§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the annual administration costs, for each of the last five years of operation of the beef variable premium scheme and of maintaining the register of confusion marks; and how many animals were so registered in each of these years.
§ Mr. Donald Thompson[holding answer 13 June 1989]: The beef variable premium scheme was administered on behalf of the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce by the Meat and Livestock Commission in Great Britain and by the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland in Northern Ireland. Their costs over the last five years are estimated to have been as follows:
£ million 1MLC DANI 1984–85 3.8 0.6 1985–86 4.0 0.7 1986–87 4.1 0.7 1987–88 4.4 0.8 1988–89 4.4 0.8 1 BVPS duties were usually carried out by MLC officers concurrently with their responsibilities under the sheep variable premium scheme. BVPS costs are therefore calculated as a proportion of the total cost of administering both schemes based on the number of presentations under each. These figures include the costs of administering the confusion mark procedures. These were operated on a local basis and the costs of administration and numbers animals were not centrally recorded.