The Agriculture Bill was introduced to the House of Commons on 16 January 2020. It gives the UK Government broad powers to provide support for agriculture in England, both for an initial agricultural transition period and for the longer term, and to extend similar powers to Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee has previously reported on the original LCM related to this Bill after its meeting of 13 May 2020 and reported on an earlier supplementary LCM after its meeting of 26 August 2020.

A supplementary Legislative Consent Memorandum (LCM) was submitted by the Scottish Government on 28 September 2020 as a consequence of further amendments being made to the UK Agriculture Bill in the UK Parliament as set out in the LCM. The supplementary LCM was referred to the Committee for consideration by the Parliamentary Bureau.

The associated motion from the Scottish Government is —

That the Parliament agrees that any provisions in the UK Agriculture Bill, introduced into the House of Commons on 16 January 2020, related to the effect of section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, and the provision of financial assistance in respect of continuing EU programmes, so far as these matters fall within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and alter the executive competence of the Scottish Ministers, be considered by the UK Parliament.

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee has not considered this LCM. The Parliament agreed a motion disapplying Rule 9B.3.6 removing the requirement for DPLR Committee consideration in this case.

The Committee took evidence on the LCM from the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism and his officials on 30 September 2020.

The Committee asked whether further LCMs on the UK Agriculture Bill were likely. The Cabinet Secretary acknowledged that this was a possibility. The Committee asked about the developments related to the red meat levy, covered in earlier LCMs on the Bill. The Scottish Government representatives explained that its priority was to implement the relevant provisions in the Bill and clarified aspects of that scheme.

Full details of the Committee's discussion of the LCM on 30 September 2020 can be viewed in the Official Report of its meeting (scheduled to be published on 5 October 2020).

After considering the supplementary LCM on the Agriculture Bill, the Committee agreed that it was content to recommend that the Parliament should agree the associated motion.