Consultation Exercise (Hansard, 16 February 1999)

§ Mr. Yeo
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish the dates and venues of the meetings which he will be holding or attending which form part of his consultation exercise Towards a New Direction for UK Agriculture. [66904]

§ Mr. Nick Brown
Following the conference on Agenda 2000 CAP reform on 11 January, further consultation meetings are being arranged by MAFF Regional Service Centres. Details of these are being suitably publicised at local level.
702W

§ Mr. Yeo
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what date or dates the decision was taken to launch the consultation exercise, Towards a New Direction for UK Agriculture. [66908]

§ Mr. Nick Brown
I refer the hon. Member to my statement to the House on 16 November 1998,Official Report, columns 624–26, announcing a package of aid measures for livestock farmers. In the course of that statement I mentioned that the Government would be undertaking—in consultation with all interested parties—a thorough review of the rural economy and consulting widely on a range of issues over the coming months.

§ Mr. Yeo
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many responses his Department has received as part of the consultation exercise Towards a New Direction for UK Agriculture; and if he will publish them. [66905]

§ Mr. Nick Brown
Details of numbers of forms received in response to the consultation exercise will be published in due course, along with an analysis of their content. Unless the authors object, copies of letters (though not individual forms) will be placed in the Library of the House.

§ Mr. Yeo
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much the consultation exercise Towards a New Direction for UK Agriculture cost(a) to produce and (b) in postage. [66909]

§ Mr. Nick Brown
The costs for the consultation exercise "Towards a New Direction for UK Agriculture" were as follows:

(a) to produce—£41,000

(b) postage—£37,000.

§ Mr. Yeo
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what mechanisms have been devised(a) to collate and (b) to utilise the responses to the consultation exercise Towards a New Direction for UK Agriculture ahead of the deadline for the conclusion of Agenda 2000 negotiations. [66907]

§ Mr. Nick Brown
The exercise of handling the responses to the consultation exercise has begun and appropriate mechanisms for data input are being put in place. Regional meetings are being arranged in the next few weeks to highlight the issues at stake and further encourage informed comment. Responses received will be utilised to help ensure that informed decisions are made about future agricultural policy so as to take full account of UK farming interests, along with those of consumers and the environment.