Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce

HC Deb 06 March 1986 vol 93 cc435-6

7. Mr. Fallon

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will relocate the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce.

Mr. Jopling

I am currently considering this question.

Mr. Fallon

Why have so many of these quangos been allowed to set up camp along the Thames Valley? Would it not be cheaper to move the board to the north of England and thereby provide much-needed jobs into the bargain?

Mr. Jopling

I rather guessed that my hon. Friend would ask that question. I assure him that if a move were proposed, the merits of alternative locations, including the north-east of England, would be considered.

Mr. Home Robertson

As the board's stocks of cereals doubled to 5.7 million tonnes and its stocks of beef increased to 85,000 tonnes last year, will the Minister reconsider the way in which those stocks are relocated? Why not give the British consumer the benefit of some of those stocks instead of handing them out cheaply to the Russians?

Mr. Jopling

The hon. Gentleman will know very well that I have for a long time expressed similar concern about the level of surplus stocks within the Community. However, that matter is not within the question, which is about relocating the intervention board.