Small Farms and Family Businesses

Viscount Goschen Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Goschen (Con)]

My Lords, I remind the House of my interests in owning a small farm in Devon, not too far away from that of the noble Baroness, Lady Mallalieu, to whose speech I listened with great interest. I hope that her noble friend on the Front Bench listened with equal interest and took note of the very powerful arguments that she and other noble Lords have put forward today.

I start my remarks by paying tribute to my noble friend Lady Cumberlege, whose valedictory speech, to which I listened with such care, was so splendid. She really is an extraordinary person—an extraordinary Member of your Lordships’ House. She is kind, compassionate, committed and deeply knowledgeable—and great fun, if I may say so. Whenever I see my noble friend, I am taken back to 31 May 1992, the day when I made my maiden speech—from the very seat that the noble Lord, Lord Livermore, occupies at the moment—holding that Dispatch Box as a rather windy 25 or 26 year-old. My noble friend was kind enough to hand over the keys to the famous Community Care (Residential Accommodation) Bill, which she allowed me to take to Second Reading. I am deeply grateful to her for her trust in me and for all the guidance that she has given me since that time.

The House is full of experts on farming, and I am not one of them, but I have listened and learned a lot from the debate today. I will use my small allocation of time to look at the broader context of farming. It seems to me that a gulf has arisen between the regulators and the regulated, between government and the farmers, and perhaps between Defra and other arms of government. That is a regrettable situation. The industry needs to have confidence that the Government are knowledgeable, deeply understand the issues that farmers face, and are able to be their champion and make representations within the broader government effectively. That is not the case at the moment. In case the noble Lord on the Government Front Bench thinks that this is a party-political point, it really is not; it is a gulf that has grown up over a long period of time.

The farming industry is unique in its national strategic significance, but much of it is delivered by small, multigenerational family businesses. It is hugely capital intensive, as we have heard, but it produces very small returns. It is intertwined with national and international government policy, yet the farmers are also the instruments of delivering government environmental policy. Farmers take their role as stewards of the countryside incredibly seriously, but they need to understand what the Government’s agricultural policy is. To my mind, it is not clear. The weight with which food production is put right at the centre of that strategy is not clear. Farmers have to deal with a great deal of complexity in interacting with Defra, with perverse incentives not to grow food. It makes one wonder at the strength of the commitment at the centre to food production.

A great indication of the strength, confidence, wisdom and maturity of a Government is that they listen when powerful arguments are put to them. I hope that the Minister on the Government Front Bench will demonstrate that when he replies to the debate this afternoon.