§ Mr. GregoryTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the expenditure and achievements of his Department in north Yorkshire during 1991; and what was the comparable position between June 1979 and May 1980.
§ Mr. CurryIn 1991, payments to farmers in north Yorkshire under the various agricultural and horticultural schemes amounted to over £19 million, of which over £14 million was paid under the hill livestock compensatory allowances scheme, the suckler cow and the sheep annual premium schemes. A United Kingdom national harbour improvement grant of £65,127 was made to Scarborough borough council for the construction of a new fish market at Scarborough.
Since 1979, to enable farmers to diversify and to increase the level of care for the environment, the Department has introduced the farm and conservation grant scheme, the farm woodland scheme, the environmentally sensitive areas scheme, the five-year and one-year set-aside schemes and two pilot extensification schemes. In 1991 in north Yorkshire, over 54 hectares of new woodland planting was approved under the farm woodland scheme. The Pennine dales ESA has been successful in maintaining and enhancing the landscape and wildlife quality of the area. During 1991, the total area set aside under either the five-year or one-year set-aside schemes increased to 3,705 hectares.
In 1991, the Department spent £562,000 on building maintenance and on new facilities and specialised accommodation in north Yorkshire. It also decided to relocate the central science laboratory to Sand Hutton and to relocate 600 headquarters posts to York. It is expected that some 350 to 400 posts will be recruited locally as a result, and the moves can be expected to provide a boost to the local economy.
Data for the period June 1979 to May 1980 cannot be provided without disproportionate cost.