§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many Welsh farmers asked the Agricultural Development Advisory Service for advice in the year(a) before and (b) after fees were introduced.
§ Mr. RedwoodThis is a matter for the ADAS agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from J. M. Walsh to Mr. Elfyn Llwyd, dated 30 March 1994:
The Minister of State for Wales has asked me to reply to your Question on how many Welsh farmers asked the Agricultural Development Advisory Service for advice in the years (a) before and (b) after fees were introduced.Part (a) of your question refers to the ADAS financial year 1986–87 (1 April to 31 March). Up to and including this period ADAS did not keep records of how many Welsh farmers asked ADAS for advice.Part (b) of your question refers to the financial year 1987–88 during which ADAS first charged some of the beneficiaries of its services as a result of a policy decision to make ADAS more financially accountable.Management Information Systems were new and undeveloped at this time and information is therefore limited. I am only able to tell you that out of 13,000 full time farm holdings in Wales (source: 1993 Agricultural Census) ADAS issued approximately 7,000 invoices to Welsh customers.I would also estimate that there was no significant fall in customers after charging was introduced as our evidence indicates that charging for our consultancy services "added value" in the perception of some of our customers and certainly attracted a new type of farming customer to complement existing customers.