Debate on the Address

My Lords, 2007 has been, and is still, a difficult year for many people. Rising interest rates have resulted in loss of income, council taxes and fuel prices are at an all time high and, partly as a result of changes in the weather pattern, the cost of food is going up. Today the Prime Minister launched a wide-ranging investigation into the security of the nation’s food supply. My goodness, where has he been for this past 10 years—and how many of us have been raising our concerns about the downward trend of the UK’s self-sufficiency in indigenous foods? We welcome the move away from Mrs Beckett’s well-remembered saying that there was actually no need for self-sufficiency and that it was neither necessary nor desirable. So what are the Government’s plans for the people of this country? I had hoped that this gracious Speech might be the one to free individuals from central control, enabling them to get on and improve their lives according to their own priorities, but I was disappointed. Moreover, some of the proposed Bills will bring greater regulatory burdens. I was disappointed, too, as other noble Lords have said, at the lack of the long-promised Marine Bill, and I should be grateful if the Minister would tell us how that draft will be moved forward. Today our debate concerns mainly the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Transport and Defra. Within that context, the Climate Change Bill will affect all government departments and will, I understand, start in this House very shortly. It is an important Bill, which I readily support, and it has already been through much consultation and scrutiny. The housing and planning bills are important, too, but while the Housing and Regeneration Bill gives local communities a greater say in the future growth of their housing plans, the Planning Reform Bill does exactly the opposite, giving the Government powers to push through projects sometimes even perhaps when there is a lack of local support. Again, I hope that we shall be reassured about consultation on those matters. On housing, I should like to refer to the Rural Housing Trust, which was formed some 30 years ago and has enabled affordable rural housing to be built in some 330 villages. Its success is due to its flexibility. Like the noble Lord, Lord Best, I should like to look further at the whole question of the rented sector, too. The Climate Change Bill, the Energy Bill and the Local Transport Bill, as the noble Lord, Lord Crickhowell, said earlier, are interlinked—and I, too, am dismayed that we are not discussing them at the same time. If we are to succeed in reducing C02 emissions and move away from wasting energy, our transport systems must be better used. I hope that when we come to debate that subject, the Minister will take into account the needs of rural areas, where there is often little or no public transport and where much daily living is dependent on the use of a car. I hope that the Energy Bill will address all aspects of provision of energy, from nuclear to wind and wave, from biofuels to microgeneration and from biomass to the Severn barrage. It must take this opportunity to consider them all, unlike the previous Energy Act, which dealt only with the decommissioning of nuclear plants and the construction of offshore wind farms. That was definitely a wasted opportunity. I hope, too, that the Bill will include measures to encourage energy efficiency by individuals, businesses and government departments. With 3 million new homes to be built, it is surely the right time to look at new technologies that provide for local needs and move away from the total reliance on central supply through the national grid. The Climate Change Bill overarches all departments. Some commentators have suggested that the Government’s target reduction of 60 per cent in carbon emissions is too low. Will the Minister tell us whether the recommendations brought forward by the new committee will be binding on Government, or will they just be purely advisory? As I said, 2007 has been a difficult year, but for livestock farmers it has been a disaster. Defra’s competence has been called to account and on many occasions the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, has come to the Dispatch Box to apologise for its shortcomings. The legacy of failure from the Rural Payments Agency is still with us, as are the consequences of the lack of any decision on the way forward in the control of bovine TB. The return of the dreaded foot and mouth following biosecurity lapses at Defra’s own regulated establishment at Pirbright completes an all-round appalling year. Only two days ago, we had the return of avian flu. No wonder livestock farmers’ confidence is at an all time low. Last week, the Chief Veterinary Officer announced that she will take early retirement. This is yet another gap to fill, at a time when Defra—which is a wider department than MAFF was—has only a part-time permanent secretary. I know that Defra is under a lot of pressure and I accept that the outbreak of blue-tongue was not caused by departmental failure. Clearly, however, leadership is a key component to success. With climate change and disease more likely to come to these shores than ever before, the need to have competent vets able to advise farmers locally on the ground and the Government at regional and national level has never been higher. The Government are full of targets and aspirations in their plans for us. I hope that in this new Session they will get round not only to talking about aspirations but to telling us of their delivery successes, too.