§ Mr. Gardnerasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what arrangements, other than the levy, she is prepared to consider for future financing of the Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry Industry Training Board.
§ Mr. HattersleyAs I made clear when I met representatives of the farmers' and workers' unions and the training board on 10th February, the Government has in recent months given serious consideration to a number of possible alternative ways of financing the Board. Two ways that we have considered and rejected are financing through the Annual Review or by deduction of levy from S.E.T. refunds. We are prepared to arrange, as soon as necessary legislation can be obtained, for the main part of the Board's work to be financed by deduction from fertiliser subsidy if this is more acceptable to the industry than training levy and commands their support. This proposal has been put to the organisations concerned. It is for them to indicate whether they wish to pursue it and to discuss with us detailed arrangements for financing the Board in this way.
This is the only alternative means to the levy for future financing of the Board under consideration. If representative organisations in the industry come forward with practical alternatives which are consistent with the general principles under which the Board must operate we shall, of course, consider them in the normal way. But as the Government has already rejected use of the Annual Review and the S.E.T. machinery, we do not envisage that there are other alternatives which are likely to be acceptable.