§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the future of ADAS.
§ Mr. WaldegraveMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I are anxious to press ahead with the privatisation of ADAS as soon as possible. However, it is necessary to have regard to financial aspects, competition policy and the need for any privatised body to avoid unacceptable conflicts of interests. Accordingly, we have now instructed officials to look into the possibility of privatising part of the organisation while avoiding these potential problems. The expectation is that the privatised body will include the whole of the commercial consultancy and commercial research and development arms and some other work. Some functions presently located within ADAS would probably remain within the departments after privatisation. I will make a further statement in due course.