What does the change in Government mean for us?

Elizabeth Truss, with her focus on boosting British-made food and its reputation across the world, has remained Secretary of State – good news for producers hoping to expand their horizons.

But how does the big picture look? We spoke to Michael Mack of FARMA and Meurig Raymond, president of the National Farmers Union to garner their take on the situation, and learn how Speciality Food readers will be affected.

Meurig Raymond, president of the NFU

We welcome the fact the election has delivered a stable government and we hope this will mean that crucial farming issues are dealt with rapidly from the outset.

The NFU and the farming industry share the government’s ambition of wanting to grow more, buy more and sell more British food at home and abroad. We want to see a robust plan put in place to reverse long-term declines in farming productivity and the nation’s self-sufficiency, increase the productive potential of farming, to stimulate investment, help farmers manage market volatility and ensure that the drive to increase British food production is at the heart of each government department.

We need a government that will champion British farming, give us the tools to invest to become more competitive, more efficient and carry that message to Europe. Farmers are up for the challenge, but we need the support and commitment of government to back our industry so we can meet the challenges of feeding a rising population. An NFU report estimated that UK self-sufficiency would slump to 53% of the nation’s needs by the mid-2040s if we stay at this rate of farm production – this is a worrying prospect.

Food and farming is vital to the UK economy providing 3.5 million jobs and worth £97 billion. The British public have made it clear that they want to buy more British food; 85% stated they want to see more of it on supermarket shelves, according to a YouGov survey.

Like this government, the NFU believes in a science-led approach to policy decisions. Access to new biotechnology, GM crops and pesticides will all ensure farmers have the tools to produce more food with less impact on the environment. Regulation remains a major block to growing competitiveness for most farm businesses and the NFU will work with Government to highlight where action can be taken to remove or streamline requirements, and recognise good practice. We will also continue to lobby for an extension of the grocery supply code so primary producers are protected from unfair trading practice wherever it happens.

Michael Mack, FARMA

With a new government in place and ministers taking their seats we can start to get a feel for how the new government may bring to life the Conservatives’ manifesto of aiming to help British farmers grow more, buy more and sell more British Food.

Liz Truss has remained the Secretary of State for DEFRA, thus ensuring that continuity for the department in dealing with the big issues in agriculture such as Bovine TB and the Basic Payment Scheme. Liz Truss’s symbolic use of the apple at the Tory Party Conference to show that her department will be working hard to enable the British farmer to take up the challenge of producing more and selling more is encouraging. However, we must not forget that DEFRA will be facing massive cuts and the influence of other government departments and the EU will have a far greater impact on farm retailing than DEFRA.

The top issues affecting farm shops are similar to most retail businesses; a secure and growing economy, access to high quality staff and a favourable tax regime.

The Conservatives’ track record on the economy and a continued drive to support enterprise will be well received by farm retailers. However, as we saw with the Scottish Referendum, the EU Referendum will be unsettling to the economy. With talk already suggesting that this may move to 2016 we can expect a few jitters in the economy. However with a number of actions already initiated or being taken forward any negative impacts from the referendum will be minimised.

Some of the key activities FARMA is watching closely are:
- Business Rates Review. While farms are exempt from Business Rates, diversified activity on farms is not and a review of the rates system could lead to a fairer assessment for shops located out of towns and cities and for smaller businesses
- The promise of a further 3,000,000 apprentices and an increase in childcare support will both provide positive boosts to enable businesses to attract staff
- Infrastructure improvements such as superfast broadband will also lead to improved communication and online retail opportunities for many shops
- A guarantee that there will be no increase in PAYE, NI and VAT will all help businesses to plan for the future

However it’s not all good news, as big cuts are coming across the board. With local councils and central departments all being affected we can expect to see the services on offer being cut and others seeing charges attached. Top of the list of concerns will be the introduction of charges for food hygiene inspections. These are coming in across the EU with some member countries already imposing a €1,000 charge this could be the sign of things to come.

Overall, the promises (if kept) by this government will be positive to farm retailers across Britain, but the impact of the cuts will be felt by all. Can they really achieve the long promised cuts in red tape?