I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the UK Farm to Fork Summit which took place today. The Summit builds on the Government Food Strategy published in June 2022 which set out our vision for a prosperous agri-food sector that ensures a secure food supply, by considering how government and industry can continue to work together to deliver a growing and thriving food and drink sector. In the last year since the Food Strategy was published, farmers have continued to put food on our plates, despite global pressures due to the covid pandemic, illegal war in Ukraine and the worst outbreak of avian influenza in European history. The UK Farm to Fork Summit is the next step in growing a thriving food and drink sector, with the aim of seeing more British produce on supermarket shelves in the UK and around the world. At the Summit the Prime Minister set out a range of new measures to farmers and food producers, strengthen food security and grow the economy.
Supply chain fairness
We will protect the interests of farmers by making sure they get a fair price for their produce. We are already using new powers under the Agriculture Act to improve transparency and contracts in the UK pork and dairy markets. We are now announcing additional reviews into the horticulture and egg supply chains, in light of the impact of global challenges on these sectors in particular.
In addition, we have listened to feedback from the sector and we will not be merging the Groceries Code Adjudicator with the Competition and Markets Authority, in recognition of the importance of the Code and the Adjudicator in ensuring fairness in the UK food supply chain.
Innovation in the farming and food sectors
We will unlock the benefits of innovative technologies to strengthen our food security, cementing the UK’s leadership in this field. We will invest up to £30 million across the UK to drive forward the use of precision breeding technologies.
This will build on the £8 million already invested over the last five years and the passing of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act earlier this year. We will also create a new working group, bringing together plant breeders, food manufacturers and retailers, to get produce from farms to the shelves.
Energy security
The horticulture sector is worth £5 billion across the UK and the government will support the industry to boost production. We will improve future support for horticulture by replacing the retained EU Fruit and Vegetable Producer Organisation Scheme for England when it closes in 2026 with an expanded offer as part of our new farming schemes. Given the important role that Controlled Environment Horticulture (CEH), including glasshouses, plays in UK food production, the government will investigate what more can be done to support the sector. This will include assessing where sectors such as glasshouses struggle to provide the necessary data to qualify for current support the Energy Intensive Industries exemption scheme.
To increase the domestic horticulture production and extend the growing season, we will consider the unique needs of controlled environment horticulture, which includes glasshouses, in their development of industrial energy policies to allow this sector to benefit from decarbonisation and better access to renewables, including in the upcoming consultation on Phase 3 of the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund for England, Wales and NI in June.
We will also explore how we can increase the resource efficiency of the sector, and help to create a circular economy, by utilising industrial and power sector waste heat as a thermal source of energy for glasshouses and looking at options for co-location to improve energy efficiencies.
Labour and skills
To ensure that farmers have access to the labour they need and give certainty ahead of planting season, the number of seasonal workers available within the UK in 2024 will again be 45,000 (plus 2,000 for poultry), an uplift of 15,000 compared to what was available to businesses at the start of 2022, with the potential for a further 10,000 visas should the demand be proven.
Water security
Building on the Plan for Water announced last month, we will accelerate work in England on water supply infrastructure, make abstraction licences more flexible, create national and regional Water Resource Management Plans for agriculture and support farmer-led groups to identify local water resource schemes to support farmers with the access to water they need to be productive.
Cutting red tape
We will give farmers greater freedoms to make the best use of their existing agricultural buildings and support the wider rural economy, by launching a review of the planning barriers to farm diversification in England later this year.
Boosting exports
Finally, we will boost trade and export opportunities to get more British food on plates across the world, building on the £24 billion a year generated by our food and drink exports. Farmers’ interests will be put at the heart of trade policy through a new framework for trade negotiations, committing to protect the UK’s high food and welfare standards and prioritise new export opportunities. We will invest £2 million to boost our programme of global trade shows and missions, provide £1.6 million for the GREAT food and drink campaign, and introduce five additional agri-food and drink attaches. We will extend funding to promote seafood exports from within the UK to around the world with an extra £1 million between 2025 and 2028 and create a new bespoke £1 million programme to help dairy businesses, particularly SMEs, to seize export opportunities, particularly in the Asia pacific region.
Yours sincerely,
THE RT HON DR THÉRÈSE COFFEY