§ Baroness Anelay of St Johnsasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Donoughue to the Baroness Mallalieu on 12 January (WA 181), what regional visits Lord Donoughue has undertaken since May 1997 which have been organised in order to replace the information-gathering role previously carried out by the advisory regional panels to the Ministry of Agriculture. [HL218]
117WA
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Donoughue)Since May 1997 I have made a total of nine regional visits specifically taking in farms and local businesses and I shall be undertaking a further one this week. In excess of 25 meetings have been included. These have afforded me considerable opportunity to discuss, with a large number of people and on an informal basis, a broad range of issues of concern in the rural community. As a further feature of my visits, I have also organised 11 meetings of a formal nature with representatives of a wide range of rural interests. These of course included farmers, tenant farmers and landowners, but also brought in environmentalists, agricultural workers' representatives, consumers, the retail sector, the banking sector, auctioneers and a number of others important in rural life. I am confident that my meetings, both formal and informal, continue to provide me with an excellent source of information about the concerns of all those who live and work in rural areas. I shall in future continue to use them as a regular means of consultation, giving a wider spread of rural contacts than was possible under the regional panels.