FOOD FROM BRITAIN: FUNDING (Hansard, 29 July 1988)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Baroness Trumpington)

In October 1985, my right honourable friend the then Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food announced that, in each of the three years 1988–89 to 1990–1991, the Government would contribute between£1.5 million and£2.5 million towards the marketing activities of Food From Britain (FFB), depending upon the amount of money provided by the food and agricultural industries. In addition, around£2 million per annum would be provide to finance FFB's co-operative work.

While FFB expect in 1988–89 to raise the£3 million necessary to trigger a government contribution of £1.5 million, the present arrangements have given rise to considerable uncertainties during the course of the year regarding the precise level of FFB's likely budget. This in turn has made it difficult to plan ahead.

The Government have, therefore, decided to make certain changes in the funding arrangements for 1989–90 and 1990–91. In each of these years, they will provide £3.5 million to meet FFB's establishment costs for both its marketing and co-operative work. In addition, they will make available up to£1 million, on the basis of£1 for every £3 contributed by industry in the previous year. As a result, FFB will know at the beginning of each of these financial years how much it can expect to receive from government during the next 12 months.

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The FFB Council will now be consisting how its strategy and organisation should be adapted in the light of these new arrangements. We will be looking to FFB to extract maximum value for money, and we will also be expecting industry to demonstrate its commitment by setting firm targets for its own financial contribution to FFB promotional activities in the two years concerned. My right honourable friend the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will be discussing this with industry leaders and the chairman of FFB. In the meantime, I hope that these changes will be seen as placing FFB on a more secure financial basis up to the end of the 1990–91 financial year.