§ Sir H. Studholmeasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, what are the functions of the persons be appoints to agricultural marketing boards, and what are the criteria by which he selects them.
§ Mr. Scott-HopkinsThe criteria for selection are set out in Section 2(1)(b) of the Second Schedule to the Agricultural Marketing Act 1958. The functions of the Ministers' members are to give the boards the benefit of their experience in fields other than farming and to keep before them the public interest as seen from other points of view. They are, however, expected to share in collective responsibility for the board's decisions; they do not report to Ministers in any way, nor are they instructed by them, and they are their own judges of where the public interest may lie.