Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Meeting date: Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Official Report 747KB pdf
Contents
- Attendance
- Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
- United Kingdom Subordinate Legislation
United Kingdom Subordinate Legislation
Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (Amendment) Order 2023
Our second item of business is consideration of a UK instrument, which must complete the affirmative procedure in the Scottish Parliament before the UK Parliament can consider it.
I make members aware that the instrument was considered by the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee yesterday and no points were raised.
I welcome back Gillian Martin, Minister for Energy and the Environment, and her officials: Caspian Richards, who is head of the policy and pesticide survey unit; and Emily Williams Boylston, who is a solicitor.
I invite the minister to make an opening statement.
It feels like I have never been away. [Laughter.]
Thank you for asking me to give evidence on the draft UK statutory instrument, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (Amendment) Order 2023. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board is a statutory levy board funded by farmers, growers and others in the supply chain. It provides services, advice and support to our world-class food and farming industry.
The AHDB comprises the four statutory levy-paying sectors that are currently included in the scope of the order, which are the cereal and oilseed industries in the UK, the milk and bovine dairy industry in Great Britain, the pig industry in England and the beef and sheep industry in England.
The amendment order is a UK-wide instrument, as has been said, to be made in the exercise of powers conferred by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 on the secretary of state, acting with the approval, for Scotland, of Scottish ministers.
The main purpose of the order is to deliver a set of modernising updates to the principal order, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board Order 2008, which will enable it to deliver operational and financial improvements.
A UK-wide consultation on the proposed amendments was launched on 4 December 2022 and closed on 28 February 2023. It was led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which contacted all stakeholders by email. It received 17 responses and the majority of respondents agreed with the proposals included in the instrument.
I will not outline all nine amendments, because you have them in front of you. I support the changes that the order makes to deliver those improvements and I am happy to take any questions.
As there are no questions from members, we move to formal consideration of the motion to approve the instrument. I invite the minister to move motion S6M-09530.
Motion moved,
That the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee recommends that the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (Amendment) Order 2023 be approved.—[Gillian Martin]
Motion agreed to.
Is the committee content to delegate authority to me to sign off a report on our deliberations on this affirmative SI?
Members indicated agreement.
We will aim to publish that as soon as possible today, to enable the instrument to be considered in the chamber before summer recess.
That completes consideration of the affirmative instrument. I thank the minister once again, and her officials, for attending the meeting.
Validating Alternative Methods for Salmonella Typing (Amendment) Regulations 2023
We move to consideration of a consent notification for a UK SI.
As members have no comments on the notification, are we content to agree with the Scottish Government’s decision to consent to the provisions that are set out in the notification being included in UK, rather than Scottish, subordinate legislation?
Members indicated agreement.
Windsor Framework (Retail Movement Scheme) Regulations 2023 (NID/011)
Windsor Framework (Plant Health) Regulations 2023 (NID/012)
Windsor Framework (Enforcement etc) Regulations 2023 (NID/013)
Windsor Framework (Retail Movement Scheme: Public Health, Marketing and Organic Product Standards and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2023 (NID/014)
Windsor Framework (Financial Assistance) (Marking of Retail Goods) Regulations 2023 (NID/015)
We move to consideration of five notifications for UK SIs implementing the Windsor framework. The notifications were received on Friday afternoon and it is regrettable that they were added to the agenda at the very last minute, so that members have not had much time to scrutinise all the implications of the UK legislation for devolved competence.
Before I invite comments from members, I would like to say that I think that it is vital that any letter that we send to confirm our decision should include a strong form of words about the lack of time for adequate parliamentary scrutiny of the instruments.
As there are no comments, are members content to agree with the Scottish Government’s decision to consent to the provisions that are set out in the notifications being included in UK, rather than Scottish, subordinate legislation?
Members indicated agreement.
That concludes the public part of our meeting.
11:46 Meeting continued in private until 11:59.