§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the cost of payments made under last year's main arable area payments scheme in each county of England in respect of(a) cereals, (b) oilseeds, (c) protein crops, (d) linseed and (e) set-aside.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardThe table gives the total payments claimed in 1993 for cereals, oilseeds, protein crops and set-aside on land situated in each county of England. The total amounts paid will have been slightly lower because of reductions made for various reasons. However, since such reductions normally have to be calculated on the basis of the total claim, which may include land in more than one county, it is not possible to give figures for the total amounts paid on a county basis. Linseed was not included in the scheme until 1993–94 and county-based figures are not available for 1992–93.
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Cereals £ Oilseeds £ Protein crops £ Set-aside £ Total £ Essex 16,053,877 7,973,011 6,094,061 7,106,416 37,227,364 Gloucestershire 6,312,976 3,891,434 1,871,244 2,816,647 14,892,302 Greater Manchester 407,341 170,722 122,700 175,019 875,783 Hampshire 10,752,141 3,407,796 2,434,460 3,976,396 20,570,793 Hereford and Worcestershire 7,700,175 2,978,188 3,205,633 3,433,498 17,317,494 Hertfordshire 6,080,991 2,729,974 2,498,086 2,696,533 14,005,584 Humberside 18,726,645 6,241,866 7,116,120 7,838,505 39,923,137 Isle of Wight 795,051 313,488 262,757 289,895 1,661,192 Kent 8,733,521 6,343,054 4,020,186 4,072,982 23,169,743 Lancashire 1,315,884 396,579 663,464 508,987 2,884,913 Leicestershire 7,917,287 5,151,317 3,896,942 3,797,855 20,763,401 Lincolnshire 29,642,531 10,635,771 13,984,261 12,882,312 67,144,874 Merseyside 740,434 253,374 314,566 314,379 1,622,752 Norfolk 21,513,571 2,126,744 6,427,548 8,394,303 38,462,166 North Yorkshire 18,974,064 6,110,437 4,588,308 7,722,108 37,394,918 Northamptonshire 8,512,313 6,787,823 4,796,043 4,366,080 24,462,257 Northumberland 8,244,767 4,439,934 845,488 3,364,373 16,894,563 Nottinghamshire 7,779,274 3,852,044 2,924,559 3,460,257 18,016,135 Oxfordshire 9,951,094 6,718,368 2,651,441 4,390,622 23,711,525 Shropshire 7,576,999 1,116,354 1,573,403 2,917,073 13,183,829 Somerset 4,007,406 650,164 1,315,194 1,567,290 7,540,054 South Yorkshire 3,368,107 1,963,770 1,433,119 1,559,266 8,324,261 Staffordshire 3,934,570 1,486,400 1,069,211 1,599,768 8,089,950 Suffolk 17,586,154 4,276,384 6,526,543 7,384,311 35,773,392 Surrey 1,027,695 649,340 351,365 485,067 2,513,467 Tyne and Wear 741,792 610,103 29,078 311,713 1,692,686 West Midlands 458,864 283,127 84,256 224,509 1,050,755 West Sussex 3,906,997 1,390,040 1,762,035 1,659,823 8,718,895 Warwickshire 6,021,458 4,544,970 3,111,537 2,989,801 16,667,766 West Yorkshire 2,137,691 967,120 573,338 929,196 4,607,345 Wiltshire 11,213,128 4,337,627 1,824,493 4,479,427 21,854,675 TOTAL 308,034,248 126,171,763 105,162,516 131,521,783 670,890,310
§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is her estimate of payments to be made under this year's main arable area payments scheme in each county of England in respect of(a) cereals, (b) oilseeds, (c) protein crops, (d) linseed and (e) set aside.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardForward estimates are not made on a county basis. Current estimates for total payments in England under the main arable area payments scheme are:
£ (a) cereals 413,222,528 (b) oilseeds 136,070,860 (c) protein crops 85,940,727 (d) linseed 63,231,644 (e) set-aside 194,383,962 Total 892,849,721
§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment her Department has made of the overall environmental quality of the arable areas in England for which payments under the main arable area payments scheme are being made; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardA three-year environmental and agronomic evaluation of set-aside under the arable area payments scheme is currently being commissioned, and is to start this autumn. The evaluation will identify the environmental and agronomic impact of different management conditions on the set-aside land itself, and on neighbouring and subsequent arable crops.
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§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps she intends to take to prevent environmental damage and improve environmental quality on land on which arable area payments are made.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardI refer the hon. Gentleman to the information in the reply I gave him on 14 June, Official Report, column444.