Dairy prices

Earlier this month, the Committee wrote to Rt Hon Liz Truss MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, seeking an urgent update on Defra’s actions to support the UK dairy industry. The Committee is today publishing her reply and seeking views on the adequacy of the Government’s actions to ensure our dairy farmers can continue to invest for the future at a time of volatile market prices.

• Letter from the Committee to the Secretary of State on Dairy prices
• Reply from Rt Hon Liz Truss MP, Secretary of State on Dairy Prices

Chair of the Committee, Miss Anne McIntosh MP, said

"Our Committee has taken a close interest in the dairy industry, publishing a report in 2011 with a series of recommendations for Government action.  The Secretary of State’s letter reports that significant action has been taken to implement changes since then, but we wish to investigate a number of areas where further action could be taken. The Committee is therefore inviting interested parties to let us have their views on the best way to safeguard the UK dairy industry during the current global price downturn."

Written submissions are invited on the following issues

• What impact has price volatility for milk and dairy products had on dairy farmers and what are the anticipated short, medium and long-term impacts on future dairy production in England?
• How effective have Government measures to support the dairy industry been in securing the long-term viability of dairy farming in England?
• What impact has the EU milk package under the Common Agricultural Policy had on dairy farming and what outcomes should the Government aim to secure from the EU?
• How effective have the EU measures been to address the impact of market surpluses on prices?
• How successful have voluntary approaches such as the Dairy Industry Code of Best Practice for Contractual Relations been in securing the long-term future of dairy farming?
• How effective is the regime established under the Groceries Code Adjudicator Act 2013 in ensuring fair and stable prices for milk producers?
• What should the processing organisations, farmers themselves and their farming representatives do to improve the prospects for dairy farmers in a volatile market?

Notes on submission of evidence

Written submissions for this inquiry should be submitted via the Dairy prices inquiry page on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website.  The inquiry page will accept submissions from early next week.

The deadline is Tuesday 18 November 2014. As a guideline submissions should state clearly who the submission is from e.g. 'Written evidence submitted by xxxx' and be no longer than 3000 words, please contact the Committee staff if you wish to discuss this.

Submissions must be a self-contained memorandum in Word or Rich Text Format (not pdfs). Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference, and the document should, if possible, include an executive summary.

Submissions should be original work, not previously published or circulated elsewhere. Once submitted, your submission becomes the property of the Committee and no public use should be made of it unless you have first obtained permission from the Clerk of the Committee. Please bear in mind that Committees are not able to investigate individual cases.

Publishing submissions

The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to publish the written evidence it receives, either by publishing it on the internet or by making it publicly available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure; the Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.

The personal information you supply will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 for the purposes of attributing the evidence you submit and contacting you as necessary in connection with its processing. The Clerk of the House of Commons is the data controller for the purposes of the Act.