§ Mr. Whiteheadasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish the report of the Advisory 133W Council for Agriculture and Horticulture on the contribution his Department could make towards reconciliation of national agricultural production with other national environmental objectives in the countryside; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John SilkinThe report on Agriculture and the Countryside by the Advisory Council for Agriculture and Horticulture in England and Wales is being published today and copies of the report are available in the Library of the House. I am grateful to Sir Nigel Strutt and the members of the council for their work.
The report provides a valuable contribution to a subject of topical interest and makes a number of important recommendations which will be considered carefully. Many of these are relevant to the Government's own review of countryside policy. But I should say that there is no intention of changing the allocation of ministerial responsibilities for the statutory countryside agencies.