Speeches by Dewhirst.

“Do you have a good idea as to how much money you will need from the Treasury to deliver on these aims? Do you have the data to back that up to make a persuasive case?”

“Looking more widely at data, away from the schemes for a second, my previous professional experience was that while DEFRA collects a lot of data after the fact and produces a lot of detail about what is going on across food production more generally, forecasting is often lacking. The ability to recognise perhaps shocks…”

“I think the iterative approach to the programme design has had its advantages of being able to redesign the schemes with lower demand and accelerate those with higher demand. But it does mean it is ad hoc and planning is, therefore, difficult for farmers, given the Department regularly states that ELMs are crucial in d…”

“2. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the increase to employer national insurance contributions on social care.”

“The increase in employer national insurance contributions comes at a time when we simply cannot afford to lose any more provision from care providers. Age UK estimates that 2 million people aged 65 and over already have unmet care and support needs. What assessment has the Minister made of the potential increase in unm…”

“16. What steps he is taking to support veterans.”

“Will the Minister join me in congratulating East Riding of Yorkshire council on achieving the armed forces covenant employer recognition scheme gold award, and pay tribute to both the council leader Anne Handley and our armed forces champion Councillor Liam Dealtry for their roles in achieving that? Could he also tell …”

“There appears to be inconsistency between what Ministers are saying about the report by the National Energy System Operator and what the CEO of NESO told the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee last week. Can the Secretary of State answer this clearly: does the NESO report forecast higher or lower energy bills under…”

“T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.”

“One of the challenges is that the definition of a farm is something that the Government have failed to produce—we have had discussions internally about this—which is something that we are keen to understand because of course this is based on the fact that the Chancellor told us in the Budget speech this was about stopp…”

“Victoria, you alluded to the pebble in the pond and the impact; how money is taken out of the sector and then not spent on businesses. BPR also affects people who are not farmers: other businesses in the rural economy, the rural community. Do you want to share—very briefly, because we are about to go to PMQs—the impact…”

“Thank you all for coming in this morning. I would like to ask a question to each panellist, perhaps starting with David and moving along. Could each of you reflect on the Treasury’s figures which say that around 500 estates will be impacted each year and the fact that those figures are contradicted by DEFRA, another Go…”

“Victoria, you alluded to the pebble in the pond and the impact; how money is taken out of the sector and then not spent on businesses. BPR also affects people who are not farmers: other businesses in the rural economy, the rural community. Do you want to share—very briefly, because we are about to go to PMQs—the impact…”

“This is not putting words in your mouth, but my view is that there is therefore a concern that a wealthy individual who has bought a large house in the country and has two fields is caught in the Treasury figures as being unimpacted and they are calling them a farm; they are not a farm. Frankly, they have some ponies. …”

“On SEND funding, the East Riding of Yorkshire is the lowest funded local authority for SEND per pupil. Children in the Prime Minister’s constituency get three times more funding than children in mine, which is a travesty in itself. This policy will put even more strain on my local authority and the children who despera…”

“Thank you all for coming in this morning. I would like to ask a question to each panellist, perhaps starting with David and moving along. Could each of you reflect on the Treasury’s figures which say that around 500 estates will be impacted each year and the fact that those figures are contradicted by DEFRA, another Go…”

“One of the challenges is that the definition of a farm is something that the Government have failed to produce—we have had discussions internally about this—which is something that we are keen to understand because of course this is based on the fact that the Chancellor told us in the Budget speech this was about stopp…”

“This is not putting words in your mouth, but my view is that there is therefore a concern that a wealthy individual who has bought a large house in the country and has two fields is caught in the Treasury figures as being unimpacted and they are calling them a farm; they are not a farm. Frankly, they have some ponies. …”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. Farmers are of course price takers, not price setters, and they have always been under great pressure from the retail chain to keep their prices to a minimum, so that we can all enjoy cheaper food. That is a fact of life, and a very difficult challenge.”

“I share the frustration of my right hon. Friend shadow Secretary of State that the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs cannot be with us today. I wanted to offer him some sympathy, because I do not believe that either he or the farming Minister cooked up this terrible plan. It was thrust on them …”