I will try, but I might well run out of time. We need another debate, and following that decision, I suspect that we will have one on that matter in the near future. I will try to get to the issue. I want to draw on some of the points that have already been raised.
I seek assurance from the Minister that he will keep the voluntary agreement under extremely close scrutiny, that he will report back to Parliament on its operation with genuine urgency and that legislation is being kept as an option. I assume that he will be open—more open, in fact, than his predecessor—to the suggestion that the groceries code adjudicator should be given a few more teeth than the Government seemed willing to countenance formerly. In fact, I am confident that he will want to do an about-turn, because he is rightly an openly professed friend to good sense, to farmers, to a healthy and prosperous supply chain and, by default, to the position that is being expanded upon today. There is cross-party consensus; let me explain.
The new Minister, not without some background or expertise in the farming and food sector, including in dairy production, is on record as saying that he favours
“an ombudsman with teeth, who can deal with the iniquities of the food supply chain”—[Official Report, 20 January 2009; Vol. 486, c. 165WH.]
He said that the sooner that was established the better. We note the phrase “with teeth”, to which I will return in future debates.
Today, we particularly note the reference to the food supply chain. In 2009, the Minister said, with wisdom and foresight, that we need
“a sustainable price that allows our producers to get a return on their investment in milk”.—[Official Report, 18 June 2009; Vol. 494, c. 501.]
He also talked about
“a regulator who will be able to regulate the whole supply chain effectively, and ensure that the relationships are fair and transparent”.—[Official Report, 20 January 2009; Vol. 486, c. 165WH.]
That refers not to a limited part of the supply chain, such as a direct link between retailers and suppliers, but to the whole of it, which would include intermediaries such as milk processors. However, that is not what the Government propose in the Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill. Now that he is Minister in charge—the man with the levers of power who will stamp his own authority on the Department—I know that he will want to amend the Bill in line with the proposals.
I have run out of time. We will have to debate the matter again. I welcome the new Minister, and I hope that he can confirm that his imprint will now be on the proposals for the groceries code adjudicator.
5.12 pm