§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will make a statement on the implementation of his Department's proposed early retirement scheme for farmers; [48779]
(2) what conditions farmers will have to satisfy to be eligible for his Department's early retirement scheme. [48778]
§ Mr. RookerThe Government do not currently operate an early retirement scheme for farmers. We are considering the responses to our recent consultation on 'Agricultural Restructuring', which sought views, among other things, on whether such a scheme, based on EEC Council Regulation 2079/92, should be introduced in the UK. Our conclusions will be announced in due course.