had to say about naming and shaming, and I understand some of the points she makes. However, she also suggested that under the groceries code adjudicator major retailers will probably end up paying different amounts of money proportionately and that she does not think that could incur the threat of legal action, so I find it difficult to understand why she has not considered the importance of fining. Let us have that power to fine now—not through order of the Secretary of State and following publication of guidance. We should listen to the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, which recommends that the power to fine should be stated in the Bill and the adjudicator should be given the power to escalate penalties if code breaches continue. Surely that is sensible. It is not saying that every breach will result in a fine, but that the adjudicator should be able to use that power if he or she considers it necessary.

A lady from Llangollen in my constituency made the point very well. She said that she shopped at supermarkets but also bought fresh produce and meat locally at shops and markets, and that she was increasingly concerned about issues relating to the developing world. This is not about purism or being against supermarkets and the like; it is about being aware that if we do not support food production in this country, more and more food producers will go out of business, which will ultimately lead to a rise in the cost of food for the consumer. That will mean the end of much of our home-grown food industry, which is why the strongest possible action is essential.

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn (Albert Owen), a pioneer who has championed this issue, because he knows how much it matters to the rural community in areas such as north Wales. Without family farms in north Wales we will see the end of rural communities. There would be a massive impact, too, on Welsh language and culture, which my hon. Friends the Members for Ynys Môn and for Llanelli (Nia Griffith), many other Members and I care about, and which are vital in this debate.

We have to think about the needs of our producers and consumers and, more widely, of local economies. I urge the Government to reconsider the issue of fining. It does not mean that if we have the carrot we cannot have the stick, or the other way round. We urge the Government to consider what groups such as farming unions, the Labour party, Select Committees and many others have said. The role of the adjudicator matters far beyond one type of constituency, one party and one part of the country. If we are to have serious, long-term, sustainable food production, we have to get this matter right. I urge the Government to listen to those diverse processes and include the right to fine in the Bill.