§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what financial assistance his Department has provided to the Long Ashton Research Station of the Institute of Arable Crops Research since 1997; and what this financial assistance is intended for. [132855]
§ Ms Quin[holding answer 27 July 2000]: The Department commissions research from the Institute of Arable Crops Research, of which Long Ashton Research Station forms part. The MAFF research funding at the Institute for the last three financial years was:
Year £000 1997–98 7,504 1998–99 7,046 1999–2000 6,062 In addition, in 1998–99 MAFF made £813,000 available to the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. This was to help the Council meet redundancy costs at Long Ashton and the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research due to changes in research priorities.