§ Mr. Bodyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the names of the members now serving on the Priorities Board to advise him on future agricultural research; and whether he has so far received any advice from them.
§ Mrs. FennerThe members of the Priorities Board for Research and Development in Agriculture and Food are as follows:
- Mr. K. Durham, Chairman, Unilever plc (Chairman).
- Professor R. L. Bell, Chief Scientific Adviser and Director General of the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
- Mr. R. Halstead, CBE Chairman, Beecham Group plc.
- Professor Sir Hans Kornberg, FRS Professor of Biochemistry in the University of Cambridge and Master of Christ's College.
- Mr. J. S. Martin, CBE, Farmer, Cambridgeshire.
298 - Mr. J. E. Moffitt, CBE, Farmer, Northumberland.
- Dr. A. M. Raven, Scientific Adviser to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland.
- Sir Ralph Riley, FRS, Secretary and Deputy Chairman, Agricultural and Food Research Council.
The board's terms of reference are to advise the United Kingdom Agriculture Ministers and the chairman of the Agricultural and Food Research Council on priorities for research and development in agriculture and food and on the allocation of research and development Budgets.
We have not yet received advice from the board. It first met at the end of July and has been working on the methods which it will use to assess priorities between different sectors of research and development in agriculture and food. The substantial task of arriving at its first major set of recommendations on priorities and budget allocations will take several more months to complete and this work can be expected to occupy the Board's first year of office.
We expect to receive shortly the board's advice on matters relating to the future of the soil survey of England and Wales.