1 Overview of the
Committee's work in 2005-06
Introduction
1. This report is a review of the Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs Committee's work between the General Election
in 2005 and the end of 2006. We set out the main developments
during the year in this introductory section, and then review
the Committee's performance in relation to the 'core tasks' for
select committees, as interpreted by the Liaison Committee.[1]
In the final section of our report we discuss the working methods
we have adopted in the 2005 Parliament and comment on our relationship
with Defra.
2. The Committee is charged with the responsibility
of examining the expenditure, administration and policy of Defra
and its associated public bodies. In carrying out our remit we
seek to strike a balance between undertaking detailed inquiries
into major policy issues, systematic examination of the Department's
discharge of its duties across the range of its activities, and
responding rapidly to important developments, including the publication
of key consultation documents and legislation in draft. The range
of subjects which we have tackled in 2005-06 reflects the wide
reach of Defra's remit and its responsibility for "delivering
the essentials of life".[2]
3. Our report on the reform of the EU sugar regime
informed the Government's position in European Council negotiations.
The inquiry into climate change: the role of bioenergy produced
a detailed assessment of Government policy in the area, and a
comprehensive survey of the current state of bioenergy technology
and the market for its development. Through our work on the Government's
proposals for the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, we
conducted a public outreach exercise which was valuable not only
to our inquiry but also to our relationship with the farming and
wider rural community. Our examination of deficiencies in the
implementation of the Single Farm Payment Scheme led us to seek,
and secure access to, documents not previously disclosed to select
committees. A full list of the subjects on which we took evidence
is set out in Table 1.
Table 1: Subjects covered by the Committee
in 2005-06
| Subject | Evidence sessions in 2005-06
| Sub-committee? |
Outcome |
| Work of Defra 2005 |
1 | No
| Evidence, November 2005
|
| Reform of the EU Sugar Regime
| 3 | No
| Report, November 2005; Government response, February 2006
|
| Avian influenza | 1
| No [an informal 'Observatory' was established to monitor developments in this area]
| Evidence, November 2005
|
| The Animal Welfare Bill
| 1 | No
| Report, December 2005 |
| Defra's Departmental Annual Report 2005
| 1 | No
| Report, December 2005; Government response, March 2005
|
| Rural Payments Agency |
9 (including 1 in Main Committee)
| Yes | Evidence (in Main Committee), Interim Report, January 2006; Evidence April 2006-December 2006)
|
| Bovine TB: badger culling
| 1 | No
| Report, March 2006 |
| The Environment Agency |
4 | No
| Report, May 2006; Government and Environment Agency responses, July 2006
|
| Work of Defra 2006 |
1 | No
| Evidence, July 2006 |
| Climate change: the role of bioenergy
| 6 | No
| Report, September 2006; Government Response, December 2006
|
| Defra's Departmental Report 2006 and budget
| 2 | No
| Evidence, July 2006, December 2006
|
| The UK Government's "Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy"
| 5 | No
| Evidence, June-October 2006
|
| Climate change: the "citizen's agenda"
| 6 | No
| Evidence, October 2006-
|
Visits
4. Two major areas of our work in 2005-06—climate change
and the future of the Common Agricultural Policy—related
to aspects of environmental and agricultural policy with significant
international implications. In undertaking overseas visits in
connection with these inquiries we took the principled step of
dividing into smaller groups, in order to cover more ground than
would otherwise have been possible, in the most cost-effective
manner. With the assistance of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
careful planning allowed us to supplement our programmes with
participation in events such as farm visits and an academic seminar.
We are most grateful to those who hosted the Committee during
our overseas visits.
5. Our visits within the UK have also played a significant
part in our work in 2005-06. We comment in more detail on our
visit to the Royal Agricultural Show at Stoneleigh below.[3]
The informal meetings we held during our visit to Leicester in
September served as a useful introduction to our programme of
oral evidence on climate change: the "citizen's agenda".
6. A full list of our visits in 2005-06 is set out
in Table 2.
Table 2: Visits by the Committee in 2005-06
| Location
| Date
| Purpose of visit
|
| Abbotts Hall Farm, Essex
| November 2005 | Committee away day[4]
|
| Rural Payments Agency, Reading
| December 2005 | Rapporteurs' visit to the RPA
|
| Environment Agency, London
| December 2005 | Inquiry into the Environment Agency
|
| Hong Kong | December 2005
| WTO Ministerial Conference (travel in a representative capacity)
|
| Brussels | January 2006
| Visit to the European Commission and European Parliament
|
| USA [Washington DC, San Francisco and Sacramento] and China [Beijing and Changchung]
| March 2006 | Inquiries into climate change: the role of bioenergy, the "citizen's agenda" and international climate change policy post-2012
|
| Poland and Romania; France and Germany
| June 2006 | Inquiry into the UK Government's "Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy"
|
| Vienna | June 2006
| Conference of EU Environment Committees (delegation)
|
| Royal Agricultural Show, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire [including a visit to the "Environmental vision"][5]
| July 2006 | Inquiry into the UK Government's "Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy"
|
| Helsinki | September 2006
| Asia-Europe Climate Challenge Dialogue (travel in a representative capacity)
|
| Leicester ["Eco House" and "Solar Streets" projects, and Eyres Monsell Primary School]
| September 2006 | Inquiry into climate change: the "citizen's agenda"
|
| Helsinki | October 2006
| Conference of EU Agriculture Committees (delegation)
|
Conferences and informal meetings
7. As set out in Table 2, in 2005-06 we sent delegations to two
conferences of EU parliamentarians. As part of Parliament's involvement
in the UK's Presidency of the EU in 2005 we co-hosted—with
House of Lords EU Sub-committee D—a conference of environment
and agriculture committees of EU national parliaments and the
European Parliament.
8. The conference made a valuable contribution to
the debate on climate change among European parliamentarians,
with speeches from Rt Hon Elliot Morley MP, the then Minister
for Climate Change and Environment, Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner
for Environment, and Lord Oxburgh, former Chairman of the UK Inter-Agency
Committee on the Environment and Global Change; and remarks from
Dr Kevin Anderson, Senior Research Fellow at the Tyndall Centre
for Climate Change Research, and Professor Jacqueline McGlade,
Executive Director of the European Environment Agency. We are
grateful to our counterparts in the Lords and to the Overseas
Office (European Section) in the House of Commons for working
with us to make the conference a success.
9. In November 2005 we met informally with the House
of Lords Science and Technology Committee, to hear from members
of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM). The
meeting gave us a clear idea of the progress CoRWM had made towards
an assessment of the options for managing radioactive waste in
the UK. We have also held informal meetings at Westminster with,
amongst others, a delegation from the Danish European Affairs
Committee, agriculture and environment ministers from New Zealand
and Australia, German parliamentarians with an interest in food
issues, and academics and environmental management professionals
from the Netherlands and India. [6]
1 following a Resolution of the House made on 14 May
2002. Back
2
Delivering the essentials of life: Defra's five year
strategy, Cm 6411, December 2004 Back
3
See paragraphs 45-47. Back
4
See paragraphs 42-44. Back
5
A "virtual farm" hosted by the Rural Development Service,
English Nature and the Countryside Agency, designed to display
the Government's vision of rural England since new environmental
grants were introduced. Back
6
For a full list of these informal meetings, see the Annex to
this Report. Back
|
