§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people have been employed in the farm and countryside service of the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RyderThe number of people employed in the farm and countryside service of the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service in the years requested is as follows:
Number 1987 1,903 1988 1,774 1989 1,785
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of man years spent by his advisers working in Agricultural Development Advisory Service for each of the last three years on the following:(a) free advice, (b) extensification work and (c) chargeable advice; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RyderThis information is in principle included in "Ministerial Information in MAFF" available in the Library of the House. However, publications to date have not distinguished between inputs to free and chargeable advice. It is anticipated such a distinction will be made in the 1989 version and the provisional figures for 1988–89 are 125 man years for free advice and 1,148 man years for chargeable advice. These figures exclude the activities of members of the State Veterinary Service who are not normally classified as "advisers".
An extensification scheme has not yet been introduced in the United Kingdom. Some ADAS manpower has been involved in advising policy makers on the preparation of a scheme, but it is not included in the figures and cannot be identified separately.