2 Core tasks
6. Since 2002, departmental select committees have
been asked to review their activity against the Liaison Committee's
'core tasks'. Table 2 summarises our work in relation to those
'core tasks' and the following sections provides a commentary
on some of our activities over the year.
Table 2: Liaison Committee 'core tasks' relevant to 2008-09 inquiries
| | Government and EU policy proposals
| Examination of emerging policies and of deficiencies
| Draft bills*
| Decisions and documents from Defra
| Expenditure of Defra and associated bodies
| Public Service Agreements
| Work of Defra's associated public bodies
| Major appointments
| Implementation of legislation and major policy initiatives
| Informing debates in the House
| Evidence from Ministers
|
| The English pig industry
| X
| X
| |
| |
| |
| X
| | X
|
| Flooding: the Government's response to Sir Michael Pitt's review
| | X
| | X
| X
| | X
| | X
| |
|
| Securing food supplies up to 2050: the challenges faced by the UK
| X
| X
| | X
| X
| | (X)
| |
| | X
|
| Draft Flood and Water Management Bill
| X
| X
| X
| X
| X
| (X)
| X
| |
| X
| X
|
| Energy efficiency and fuel poverty
| X
| X
| | X
| X
| (X)
| X
| | X
| | X
|
| Ofwat Price Review 2009
| X
| X
| | X
| X
| | X
| | X
| | X
|
| Defra's Departmental Report 2009
| | (X)
| | X
| X
| X
| X
| |
| |
|
| Waste Strategy for England 2007
| X
| X
| | X
| X
| | X
| | X
| | X
|
| Dairy Farmers of Britain
| (X)
| X
| | (X)
| |
| |
| |
| X
|
x = the work of the
Committee on this inquiry fulfils the criterion
(x) = the work of
the Committee on this inquiry is relevant to the criterion
* = only applicable for Draft Flood and Water Management
Bill
Subjects in the shaded area relate to inquiries on
which the Committee has not yet reported.
Government and EU policy proposals
7. Within Whitehall, Defra is possibly the Department
most affected by policy and regulation emanating from the European
Union. Several of our inquiries have touched on EU policy, including:
the Waste Strategy for England 2007; the Ofwat Price Review 2009;
Securing Food Supplies up to 2050; the English Pig Industry; and
the Draft Flood and Water Management Bill.
8. Our report into the English Pig Industry focused
on support for the sector and the factors affecting the sector.
We were told that one of the main reasons for the high cost of
production in the UK pig industry was the implementation of new
welfare standards for the housing of pigs in 1999. However, we
found that pig production in the UK could be more efficient. Among
other things, we recommended clearer labelling to allow consumers
to make accurately informed decisions about buying UK-produced
pig meat products that comply with higher welfare standards.
9. Additionally, we recommended the establishment
of an English Pig Sector Task Force to tackle issues such as labelling,
carcase balance, productivity and efficiency facing the entire
supply chain. We are pleased that this was one of the recommendations
accepted by the Department.
Examination of emerging policies
and of deficiencies
10. Our inquiry into Securing Food Supplies up to
2050 was a response to the projected global food requirements
announced by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the
Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
at the FAO's World Food Security conference in June 2008, which
was attended by our Chairman. At the time of the UN conference,
Governments around the world were focusing on the issue of food
security—not least because of the dramatic rise in food
and commodity prices. Our report was wide-ranging and helped frame
the debate already taking place within Government.
11. In noting that the Government was making some
progress on developing its food security policies, we extended
a cautious welcome to the establishment of several new groups
working in this policy area, including the Food Strategy Task
Force and the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Food. However, we recommended
that they should be more transparent about their activities. Since
the publication of our report the Government has published its
food security assessment and held public consultations on the
future of the UK food system and the development of indicators
for a sustainable food system. Defra's Vision and Strategy for
Food is expected to be published early in 2010.
12. We made several recommendations in our Securing
Food Supplies up to 2050 report that related to research and development—an
area upon which we considered that the UK should focus in order
to contribute to the challenges ahead, both nationally and globally.
We continue to have a close interest in Defra's science capabilities
and while not conducting a formal inquiry into the issue, we have
held several private meetings, undertaken visits and maintained
a correspondence with the Department on science issues.
13. Whilst Defra had the policy responsibility for
Energy Efficiency and Fuel Poverty, we undertook an inquiry to
assess the adequacy of the Government's response to rising fuel
prices and fuel poverty levels. However, as we noted in last year's
Work of the Committee report, part of the way through the Energy
Efficiency and Fuel Poverty inquiry, before we had taken oral
evidence, the Government announced the establishment of a new
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), with responsibility
for energy efficiency and fuel poverty. We therefore published
the written evidence that we had received with a request that
the future committee scrutinising the new department take forward
an inquiry into this issue urgently. However, following the announcement
of the timescale for the establishment of the new committee, we
decided that it would be better for us to continue with the inquiry
in order to build quickly on the work we had already undertaken.
