§ Mr. Bill WalkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what impact he assesses the proposed European Community proposals for sheepmeat quotas will have in the Highland areas of Scotland.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThere are no Community proposals for sheepmeat quotas. The new sheepmeat regime agreed by the Council of Ministers in July will however introduce a headage limit on the payment of ewe premium as from 1 January 1990. Producers in the less-favoured areas (LFAs) will be able to receive full premium on their first 1,000 eligible ewes and premium paid at 50 per cent. on any additional ewes; there62W is no upper limit on the number of ewes on which premium may be claimed. In 1988 some 696 of the 15,016 producers in Scotland's LFAs would have been affected by the headage limit. However, individual members of groups, associations or other forms of co-operation between producers may qualify for individual headage limits. The Government secured a commitment from the Council of Ministers that this provision would extend to partnerships in Scots law. Until the 1990 ewe premium application forms are returned it will not be possible to say how many Scottish producers have been affected by the headage limit.