§ Mrs. Roeasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has yet reached a decision on the future funding of the Soil Survey of England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. JoplingI have considered carefully the arrangements for the future funding of the Soil Survey of England and Wales and had the benefit of advice from the priorities board for research and development in agriculture and food on this issue.
My Department has funded the work of the Soil Survey for 12 years at a total cost of approximately £12 million. A great deal of useful material has been gathered and the survey has drawn up and published in 1984 a series of soil maps on the scale of 1:250,000 covering the whole of England and Wales. With the completion of that programme, it was appropriate to review my Department's requirements and the future level of funding.
In accordance with the recommendations of the priorities board, I have decided that while there will be no change in the funding of the survey in 1985–86, the Ministry's commission should be set at half the present level in 1986–87. This would result in a commission of around £850,000 in that year. The priorities board considered that this tapered adjustment would give the Soil Survey and the Agriculture and Food Research Council an opportunity to explore the possibility of alternative sources of income for future years.