14. Our report on Energy Efficiency and Fuel Poverty
made recommendations about improving the co-ordination and delivery
of energy efficiency programmes and suggested methods to increase
assistance to those struggling to pay fuel bills, including extending
Winter Fuel Payments to fuel poor households containing, for example,
disabled people or those who have disproportionately high personal
energy needs. The Chairman on behalf of the Committee talked about
this work to the Grant Aided Installers Network Annual Conference.
The Government's response rejected our proposal on Winter Fuel
Payments, referring to measures such as Disability Living Allowance
already in place to target financial help to disabled people.
The Government's response noted that changes to publicly-funded
energy efficiency schemes were in hand, but did not accept our
argument for a comprehensive, area-based programme. Given the
publication of statistics indicating the continued growth in fuel
poverty levels, we urge the Energy and Climate Change Committee
to continue to address this important issue.
Draft Bills
15. On 21 April 2009, Defra published a draft Flood
and Water Management Bill for England and Wales in a document
that also touched on other water-related issues. We had previously
indicated to the Leader of the House of Commons our intention
to conduct pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill and accordingly
announced our inquiry on the day the draft Bill was published.
This inquiry ran in parallel with our examination of the Ofwat
Price Review 2009 proposals as there was a degree of common ground
between the two topics.
16. Our report on the draft Bill was published on
23 September 2009. It made recommendations on a range of issues
in the Bill and the consultation document that accompanied it.
We also commented on areas that we considered should have been
included in the legislation. The principal conclusion was that
the Government should not introduce a Bill of this complexity
in the 2009-2010 Parliament as there was unlikely to be sufficient
parliamentary time for it to pass through all its stages. Instead,
we considered that the Government should take the time available
to iron out the areas of concern to ourselves and others, as well
as to develop the policy in those areas where the consultation
was particularly light on detail.
17. In the event the Government announced a Flood
and Water Management Bill in the Queen's Speech on 18 November
2009. That Bill has now been published and is very considerably
shorter than the draft Bill considered earlier in the year. This
measure is now before Parliament and does not include many of
the important policy areas that were considered during our inquiry,
such as the introduction of competition into the water industry.
Decisions and documents from Defra
18. In May 2007, the Government published its Waste
Strategy for England. In July of that year we announced our inquiry
into the strategy. In July 2009, having initially concluded the
oral evidence sessions, we reopened the inquiry to take further
evidence following the reports of exports of illegal waste to
Brazil. The additional evidence-taking is now reflected in our
conclusions.
19. On occasion, we undertake preliminary investigations
into a policy area and then determine that a full inquiry is not
appropriate. For example, in this Session we became concerned
about the funding for the Institute for Animal Health at Pirbright.
This facility is a world centre for dealing with animal diseases
such as Avian Influenza and Foot and Mouth Disease. We visited
the site in April and met senior staff and researchers. During
that visit we were impressed again by the standard of scientific
research, but we were concerned that the planned redevelopment
of the site appeared to have stalled. In July, the Government
announced an investment of more than £100 million to build
world-class facilities for research into animal health and welfare
at Pirbright. We welcome the Government's commitment to maintaining
the UK's science base; and we decided that an inquiry into the
Pirbright investment was not necessary for the time being.
Expenditure of Defra and associated
bodies
20. We undertake an annual scrutiny exercise in relation
to Defra's expenditure through regular correspondence and oral
evidence on the Department's Annual Report (DAR) from the Permanent
Secretary and other senior civil servants. In conducting the most
recent inquiry of the series, into the 2009 DAR, we decided to
look in more detail at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), the Department's
executive agency that makes payments to farmers and landowners
under the Common Agricultural Policy, in relation to the Single
Payment Scheme and other support schemes. Since the RPA was formed
in October 2001 it has struggled to perform its role efficiently
and to the satisfaction of the agricultural community. Our predecessors
first inquired into the agency in April 2003.
21. We took evidence on Defra's 2009 DAR at the very
end of the 2008-09 Session from the following Defra civil servants:
Dame Helen Ghosh, Permanent Secretary, Mr Mike Anderson, Director-General,
Strategy and Evidence Group, and Ms Anne Marie Millar, Director
of Finance. We held a further evidence session specifically on
the RPA with Dame Helen, Ms Katrina Williams, Director-General
of Food and Farming at Defra, and Mr Tony Cooper, Chief Executive
of the RPA in December 2009.
