§ Mr. GillTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has received the results of the poll of growers conducted as part of the quinquennial review of the Apple and Pear Development Council.
§ Mr. Donald Thompson[pursuant to his reply of 8 March]: A poll held in February as part of the statutory review showed that a clear majority of apple and pear growers were opposed to the continuance of the APDC. At the request of growers' organisations, a second poll was held by them in May. It did not form part of the statutory review but was conducted in the same way and among the same growers. The poll showed that, whilst the majority of growers believed that the commercial functions of the APDC should in future be handled by the industry itself, they would support a new statutory council exercising a more limited range of functions, in particular those connected with R and D.
My noble Friend has therefore decided that the APDC should be wound up. At the same time, my noble Friend has decided a new statutory council should be set up principally to promote and finance R and D in apple and pear growing and to represent the views of growers on matters of importance to them. She will be holding further discussions with growers' representatives on the more detailed provisions and arrangements relating to this new Council. She intends that it should run for three years, after which it will be subject to statutory review. The approval of Parliament is required for these measures and a statutory instrument will be laid before both Houses once discussions with growers' representatives have been completed.
My noble Friend would like to express the Government's appreciation, which I am sure is shared by fruit growers themselves, to the chairman, Mr. Jasper Grinling, and his colleagues on the council for the unstinted services they have given to the industry.