HC Deb 19 June 1985 vol 81 cc126-7W
Mr. Donald Stewart

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the amount spent in each of the last five years on research and development and advisory services in agriculture.

Mr. Younger

The funding by my Department of research and development and advisory services in agriculture at the Scottish agricultural colleges and the Scottish agricultural research institutes is estimated as follows for each of the last five years:

Year R & D Advisory Services
£million £ million
1980–81 23.0 4.9
1981–82 26.0 6.1
1982–83 26.9 7.0
1983–84 27.7 7.2
1984–85 29.5 7.5

Mr. Donald Stewart

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many persons were employed in research and development and advisory services of the Department of Agriculture for Scotland in 1979; and how many he estimates will be employed when the reductions in funding have been implemented.

Mr. Younger

The number of staff employed at the eight Scottish agricultural research institutes at 1 October 1979 was 1,376. Because of the multi-disciplinary nature of the work at the three Scottish agricultural colleges, it is not possible to provide a breakdown of the number of staff employed on research and development and advisory work alone, but the total number of staff employed at 1 October 1979 was 1,267.

The number of staff likely to be employed in the institutes and colleges when the reductions in public funding announced in the public expenditure White Paper have been implemented will depend on a number of factors, including the level of private funding from the industry.