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Column 453
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 23 July 1991
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Departmental Reorganisation
Mr. Irvine : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has for reshaping his Ministry's organisation to make it more effective in meeting the requirement of its customers.
Mr. Gummer : The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food provides a range of services for our customers. Our regional administrative staff handle grant and subsidy work, licensing and other services for farmers ; animal health offices provide veterinary services ; and ADAS makes available advice and expertise to farmers and growers.
I have been considering how best to improve the delivery of our services, particularly in the light of the decision to establish ADAS as an executive agency from1 April 1992. As a result, we are establishing three service centre networks, each one dedicated to delivering the best possible quality of service.
1. MAFF service centres
There will be nine regional service centres, which will handle the Ministry's grant and subsidy work, licensing and various other services which are provided to farmers and growers. These centres will be located as follows :
Service centre location |Areas Covered
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bristol |Avon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire
Cambridge |Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex,
| Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk
Carlisle |Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland,
| Tyne and Wear
Crewe |Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater
| Manchester, Shropshire,
| Staffordshire
Nottingham |Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire,
| Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire
Northallerton |Cleveland, Durham, Humberside,
| Yorkshire (North, South and West)
Reading |Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East
| Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight,
| Kent, Greater London, Oxfordshire,
| Surrey, West Sussex
Worcester |Hereford and Worcester,
| Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, West
| Midlands
The 9th regional service centre will cover Cornwall and Devon. I have asked for further study of where this centre should be located. Meanwhile, the administrative staff will continue to be in Exeter and Truro, as at present.
It is proposed to put in place this new structure of regional service centres as from April of next year. The
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reorganisation of the offices will take rather longer than this, but will be put in effect as quickly as possible. Initially, all the centres will occupy existing offices, although in the case of Cambridge the possibility of a move to a location outside the city is being considered.In order to make sure that the needs of the regions covered by each of these new centres are properly reflected, I am intending to appoint nine regional panels of outside advisers, drawn from procedures, retailers and consumers. They will continue the work done by the five larger panels we have at present, and the wider consumer representation will complement the work of the consumer panel which I set up in 1989, and my meetings with consumer groups.
2. Animal Health
I have concluded that the continuation of efficient and effective services by the state veterinary service will be best achieved by retaining the present structure of 29 animal health offices and five regional centres. They will continue in their present locations. 3. Agricultural Development and Advisory Service
The Agricultural Development and Advisory Service plans to restructure the management of its main consultancy operations into 13 new business centres in England located at Bury St. Edmunds, Guildford, Huntingdon, Leeds, Lincoln, Maidstone, Newcastle, Oxford, Preston, Starcross (Devon), Taunton, Wolverhampton and Worcester. Proposals for office locations in Wales are being considered by ADAS and the Welsh Office. ADAS plans to retain its existing analytical and microbiology laboratories together with the network of experimental farms. ADAS also envisages that some consultancy staff will continue to be located in satellite offices. The precise number and location of these satellite offices is still under consideration, but most of the existing ADAS-locations will still be operating when ADAS becomes an executive agency in April 1992. Initially, at least, the new business centres will be located in existing Ministry offices, but in all cases ADAS will be reviewing its office accommodation. Any changes will be publicised by ADAS.
I am confident that this new tripartite organisation will enable the regional service centres, the animal health offices and ADAS to provide the high level of cost effective and efficient service which the Ministry's customers have a right to expect from us.
Veterinary Investigation Centres
Mr. Harris : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements he is making to maintain veterinary investigation service facilities for private veterinary surgeons and farmers in Cornwall.
Mr. Gummer : One of the considerations which led to the decision to close the Truro centre was the low level of local demand by private veterinary surgeons for chargeable services. I have now concluded, however, that a VI service unit should be retained at Truro in order to continue to provide statutory and chargeable post-mortem facilities and statutory and chargeable advisory visits. It will be staffed by a veterinary investigation officer and supporting staff. The position will be reviewed in two years' time in the light of the demand, in the meantime, for the services.
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Farm Woodland Scheme
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the future of the farm woodland scheme.
Mr. Gummer : The farm woodland scheme was introduced in October 1988 for a three-year trial period. That period will shortly expire and the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and I are undertaking a comprehensive review of the scheme. As a contribution to the review we commissioned three farm surveys from Robertson Gould Consultants on the silvicultural and the environmental aspects of the scheme in Great Britain, and from Wye college and the Scottish agricultural college, Aberdeen on the socio-economic aspects in England and Scotland respectively. These have now been published by the three organisations and copies are available from them. In addition we have received a number of submissions from organisations with a particular interest in the scheme. To give us time to analyse this information and to complete the review we have decided to continue to accept applications under the existing rules of the farm woodland scheme until31 March 1992. An announcement about the outcome of the review will be made in the autumn.
Finally, section 2(3) of the Farm Land and Rural Development Act 1988 requires that Ministers review the grants under the farm woodland scheme in Great Britain by 30 September 1991 and lay a report before Parliament. The Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and I have reviewed the annual payments provided under the scheme and have decided that they should remain unchanged. A report giving the background to our decision has been placed in the Library of the House.
Agricultural Prices
Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will describe the net effects on supply estimates of the European Community decision on agricultural prices for 1991-92.
Mr. Gummer : The net voted provision for class III vote 1 intervention board--executive agency (CAP market support) is £72.270 million. Gross provision is £1,895 million. It is estimated that changes to market conditions which had arisen after the supply estimate was published would have increased the net provision required to some £110 million and that the price settlement has reduced this requirement to nearly £81 million. Supplementary estimates will be presented as necessary to reflect changes in vote provision required, reflecting also any further changes in market conditions.
The effect of the price settlement arises mainly from reduced attractiveness of intervention for beef and dairy products, lowered rates of aid for oilseeds crushing and on protein plants and increased receipts because of the higher cereals co-responsibility levy. The devaluation of the green pound has increased sterling costs of CAP market support but has removed the MCAS on trade both within the community and with non-member states at current market exchange rates.
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Fish Products
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish a table showing the volume and value of imports and exports of fish-fingers in 1970, 1979, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and the current year to date.
Mr. Maclean : The value and volume of trade in deep-frozen raw fish fillets, coated with batter or breadcrumbs, are set out as follows. Comparable information is not available for 1970.
Volume Value
(thousand tonnes(£ million)
Period |Imports|Exports|Imports|Exports
------------------------------------------------
1979 |1.7 |4.4 |2.8 |7.0
1987 |2.4 |3.2 |6.4 |7.6
1988 |3.5 |4.8 |10.4 |10.8
1989 |3.9 |5.0 |11.0 |9.9
1990 |3.7 |5.0 |11.9 |11.7
<1>1991 |1.8 |2.3 |5.9 |4.9
<1>January to May 1991.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish a table showing the volume and value of imports and exports of fish products other than fish fingers in 1970, 1979, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and the current year to date.
Mr. Maclean : The value and volume of trade in fish products other than deep-frozen raw fish fillets, covered with batter or breadcrumbs, are set out in the table. Comparable information is not available for 1970.