Speeches by Moore.

“That is why this debate is so important. I come back to the point that a financial assessment is crucial, because farming is like no other industry. An arable farmer relies on the cash coming into the business when they sell their crop. They are able to sell that crop only once it has been harvested. They may sell it o…”

“My right hon. Friend makes a very serious point, and I will develop my thinking on that later in my speech. If the Secretary of State has visited very few farms—just a handful—since the general election, how could he and the Government have come to the conclusion that there is no need for a financial impact assessment?…”

“Further to that point of order, Mr Twigg. I seek clarity on whether I can move a closure motion. I am seeking your guidance on that.”

“That is the crux of the issue. I am sure that all Members have been contacted by many of those in the environmental lobby who are deeply concerned that closing the SFI applications is having a detrimental impact not only on our many farming businesses, but on the environmental benefit for which the SFI schemes are desi…”

“I absolutely agree. That takes me back to a point I made to the farming Minister at DEFRA questions just last week. I told him that many farming businesses are deeply concerned about the collective impacts of the wider budgetary changes, and he said that I need to get out more and speak to more farming businesses. Just…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I was at the Yorkshire agricultural machinery show just a month or so ago, and I spoke to many farming businesses and many people associated with them, including machinery dealers and feed merchants. Many of them are saying to me that already their order books have dramatically reduc…”

“My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. The Government’s narrative is that food security is national security, but those are just warm words because they are not followed up at all by any policy setting an attractive agenda for our farming community. Indeed, every Government announcement seems to negatively impact it.”

“It comes back to both points that have been made, and perhaps the Minister will pick them up in his response. There is no absolute clarity about the deadlines or timelines for new announcements that will come forward to replace the sustainable farming incentive extended offer, which opened to all applicants only in Nov…”

“You might both want to comment on this. What do you feel will be the cost implications of changing the identification process?”

“I am keen to delve into the work of the commission. On the back of the strategy that was launched in January, what interactions or discussions have you had with the Home Office or the Government? Is there any indication of their response, in terms of going forward?”

“I want to get an understanding of how you feel cross-Government working is happening, on the basis of the Act coming in. Maybe I could start with you, Emma. How effective has cross-Government working been since the Act came into force, in your opinion?”

“Kathy, would you like to add anything?”

“Or beyond that, to issues such as social implications, but start with finance.”

“As you say, the strategy is rightly ambitious. I know you have had that interaction with the Home Office, but from the discussions that you have had so far, has it given any indication of reaching those ambitious goals that you have rightly set in the strategy?”

“Do you think the Government or the Home Office are asking the right questions, or seeking the right indications of direction through the consultation?”

“I would politely push back on that. My understanding is that local authorities do have the powers available to them throughout the planning process to challenge the planning application put before them and to have a robust level of negotiation with the developer, resulting in a section 106 obligation being firmly and r…”

“On the same theme, we understand that the Government will announce further indications of how they want to change the identification process before the summer recess. How confident are you that the consultation that the Government have undertaken will result in changes to the identification process that you would want …”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“The hon. Lady raises two points. I will take the second point on the director’s responsibility first. I absolutely agree that it should not be possible for a housing developer to move away from a scheme, leaving it unfinished, as happened in Long Lee, where Accent Housing effectively did not deliver, causing huge nuisa…”

“The common theme is always, quite rightly, wanting more collaboration across Government Departments because some Departments are a bit more siloed in their thinking. Just to push both of you, how do you feel that we can achieve that? Is there something where we need to go above and beyond to ensure that proper, true co…”