Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes (Cross-compliance) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2006

rose to move, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty praying that the regulations, laid before the House on 8 December, be annulled (SI 2006/3254) 5th Report from the Merits Committee.—(Baroness Byford.) The noble Baroness said: My Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper. The single payment cross-compliance instrument that we have before us upgrades the previous regulations. The key amendments that it makes are the designation of a competent control authority as an enforcement body for the new animal welfare standards; changes to the competent control authority designations for existing standards; and revisions to the requirements for the soil protection review. While we on this side of the House realise that we must comply with the regulations when they are set down, we have concerns about them. I know that the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, could not be here today and kindly expressed his regret. I have therefore given the noble Baroness, Lady Farrington, advance notice of the issues that I shall raise. I am grateful to other noble Lords who I hope will participate in this short but important debate. The changes proposed by the regulations have been looked at by the Merits Committee. It stated in its summary of instruments reported: "““These Regulations amend existing arrangements for securing cross-compliance by those receiving direct payments ""under the Common Agricultural Policy. We continue to be concerned that these arrangements may be unduly complex””." It stated that that was why the regulations have been drawn to the attention of the House. Paragraph 13 of the summary states that, "““the Regulations (‘the 2006 Regulations’) amend the Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes (Cross-compliance) (England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/3459: ‘the 2005 Regulations’), notably to designate a competent control authority (enforcement body) for the new animal welfare standards; to make changes to the competent control authority designations for existing standards; and to revise the requirements for the Soil Protection Review””." It goes on to describe this more fully inparagraph 14: "““In our report, we commented that the 2005 Regulations demonstrated the complexity of the arrangements (standards, conditions, rules etc.) which apply in these areas, and that they underlined the importance of providing clear and effective guidance to farmers required to comply with them””." So very clearly the committee recognises that previous ones were complex. We had hoped that perhaps, in looking forward, we would have some slight reduction in complexity. I understand that the 2007 cross-compliance handbook for England has been issued in three separate tranches which total a mammoth 140 pages. Will the Minister tell us how those 140 pages have ballooned from the original mere 13 lines regarding good agricultural and environment conditions that are specified in the appropriate European regulations? Certainly the noble Lord, Lord Bach, when Minister, recognised the need to keep the regulations to a proportionate number, and at that stage we were looking to simplify and reduce regulation whenever we could. But clearly, going from 13 lines to 140 pages begs the question as to what is happening. Will the Minister comment on the relative competent authorities? I appreciate the changes that have taken place since the Natural England Act was passed and that Natural England is now set up and will be the competent authority. The Environment Agency will have a greater inspection role, especially on water and soil. What surprised me was that, in addition to the Secretary of State, the Rural Payments Agency could make recommendations directly, with regard to this statutory instrument. With the record that the Rural Payments Agency has not enjoyed this year and still continues to try to put right, I wondered why it was included, given that we already have the Secretary of State, the Environment Agency and Natural England. While I am on that point, will the inspection person be one person to represent all bodies or will someone come to do inspections from the Environment Agency, the RPA and even Natural England? That would surely run counter to what we were trying to do in keeping things simple. Regulation 6 deals with the soil protection review. That part of the regulation has been rewritten and extended. I understand that it is now 70 per cent longer than the equivalent in the 2005 regulation. Some of that is due to better and more careful explanation and the removal of any ambiguity, but it makes it clear that the soil protection review is not just a paper exercise but a plan that the farmers must take on a regular basis. Further, in the last resort, it appears that the Secretary of State can require a farmer to manage land in a particular way. That is new and could result in an official telling a farmer that a particular field must not be ploughed or put down to grass at any specific time. If my memory serves me correctly, when we debated that point before with the noble Lord, Lord Bach, we looked at access through muddy gateways to get crops off the land. But that is a minor point. I return to one or two specific points. First, there is nothing in the regulations that would simplify cross-compliance or reduce its bureaucracy. I refer noble Lords to our debate on 10 January when the Minister said that the average reduction that it was hoped to achieve was 15 per cent of the paper work. Nearly a year on, has any of that been achieved? Secondly, perhaps the Minister could tell me how a farmer will lodge an appeal. I may have missed that point but I am not sure about it. I should be grateful to know what happens when there is a dispute about the actions of state officials. Thirdly, the measure states that an authorised person can remove anything, which presumably includes property and animals. If that is the case, what becomes of them in the mean time? I assume that the measure applies also to computer records. The amendments will result in greater responsibility being handed over to the Environment Agency. What check will Defra have on the Environment Agency or will it act in a totally free manner? Will the authorised person have any training, background or competence, or will they just be someone who is sent round to do the inspection? Under these regulations the Government will be able to rely on Natural England to carry out some of the spot checks for cross-compliance? Will an Environment Agency person also be involved or will a sole visit be made? When more modern methods of farm inspection were being considered, it was hoped that one visit would do for the whole range of tasks that a farmer had to undertake. It is equally important that the information gained from the various forms that farmers have to fill in is shared across all sections of Defra. I return to my concern that, in being so specific, the Government could, if they are not careful, be accused of micro-managing and imposing measures on farmers in an overbearing way. I accept that some things have to be stated and I do not dispute that, but the real worry is that the Government might want to micro-manage in such a way that they make practical farming that much more difficult. What happens when somebody fails to comply? Is time given to put matters right or is a failure certificate issued straight away? Is there a right of appeal? In principle, we do not oppose the thrust of the compliance regulations. But, as I said, to move from 13 lines to 140 pages of detailed regulation seems to me a little over the top, to put it in modern language. Can the Minister tell us how these regulations, which are obviously laid down by EU diktat, are being interpreted in other EU states? Moved, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty praying that the regulations, laid before the House on 8 December, be annulled (SI 2006/3254) 5th Report from the Merits Committee.—(Baroness Byford.)