To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has now considered the responses to the consultation document on the revised agricultural land classification for England and Wales.

We have received a number of helpful and detailed comments on the draft revised guidelines and criteria. I intend to defer publication of the definitive system until October 1988 to allow time for the appropriate adjustments to he made. The revised system will come into actual operation on 1 January 1989 which will give practitioners time to familiarise themselves with the detail.