The Agriculture Committee is appointed to examine
on behalf of the House of Commons the expenditure, administration
and policy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
(and any associated public bodies). Its constitution and powers
are set out in House of Commons Standing Order No. 152.
The Committee has a maximum of eleven members, of
whom the quorum for any formal proceedings is three. The members
of the Committee are appointed by the House and unless discharged
remain on the Committee until the next dissolution of Parliament.
The present membership of the Committee is as follows:
Mr David Borrow (Labour,
South Ribble)
Mr David Curry (Conservative, Skipton and Ripon)
Mr David Drew (Labour, Stroud)
Mr Alan Hurst (Labour, Braintree)
Mr Michael Jack (Conservative, Fylde)
Mr Paul Marsden (Labour, Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Mr Austin Mitchell (Labour, Great Grimsby)
Mr Lembit Öpik (Liberal Democrat, Montgomeryshire)
Mr Owen Paterson (Conservative, North Shropshire)
Mr Mark Todd (Labour, South Derbyshire)
Dr George Turner (Labour, North West Norfolk)
On 15 February 2000, the Committee elected Mr
David Curry as its Chairman.1
The Committee has the power to require the submission
of written evidence and documents, to examine witnesses, and to
make Reports to the House. In the footnotes to this Report, references
to oral evidence are indicated by 'Q' followed by the question
number, references to the written evidence are indicated by 'Ev'
followed by a page number.
The Committee may meet at any time (except when Parliament
is prorogued or dissolved) and at any place within the United
Kingdom. The Committee may meet concurrently with other committees
or sub-committees established under Standing Order No. 152 and
with the House's European Scrutiny Committee (or any of its sub-committees)
and Environmental Audit Committee for the purpose of deliberating,
taking evidence or considering draft reports. The Committee may
exchange documents and evidence with any of these committees,
as well as with the House's Public Accounts and Deregulation Committees.
The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published
by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications
of the Committee (including press notices) are on the internet
at www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/agrihome.htm.
A list of Reports of the Committee in the present Parliament is
at the end of this volume.
All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk
of the Agriculture Committee, Committee Office, 7 Millbank, London
SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general inquiries is 020 7219
3262; the Committee's e-mail address is: agricom@parliament.uk.
1On 16 July 1997,
the Committee elected Mr Peter Luff as its Chairman. He was discharged
on 21 February 2000.
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