§ Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many application forms were received after the deadline for sheep annual premium; how many were accepted late; what were(a) the reasons for late 248W applications and (b) the percentage of applications received by the deadline; what his Department regards as exceptional circumstances; how many applications were accepted because of exceptional circumstances; if he will give details of each case; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir Hector MonroThirty-eight applications were received after the closing date for applications for the 1993 sheep annual premium scheme. The EC regulations which govern the scheme provide that only those late applications which can be attributed to "force majeure" can be accepted. For this purpose, on the basis of guidance from the European Commission, "force majeure" means abnormal or unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of the applicant. The 38 applications in question were late for a variety of reasons, but none of them fell in the "force majeure" category.
A total of 17,027 applications—99.8 per cent.—were received by the deadline.