asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now introduce legislation to enable him to give assistance, after a means test, to individuals who may be involved in involuntary expenditure under plant health regulations, such as those concerned with Dutch elm disease, rather than giving financial assistance only to local authorities.

No. It is normally appropriate to expect the owner or occupier concerned to meet the cost of plant health control measures, but orders may provide that an enforcing authority may at its discretion remove a source of infection at its own expense. The Dutch Elm Disease (Local Authorities) Order, 1971, confers such powers on the designated local authorities.