§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether all the planned reductions in public expenditure on agriculture in the United Kingdom that have been announced since May 1979, including cuts in national and EEC-funded capital grants schemes and cuts in expenditure on the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service, are listed in their White Papers on agriculture (Cmnds. 7746, 7841, 8175, 8494, 8789, 9143 and 9428), and if not, whether they will list those cuts not so listed.
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Belstead)Each of these White Papers shows the net effects of the Government's decisions on agricultural expenditure compared with the previous year's estimates, but it is not always possible to derive from them the effects of individual decisions. Recent White Papers do in general contain an analysis of all significant changes in expenditure, but earlier ones sometimes do not, and provision of a detailed analysis for these years would incur an undue administrative cost.
Parliament is of course advised of alterations in planned expenditure as they arise. The most recent decisions involving reductions in expenditure were announced on 12th November 1984 (capital grants and arterial drainage) and 22nd January 1985 (research, development and advisory services).