§ 3. Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps she is taking to improve the efficiency of her Department.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardThe Department publishes and reviews annually its targets and achievements.
§ Mr. ThurnhamYou, Madam Speaker, know how we in the north pride ourselves on our thrift, but will my right hon. Friend confirm the contribution made by MAFF 406 regional centres to the efficient running of her Department, and ensure the continued promotion of regional specialties such as Bolton's famous black puddings?
§ Mrs. ShephardI am reminded by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary that the black puddings are made by Jack Morris, but whoever makes them they are an excellent product of the north-west. I congratulate the north-west on its thrift and I reassure my hon. Friend that the regional service centre in the north-west is the mirror of the community that it serves.
§ Mr. AingerWhy is the Minister party to the bureaucratic nightmare of arable regionalisation in Wales in which, parish by parish, there is a differentiation—some would say a discrimination? Farmers in one parish may receive £191 in subsidy and farmers in the neighbouring parish, producing exactly the same tonnage of cereal per hectare, may receive £93. The Minister will recall that I wrote to her on 10 December asking why she has not yet explained to the farmers of Wales why she is rejecting the suggestion made, I understand, by the Secretary of State for Wales that England and Wales should be a single region with a single payment. I should like a reply.
§ Mrs. ShephardI am sorry to disappoint the hon. Gentleman, but the matter that he raises is one for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.