Rural Affairs Committee, 31 Oct 2000

Meeting date: Tuesday, October 31, 2000

Official Report 233KB pdf

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Agriculture Inquiry

The final item on our agenda—[Interruption.] There are two items numbered 6 on my agenda, which explains my confusion.

The next item on our agenda is the proposed agriculture inquiry. A draft research proposal has been circulated. Do members have any comments on the proposal? At this stage, we are seeking the committee's approval to progress the proposal.

The proposal is extremely worth while. We all know the dreadful state that the farming and agriculture industry is in—it has been in that state for some time.

The proposal describes part of the research's objectives as:

"To assess the contribution of Scottish agriculture and public policy in support of Scottish agriculture to the full range of rural interests".

It is a worthwhile piece of research and I am sure that it will gain the support of the conveners group.

I agree with Mike Rumbles.

When the committee was established, we spent some time considering our priorities. In a sense, the agriculture inquiry has been pushed further and further back and it is important that we proceed with it now. I agree that it is a worthwhile project and I support it 100 per cent.

My view is that we must push forward the research quickly. Does the paper meet with members' approval? As we know, sometimes changes have been necessary during the preparation of bids for support of this nature. Should we submit the proposal for consideration?

Members indicated agreement.