Ok, I had a scan of /etc/php/7.4/apache2/php.ini
for the required setting to change and it’s not there either? I did find an entry for CLI-server though:
[CLI Server]
; Whether the CLI web server uses ANSI color coding in its terminal output.
cli_server.color = On
apc.enable_cli = 1
Originally it only had the entry for server.color so I added the famous setting underneath 
This time, when I saved the file, Nextcloud didn’t collapse in a puddle of sweat so already it looks better. WOn’t really know unless I try the upgrade again but, based on the flood of mail on this subject today I feel I should hold off until the powers that be sort this out between them
J