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

My Lords, I am pleased to be able to offer some reflections on cross-compliance in the debate on the Motion to Annul proposed by the noble Baroness, Lady Byford. I remind your Lordships’ House of my interests as a Cheshire dairy farmer, a director of Dairy Farmers of Britain—a co-operative of some 3,000 dairy farmers in England and Wales—a past president of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers and a past chairman of Cheshire County CLA, as well as a member of both the NFU and the Country Land and Business Association. Traditionally, farmers have always been brought up with regard for good agricultural practice, appreciating that it is their responsibility to future generations to leave their farm in better heart than when they received it. In principle, there is no quibble. With the changes introduced by the reforms of the CAP, whereby farm payments are separated from production and linked to environmental benefits, cross-compliance has created a new base-line standard for agriculture to meet since January 2005. My understanding is that this statutory instrument does not introduce any new requirements. Rather, it establishes inspection and enforcement arrangements for the animal health and welfare statutory management requirements necessary for inclusion in cross-compliance. It makes improvements to inspection and enforcement arrangements. It makes clarifications and reflects changes made under domestic legislation. Importantly for farmers, it introduces new flexibilities for post-harvest management of land. As cross-compliance is linked to EU directives supporting the single farm payment regulations, I understand that, without these, arrangements are necessary to avoid the risk of disallowance. Can the Minister spell out the scope of that risk and what sort of money could potentially be at risk of disallowance, which would fall to HM Treasury to fund? Farmers generally have an acute sense of fairness and are sensitive to market distortions vis-à-vis the regulations on their competitors. As agriculture is a devolved matter, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have taken slightly different approaches to defining cross-compliance conditions, reflecting their particular environmental and agricultural characteristics. Will the Minister confirm that these differences are monitored and reviewed? Are mechanisms in place to correct any material differences? The Government are to be commended for their commitment to reducing the administrative burdens placed on farmers by their regulations. The Cross Compliance Handbook for England Supplement for 2007 has been welcomed by the industry, including the NFU and the CLA, as a tool to help to direct farmers to the information that is key to them. Setting out in one document the requirements in full—a one-stop shop—would seem an eminently sensible path to take. Will this handbook be subject to regular reviews within the industry, with the objective of improving its format, clarity and detail? Cross-compliance sets out the baseline in standards of good agricultural and environmental conditions for the protection and maintenance of soils, habitats and landscape features. Further enhancements are provided for through various schemes, such as entry-level stewardship, higher-level stewardship, hill farm allowance and so on. These schemes are undergoing integration and rationalisation. I understand that researchers from the University of Reading have concluded that the entry-level scheme would not deliver the targets for biodiversity or achieve a reversal in the decline in some species of farmland songbirds. Will my noble friend state whether this research was commissioned by Defra? Has it been critically appraised for its accuracy or is it merely a consultation submission commissioned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds? I know that there is general unease at some of the policies and approaches of the RSPB, and we must be mindful that the work of lobby groups does not result in unnecessary, burdensome additions to cross-compliance—so-called gold-plating. Will my noble friend say what the reporting structure is for the systematic review of the success of cross-compliance and environmental schemes in meeting their objectives? There are some excellent independent organisations, such as FWAG, that could undertake such reviews. I can report that, at Dairy Farmers of Britain, all suppliers are inspected annually to comply with farm assurance standards as a prerequisite of supply. These standards are maintained by all milk buyers to ensure that all products are safe, wholesome and produced according to good agricultural practice.