§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list for 1984 and 1985 and give his estimate for the current year of the grants and subsidies for hill farming referred to in the reply of 8 May 1985, Official Report, column 459; if he will provide separate figures for sheep, including the pro-rata contribution on sheepmeat subsidy; and if he will state the total taxpayer contribution to the production of hill sheep as a percentage of the farmer's return on the animal.
§ Mr. JoplingThe latest figures available in the form given in the earlier reply are for calendar year 1984.
Grant Paid in 1984 £ million Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances 85.712 Development Plans 32.398 Joint Investment Schemes 0.041 Total 118.151 Further details on less favoured area support are given in part IV of table 28 of the "Annual Review of Agriculture 1986", including a forecast for grant paid in the financial year 1985–86.
It is not possible to identify how much of the support under the Community sheepmeat regime is paid to hill farmers; the variable premium is paid on slaughter lambs, and those originating from hill farms are not separately identified in the figures.
I regret that, as a result, meaningful estimates of the taxpayers' contribution to the production of hill sheep cannot be made.