HC Deb 26 March 1990 vol 170 cc52-3W
Mr. Gill

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made towards establishing the Intervention Board as an executive agency; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Curry

I am pleased to announce that the Intervention Board will become an executive agency with effect from 1 April 1990.

The Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce was set up by the European Communities Act 1972. It is appointed by Agricultural Ministers to carry out this country's obligations under the common agricultural policy of the European Community. The board delegates its functions to the Government Department created by section 6 of the 1972 Act, and this is the new agency.

The agency's task is to administer the market regulation and production support measures of the guarantee section of the European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund. Its aim will be to operate them as economically, efficiently and effectively as possible. The board will oversee the way in which the agency exercises its responsibilities.

As a Government Department the Intervention Board has achieved a great deal since it was created in 1972. Establishing it as an agency will give it the impetus and additional financial and management tools to build on the good work achieved; to strengthen its performance; and to promote a more effective and efficient quality of service to its customers. The agency's efficiency will mainly be judged through indexes of unit cost and productivity. Additional performance measures relating to its objectives will be developed through its corporate and business plans. The financial targets for 1990–91 will be:

  1. (i.) to achieve annual cumulative efficiency gains on its running costs of 2 per cent.
  2. (ii.) to keep disallowance resulting from the agency's actions and falling on the Exchequer following the clearance of the 1988 EAGGF accounts to 0.5 per cent. of the vote 1 turnover; and
  3. (iii.) to keep non-financing losses on intervention stocks to 6.5 per cent of total intervention activity.

Mr. Guy Stapleton who has been the chief executive of the Intervention board as a Government Department since 1986, has been appointed chief executive of the agency. We wish him and his staff every success in their new role.

Copies of the framework document are being placed in the Library of the House.