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1190255

registered interest
date	24/04/2020
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Agriculture: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to provide to support the people in the agricultural sector affected by market disruption during the covid-19 outbreak through a mechanism similar to the retail and hospitality grant scheme.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	39794
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/05/2020 answer text <p>The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF) is a specific fund that is run by local authorities and linked to business rates. Most farmers are exempt from business rates so the rationale and operation of this scheme is unsuitable for the farming sector.</p><p> </p><p>The department has been in close discussion with banks to ensure the farming sector has access to financial support to ease cashflow problems during this period, including through the HMG backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan (CBIL), and the Bounce Back Loan scheme, which was announced on 27 April, and is the latest step in a package of support measures announced by the Chancellor. The Government will provide lenders with a 100% guarantee on each loan, to give lenders the confidence they need to support small businesses. These loans will be from £2,000 up to £50,000, capped at 25% of firms’ turnover, and the Government will cover the first 12 months of interest payments and fees charged to the business by the lender. Almost all UK businesses will be eligible to apply for a loan under the scheme.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, we have temporarily relaxed certain elements of competition law to support the farming sector during this period. Legislation will be laid shortly to enable collaboration between dairy farmers and producers, supporting them to adapt to changes in the supply chain including decreased demand from the hospitality sector. The legislation will have retrospective effect.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 04/05/2020 16:15:39 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1190256

registered interest
date	24/04/2020
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Milk: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold urgent discussions with with key stakeholders in the diary industry on managing the milk supply chain.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	39795
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/05/2020 answer text <p>Defra is working very closely with both farmer and processor representatives through this period of disruption to manage the impact on the dairy supply chain of Covid-19 including holding a number of roundtable discussions with the sector. Farmers supplying milk to processors that sell into the food service sector have seen a significant reduction in demand and we have taken several steps to support those affected.</p><p>In order to support affected farmers, we have eased some elements of competition law to make it easier for processors to come together to maximise production and processing and storage efficiency until shops, restaurants and pubs are able to open again. This SI was laid before Parliament on 1 May and applies retrospectively from 1 April 2020. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board and Dairy UK have agreed to work with farmers and processors to help industry take advantage of these easements. The SI is available at the following link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/481/contents/made" target="_blank">http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/481/contents/made</a></p><p>The Government's Covid-19 Business Interruption Loans scheme is available to the dairy industry and where this is appropriate for this business, I urge farm businesses to access the loans that are available to support them in this difficult period. Defra has held urgent discussions with the major banks to ensure they understand that farmers, milk buyers and milk processors are eligible for this scheme and we are working to increase awareness across the dairy industry. HMT have also now announced the new Bounce Back Loan scheme which will apply to businesses operating in agriculture. This will ensure that the smallest businesses can access up to £50,000 loans. The Government will provide lenders with a 100% guarantee on each loan, to give lenders the confidence they need to support the smallest businesses in the country. We will also cover the first 12 months of interest payments and fees charged to the business by the lender.</p><p>The Government also took a number of early emergency steps to support dairy farmers and the wider sector. These included designating employees in the food sector as key workers and temporarily relaxing the normal rules on drivers' hours, enabling the sector to keep supply chains running, including deliveries from farm gate to processors.</p><p>The existing public intervention scheme for skimmed milk powder and butter continues to be available. This provides a floor price for dairy products, supporting the dairy industry to sell skimmed milk powder and butter into public intervention when the price they would receive on the open market falls below the intervention price. The European Commission has this week approved the opening of additional measures for private storage aid which UK processors will be able to access should they chose to.</p><p>We will continue to engage closely with farmer and processor representatives to ensure that we support them throughout this challenging period.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 05/05/2020 16:40:22 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1190316

registered interest
date	24/04/2020
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Food Poverty: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the ability of charity sector to meet the needs of people in food (a) poverty and (b) insecurity during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Cambridge
tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
uin	39677
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/05/2020 answer text <p>There are large numbers of charities across the country who are supporting vulnerable people, including those who cannot afford food as a consequence of Covid-19. Defra is working closely with these charities to estimate the supply of food to charities and demand for food from users of those charities.</p><p> </p><p>The food industry has pledged food and financial donations for charities to support vulnerable people's access to food by helping to fill the gap between supply and demand.</p><p> </p><p>On 3 April Defra launched a £3.25 million grant opportunity to help surplus food redistributors with infrastructure and associated support to help get more food to charities working on the front line in supporting vulnerable people in need. Wrap are delivering the grant opportunity for Defra and report as of 30 April £402,000 has been awarded to 46 charities pending final compliance checks, with further applications being assessed.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is working through our stakeholder forum of 43 charities, who provide services to vulnerable people, to identify what more needs to be done to ensure that people who are vulnerable have access to food during Covid-19.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 04/05/2020 17:29:43 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner