§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the administrative costs of the Hill Farm Allowance scheme as a percentage of grants disbursed. [156864]
§ Ms Quin[holding answer 4 April 2001]: The budget for HFA payments has been determined in the context of the England Rural Development Programme, the Action Plan for Farming and the Spending Review and is entirely separate from the Ministry's running costs. However, this year the costs of administering HFA payments in England, ignoring design and setting up costs, are expected to be about 1.5 per cent. of the payments made.