Agriculture Industry (Hansard, 19 March 1987)

§ 6. Mr. Kirkwood
asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what extra resources he intends to make available for socio-economic advice to the agriculture industry.

§ Mr. Jopling
The resources devoted to this activity are currently under consideration.

§ Mr. Kirkwood
I thank the Minister for that wonderful and illuminating reply, from which no one is any the wiser. May I ask him to acknowledge that there is a crucial role to be played by diversification within the agricultural sector? Will he also acknowledge that the 12 per cent. cut that we have seen recently in research and advice and the introduction of fees at £28 per hour plus VAT are substantial disincentives to diversification? Is it not time that he completed the consideration and devoted sensible resources to that important area of agriculture?

§ Mr. Jopling
We are extremely alert to the business of diversification. I am surprised that the hon. Gentleman asks that question, because it betrays the fact that he cannot have read what was in our recent policy document and in the ALURE document with regard to diversification, which has been warmly received. I would point out to him that general advice for farm business diversification will continue to be provided free of charge. It is detailed work on substantial projects such as, or instance, the preparation of building plans, that will in future attract charges.

§ Mr. Latham
Is my right hon. Friend aware that if I were looking for a list of priorities for helping farmers I would not start with socio-economic advice? Will he take it from me that the best help that we can give to farmers is to do something about the green pound as quickly as possible?

§ Mr. Jopling
We do not start with socio-economic advice. We start with a figure something in excess of £2 billion a year with which we support the agriculture industry. In these changing times, we have also made available other resources to deal with socio-structural matters, which I believe has been widely welcomed by the farming industry.

§ Mr. Randall
Is the Minister aware that if there is to be a major re-orientation of farm businesses, much more money will be needed than that recently announced by the Minister? Does he agree that this small-minded approach will make the Government even more unpopular with the farming community?

§ Mr. Jopling
This is a familiar response. When an Opposition are faced with a Government who have done something useful, they come along and all that they can think of to say is that it is not enough.

§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton
Will my right hon. Friend tell the House what advice— not socio-economic— and perhaps what resources can be made available to those parts of the country where dairy farmers will be forced out of existence because of the two lots of quotas that have been introduced—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The question is about socio-economic advice.

§ Mr. Winterton
I always accept your advice, Mr. Speaker. I shall rephrase my question. What socio-economic advice is being given by my right hon. Friend to those areas of the country where dairy farmers are being driven out of business because of the two lots of quotas that have been introduced to ensure that the land of Britain does not go back to the jungle and that the land, which has been used in the past for the production of food, can continue to be usefully put to the advantage of British people?

§ Mr. Jopling
I am sure my hon. Friend has read the document that we produced last week. He will see that we have suggested a whole range of alternative land usages. With regard to his first point about the dairy industry, I ask him to go back to the speech that I made in the House a short time ago when we had what was a contentious debate about milk charges. He will perhaps be good enough to look at the figures I used at that time, which demonstrated that since quotas were introduced dairy incomes have been increased and, in the last year for which I quoted figures, they were at the highest level they have been in the 1980s.