Public Service Agreements
22. Defra has a single Public Service Agreement (PSA)
under the current spending review —"PSA 28: Secure
a healthy natural environment for everyone's wellbeing, health
and prosperity, now and in the future." The Department's
2009 DAR describes the PSA as "not yet assessed".[1]
The Department retains three PSAs from the previous spending review,
two of which are subsumed into the current PSA 28 and one of which—PSA
9 "to improve the health and welfare of kept animals, and
protect society from the impact of animal diseases, through sharing
the management of risk with industry"—is assessed as
having been met. We looked specifically at PSAs and other performance
indicators in our inquiry into Defra's DAR. Our inquiry into the
2009 DAR is now being concluded.
23. PSA 9 from the previous spending review includes
a target to reduce the spread of Bovine TB within certain criteria.
We last reported on Bovine TB in July 2008. However, we have maintained
correspondence with Defra on the development of the disease's
eradication plan and related issues through the course of this
Session. We expect to return to this important issue before the
end of this Parliament.
Work of Defra's associated public
bodies
24. Defra's 'delivery landscape' accommodates executive
agencies, non-departmental public bodies, public corporations
and a range of other organisations, including regional and local
authority representative bodies. In the 2008-09 Session we heard
evidence from the Environment Agency, the Fuel Poverty Advisory
Group, the Consumer Council for Water, and Natural England. We
received written evidence from several of Defra's public bodies,
such as the Energy Saving Trust and the Waste and Resources Action
Programme.
25. Flooding remained one of our main concerns during
this Session. We considered the issue in the greatest detail in
the course of our pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Flood
and Water Management Bill. We also took evidence, in February
2009, from Sir Michael Pitt, Chair of the "Learning Lessons
from the 2007 Floods" Review. That evidence session enabled
us to honour one of Sir Michael's recommendations in his review
that the EFRA Committee conduct an annual evidence session to
monitor the implementation of the Pitt review's recommendations.
26. The Environment Agency is the public body charged
with mitigating flood risk. The Agency's chairman, the Rt Hon
Lord Smith of Finsbury, gave evidence for our pre-legislative
scrutiny inquiry. The draft Bill set out considerable new powers
for the Environment Agency as well as charging it with developing
a national flood strategy. The Bill that has now been introduced
in the 2009-10 Session retains the Agency's central role in flood
defence and risk management.
Major appointments
27. We held our first pre-appointment hearing at
the start of the 2009-10 Session, on 25 November 2009, with Poul
Christensen, the Government's preferred candidate for the chair
of Natural England. At the time, he was the acting chair. The
process of evidence taking and producing the report for pre-appointment
hearings is prescribed to a degree by guidance from the Liaison
Committee. We followed this guidance in the conduct of our evidence
session and publication of the report. Reflecting on the hearing
we considered that there was room for improvement in the pre-appointment
process. We urge the Liaison Committee to consider this matter
further and have written to its Chairman setting out our concerns.
Implementation of legislation
and major policy initiatives
28. Every five years the water regulator, Ofwat,
undertakes a price review. We decided to conduct our inquiry into
the price review in parallel with our pre-legislative scrutiny
of the draft Flood and Water Management Bill because the two issues
were complementary; policy proposals in the draft Bill would have
a substantial impact on the regulated water industry over the
course of the review period. Two issues that we considered that
will have a particular impact on the water industry were Professor
Martin Cave's review of competition and Anna Walker's work on
household water charging. We took oral evidence from both Professor
Cave and Ms Walker.
29. Our report on the Ofwat price review set out
the importance of the regulation of the industry supporting a
sustainable water policy, particularly in the context of the UK
climate projections, the most recent of which were published during
our inquiry.
30. Affordability was another important theme in
our report and the recommendations from the Walker review were
relevant to that debate. We also concluded that the water companies'
ability to finance improvements to the country's water infrastructure
would be influenced by the legislative proposals the Government
settled upon in the Flood and Water Management Bill.
Informing debates in the House
31. The Committee's report from the 2007-08 Session
on the coastal access parts of the draft Marine and Coastal Access
Bill was noted on the Order Paper as being relevant to the debate
on the Report stage of the Bill's consideration in the Commons.
32. We anticipate that, when the Flood and Water
Management Bill is debated in the House of Commons, our pre-legislative
scrutiny report will be drawn to the attention of Members on the
Order Paper.
Evidence from Ministers
33. In 2008-09, we heard evidence from Defra ministers
on four occasions: twice from the Secretary of State, Rt Hon Hilary
Benn MP, once from the Minister of State, Jim Fitzpatrick MP,
and once from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Huw
Irranca-Davies MP. In addition, following the machinery of Government
changes that established DECC, we took evidence from Joan Ruddock
MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at DECC for our inquiry
into Energy Efficiency and Fuel Poverty.
1 Defra, Departmental Report 2009, p 148 Back
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