Research and Development (Hansard, 10 December 1984)

§ Mr. Jopling

My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales and I have decided to revise the arrangements for seeking the industry's views on fisheries research and development work undertaken by, or on behalf of, our Departments. The new arrangements will take the following form:

(i) Representative organisations will be invited to contribute towards the work of the review groups set up periodically by the Customer Group for Fisheries Research and Development to consider longer term research and development needs in particular sectors of activity (for example, marine fisheries, fish utilisation);
(ii) Industry will, where appropriate, be invited to participate in the regular progress meetings undertaken by working groups set up by the co-ordinator of fisheries research and development;
(iii) Existing day-to-day contacts between the industry and research laboratories will be maintained and where necessary strengthened.

In addition, it will of course remain open to those in particular sectors of the industry to indicate at any time outside the framework of these arrangements any views they may wish to put to Departments regarding their research and development needs, their views on the success or otherwise of the application of research findings, and their assessment of where existing knowledge could be used more effectively. The fisheries Departments will also be glad to consider wherever practicable undertaking individual commissions on a repayment basis along the lines currently being developed by the Torry research station in relation to fish utilisation research.

In the course of our review, my right hon. Friends and I took advice from the Fisheries Research and Development Board. The consensus of view within the board was that the varied structure of the fishing industry, and the diverse nature of much of the research and 329W development work carried out within this sector, do not lend themselves readily to the type of broad overview which the board was asked to undertake. In the light of this, we have decided that the board should be wound up. At the same time, we would wish to place on record our appreciation of the contribution made by the present board since its appointment in 1981.