§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
By what date and in what form they have asked the independent steering group running the GM public debate to present their conclusions as to public opinion on genetically modified crops to (a) the Government and (b) the public. [HL4145]
§ Lord WhittyThe independent steering board, which is managing the GM public debate at arm's length from government, will present its report on the outcome of the debate to Ministers by the end of September. The report will be written in readily understandable language and will be published on the debate website(www.gmnation.org.uk) together with a summary. Hard copies of the report will also be available on request.
§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
What evaluation procedures will be used to measure the public's response to the GM debate. [HL4146]
§ Lord WhittyFeedback forms were provided to organisers of meetings held as part of "GM Nation?" to allow each person at a meeting to complete a form and so communicate his or her views to the independent public debate steering board. The form was also available online through the debate website atwww.gmnation.org.uk. The board is currently analysing the completed forms and they will inform the board's report on the outcome of the debate, due to be submitted to Ministers in September.
In addition to the feedback forms, transcripts of the six regional launch meetings and some regional meetings are available on the debate website and are being fed into the debate report. The views of the public were also evaluated through reconvened focus groups, allowing more in-depth views to he recorded, and the results of these groups will also feed into the final report.