§ Mr. LivseyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many staff were made redundant from agricultural research stations in England and Wales in each year between 1980 and 1997; [42295]
(2) if he will list the agricultural research stations that were privatised in England and Wales in each year between 1980 and 1997; [42296]
(3) if he will list the agricultural research stations in England and Wales that were closed in each year between 1980 and 1997; what was the total number of closures and the location of each closed centre. [42294]
§ Mr. RookerADAS, the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service and formerly a "Next Steps" Agency of MAFF, was privatised on 1 April 1997. It now operates as ADAS Consulting Ltd. There have been no other privatisations of Ministry-owned agricultural research stations in the period specified. As part of the privatisation, laboratories and offices at Wolverhampton were sold to the new company. It also currently leases a number of research stations from MAFF, as set out in the table.
Research stations Arthur Rickwood Cambridgeshire Boxworth Cambridgeshire Bridgets Hampshire Brimstone Farm Oxfordshire Drayton (part only) Warwickshire Gleadethorpe Nottinghamshire High Mowthorpe Yorkshire Pwllpeiran Dyfed Redesdale Northumberland Rosemaund Hereford Terrington Norfolk The following Ministry-owned agricultural research stations were closed in the years noted:
Research stations Closed Great House Experimental Husbandry Farm, Rossendale, Lancs 1981 Rosewarne Experimental Horticulture Station, Camborne, Cornwall 1989 Lea Valley Experimental Horticulture Station, Hoddesdon, Herts 1989 Luddington Experimental Horticulture Station, Nr Stratford on Avon 1989 Liscombe Experimental Husbandry Farm, Nr Dulverton, Devon 1989 Brogdale Experimental Horticulture Station, Nr Faversham, Kent 1990 420W
Centres were closed and new ones opened as follows: Year Closed Opened Total 1980 24 Aberystwyth Bangor Barton Hall (Preston—moved from Liverpool) Cambridge Cardiff Carmarthen Gloucester Langford (Bristol)
Research stations Closed The Cattle Breeding Centre, Shinfield, Nr Reading, Berkshire 1991 Trawgoed Experimental Husbandry Farm, Nr Aberystwyth, Dyfed 1993 Note:
The Trawsgoed Experimental Husbandry Farm was sold to the then Agriculture and Food Research Council and is now part of the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research.
A number of laboratories, listed in the table, were closed during the period specified. In most cases the work was transferred to other facilities, with some minor research or analytical work continuing to a later date.
Research stations Closed Shardlow, Nottingham 1980 Bangor, North Wales 1985 Cardiff, Glamorgan 1985 Bristol 1988 Leeds 1993 Wye, Kent 1993 Starcross, Nr Exeter 1993 Reading 1995 Newcastle 1995 Cambridge 1995 Trawsgoed, Nr Aberystwyth 1995 I regret that records of the number of any individuals made redundant as a result of particular closures of former ADAS sites are no longer held by MAFF.