§ Mr. Beithasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the annual cost to public funds of the Home Grown Cereals Authority; and what is his policy towards its future.
§ Mr. BishopThe cost to public funds of the Home-Grown Cereals Authority in its 1975–76 accounting period was £285,957 of which £168,951 was a Government grant towards administration and research costs incurred in its function of improving the marketing of homegrown cereals and the balance was repayment of the costs of agency work undertaken for Government Departments—£113,022 from the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce and £3,983 from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The authority is doing a valuable job and I expect it to continue to do so in the future.