Draft Public Bodies (Abolition of Food from Britain) Order 2014
The Committee consisted of the following Members:
Ainsworth, Mr Bob (Coventry North East) (Lab)
Dowd, Jim (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)
† Eustice, George (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
† Heaton-Harris, Chris (Daventry) (Con)
† Hemming, John (Birmingham, Yardley) (LD)
† Irranca-Davies, Huw (Ogmore) (Lab)
† Jackson, Mr Stewart (Peterborough) (Con)
† Jenrick, Robert (Newark) (Con)
† Liddell-Grainger, Mr Ian (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)
† Love, Mr Andrew (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op)
Paisley, Ian (North Antrim) (DUP)
† Penrose, John (Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's Treasury)
† Phillipson, Bridget (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)
Ruane, Chris (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)
Sutcliffe, Mr Gerry (Bradford South) (Lab)
† Wheeler, Heather (South Derbyshire) (Con)
† Williams, Roger (Brecon and Radnorshire) (LD)
David Slater, Committee Clerk
† attended the Committee
Eleventh Delegated Legislation Committee
Monday 7 July 2014
[Mr Charles Walker in the Chair]
Draft Public Bodies (Abolition of Food from Britain) Order 2014
4.30 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice): I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Public Bodies (Abolition of Food from Britain) Order 2014.
Since concerns were expressed before the sitting started, I want to begin by making it clear that we are not proposing the abolition of the great food that we produce in Britain; we want to abolish the organisation named Food from Britain because it is effectively defunct. It was established under the Agricultural Marketing Act 1983, and its main role was to promote UK food and drink exports. In 2008, following a reduction in its grant aid by the previous Administration, the Food from Britain council took the decision that it should wind down its activities and cease operations by the end of March 2009. Hence, Food from Britain has not functioned for the past five years and exists only in legal name.
As part of their programme of public body reform, the Government have made a commitment to remove unnecessary bodies. The Public Bodies Act 2011 provides enabling legislation to carry out reform of public bodies, including the abolition of certain specified bodies listed in schedule 1 to that Act. Food from Britain is one of the bodies listed. Following the required public consultation under the 2011 Act, it is now proposed to repeal the legislation that provides for Food from Britain. No jobs will be lost as result of the abolition, and there will be modest savings for Government in no longer having to meet a legal obligation to produce annual reports and accounts for Food from Britain—despite having no activity to report, the cost of producing the reports is in the region of £3,000 per year.
I want to make it clear that the abolition of Food from Britain does not detract from the Government’s strong commitment to increasing exports of UK food and drink. In 2013, exports of food and drink reached £18.9 billion—an increase from £15.4 billion in 2008, which was Food from Britain’s final year of operation. DEFRA Ministers are working hard to champion British food and drink at key international trade shows, to remove barriers to trade and to open up new markets overseas.
Only last Thursday I attended the international food and drink summit in Liverpool, which was part of a 50-day festival for business launched by the Prime Minister to promote British exports. The Secretary of State visited China twice last year to fly the flag for UK produce and advance market access negotiations, and last week visited the USA to discuss opportunities in
the EU-US transatlantic trade and investment partnership. In February, I went to Dubai to promote UK food and drink at the Gulfood fair.It should be noted that UK Trade & Investment provides technical support for active food and drink exporters, offering a range of advice and assistance to exploit new markets—including funding to attend international trade fairs, organising international “meet the buyer” events, and running GREAT week events in priority markets worldwide—as well as seminars and one-to-one advice. In October 2013, DEFRA and UK Trade & Investment launched the international export plan, which outlines our goals and ambitions. Together, the Government and industry are aiming to add £500 million to the UK economy through assisting 1,000 UK food and drink companies with their international growth by October 2015.
In conclusion, there is strong support from Government to increase food and drink exports, and the abolition of Food from Britain will not affect that. Food from Britain is a UK body; I can confirm that devolved Ministers have given their agreement to its abolition. A consent motion was agreed in the Scottish Parliament on 12 June and in the Northern Ireland Assembly on 30 June. The National Assembly for Wales will debate a consent motion on 8 July. I hope that Members will understand why the Government have decided to introduce the draft order to abolish Food from Britain. I commend the draft order to the House.
4.34 pm
Huw Irranca-Davies (Ogmore) (Lab): It is a delight to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. I hope not to detain the Committee for too long.
First, I congratulate those who put together the brilliant explanatory memorandum. It is genuinely excellent and is written in very clear English. Paragraph 7.17 states:
“Essentially FFB is a defunct body which has not operated since 2009. It has no staff, premises, assets or liabilities. Its former functions are carried out by other Government departments and industry bodies.”
“FFB no longer exists as a functioning body and has not existed as a functioning body for almost five years. Essentially FFB is a defunct body; it has no staff, premises, assets or liabilities.”
I am reminded here of a comedy sketch that is currently being performed only a short way down the River Thames. FFB is a dead parrot. It is no more. It is deceased—I will not do the whole sketch.
The Minister has explained how FFB’s responsibilities have been taken on elsewhere, but I do have one question. The explanatory memorandum states that responsibility for discharge of any assets, liabilities, premises, staff and so on has now been passed to the Secretary of State. However, the memorandum also states that there are no assets, liabilities or staff, so I assume that that power will not be used. Apart from that point, we ought to put the matter to rest.
4.36 pm
George Eustice: It appears that there is consensus across the House that the draft order is correct. As the hon. Gentleman points out, Food from Britain has no responsibilities, assets or staff. When it was administratively
wound up in 2009, a settlement was made regarding staff pensions and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs took on a liability of £8 million to enable Food from Britain to buy an annuity to ensure that it could provide pensions to the staff who were made redundant. That was the only remaining liability. I have seen some of the reports of subsequent years and there were lots of zeros. It is a defunct and redundant body and I welcome the fact that we have had a chance to arrive at a consensus so quickly.