The Earl of Balfourasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made with the prior options reviews of the Scottish Office's Fisheries Research Sciences, the Forestry Commission Research Division, the Scottish Crop Research Institute, the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Scottish Office (The Earl of Lindsay)The Government have completed the prior options reviews of the Scottish Office's Fisheries Research Services and the Forestry Commission Research Division and have decided that each should become an Executive Agency, with an intended start date of 1st April 1997.
The prior options reviews of the Scottish Crop Research Institute and Macaulay Land Use Research Institute have also been completed. The Government are satisfied that the functions of these institutes are needed and that they should retain their separate existence. We have concluded that the possibility of a move of these institutes from the public sector to the private sector merits further consideration. This will therefore be the subject of further work led by the Prime Minister's adviser on efficiency, Sir Peter Levene.
In the light of the review of the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency, the Government have concluded that, as its functions have a particular relevance to Scotland, they should continue to be provided there, but that the possibility of closer alignment with other related establishments in Scotland supported by the Scottish Office should be considered. Further work on this will therefore also be carried out by the Scottish Office.