During my appearance before the Committee on Science and Technology in the House of Commons on 26 April, I gave a commitment to write on two issues. First, that I would provide information on current staffing levels of the secretariat which support the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE). This followed Professor John Beringer's concern about the adequacy of staffing levels. Secondly, that I would respond to English Nature's proposed research and comments about DETR's research programme.

  Staffing levels within departments are of course a matter for the department's accounting officer. The ACRE secretariat's principle role is to ensure that decisions (based on ACRE's advice) are taken on whether or not to grant approvals for deliberate releases within statutory timescales. They have been fully successful in this since they were established. Additionally they provide technical and administrative support to ACRE, sponsor research to underpin ACRE's work, and publish reports and guidance on behalf of ACRE. The secretariat's work is documented on DETR's internet site—it is an impressive record of achievement. More recently, particulary since the upsurge in media and parliamentary interest in genetically modified organisms, the secretariat has also contributed significantly to the policy work of the whole biotechnology unit within DETR. This has led to heavy demands on their times, and some delays in non-statutory business. The department has responded to this by taking on extra staff—some of whom will represent a permanent increase in the size of the unit.

  My department has an active research programme which supports and informs UK Government policy on the release of GMOs into the environment. The results of the research are published and used to assist DETR scientists and the experts on ACRE in the review of applications to release GMOs. It is of particular value in informing the environmental risk assessment process.

  The research programme complements GMO research programmes in other Government departments such as MAFF. Many of the research areas proposed by English Nature have been or are being covered by these research programmes. In particular, a major concern of English Nature—that the commercial cultivation of herbicide tolerant crops will have a detrimental effect on farmland biodiversity—is being addressed by the farm-scale evaluations. English Nature support this initiative. We welcome research proposals from all quarters to assist us in the development of our research programme. As assessors on ACRE, English Nature have every opportunity to contribute to the development of future research needs.

  It is important to emphasise that the scientific knowledge about the safety of GM crops is not restricted to Departmental-funded research programmes. There is a substantial amount of research being done in research institutes, Universities and industrial laboratories on issues relating either directly or indirectly to the risk assessment of genetically modified organisms. There is a large amount of information already published in scientific journals and this knowledge is brought to bear on each application to release a GMO before a decision is made.

21 May 1999