§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how widespread is the practice of moving sheep from farm to farm in order to collect subsidy fraudulently; and if he will make a statement. [156072]
§ Ms QuinWe are aware of the possibility of such practices occurring and my staff are it strutted to look for evidence of this when carrying out on farm inspections to check sheep subsidy claims.
We have no evidence that such practices are widespread. In England in 2000 we initiated prosecution procedures in two such cases.