HC Deb 08 May 2001 vol 368 cc140-1W
Mrs. Gilroy

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to(a) Plymouth, Sutton constituency, (b) Plymouth, Devonport constituency and (c) South-West Devon constituency, the effects on the Plymouth unitary authority area of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [158026]

Ms Quin

[holding answer 23 April 2001]: MAFF does not hold statistical information on a constituency basis relating to the Department's policies. Information on land use, crop areas, livestock numbers, and labour on holdings in England by parliamentary constituency has been produced from 1 June 1999 annual agricultural and horticultural census. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House. Information from the 1 June 2000 census has been placed in the House Library.

As many of the Department's policies flow from measures agreed Within the framework of the EU common agricultural policy statistical data are normally available on a UK or England basis. Farmers in the UK receive approximately £3 billion per year in direct CAP payments. This does not include the significant additional costs to consumers as a result of CAP price supports which keep EU prices above prevailing world prices. The value of direct CAP payments to the average farmer is set out in the table.

rural development measures of benefit to the wider rural community and visitors to the countryside.

Since May 1997, the Government are committed to securing a more economically rational CAP. We aim to redirect public money from agricultural price support mechanisms to rural development measures of benefit to the wider rural community and visitors to the countryside.

Since May 1997, the Government have more than doubled expenditure on agri-environment schemes in England. We now have more than twice as much land covered by countryside stewardship agreements and we have increased the funding of organic conversion from £571,000 in 1997–98 to £12 million in 2000–01 and £18 million in 2001–02. Full-time hill Farmers in England will be in receipt of some £6,360 on average following the introduction of the hill farm allowance scheme this year. This compares to £4,048 under the hill livestock compensatory allowance in 1996–97.

One of the most important outcomes of Agenda 2000 was the establishment of the rural development regulation, which is being implemented in England through the England rural development programme (ERDP), investing around £1.6 billion in rural areas over the period 2000–06.

Farmers in South-West Devon can benefit from schemes available under the ERDP. Three of the schemes within the programme—rural enterprise, processing and marketing, and vocational training—have a budget of around £190 million and are being operated on a regional basis; each region has its own allocation. These allocations are set out in the ERDP.

Furthermore, by supporting rural development, including diversification into tourist activities, and by conserving and enhancing the rural environment through support for public good such as biodiversity and landscape appearance, the ERDP offers benefits to all who visit the countryside.

Consumers in Plymouth, Sutton, Ply mouth, Devonport and South-West Devon will benefit from the Agenda 2000 reforms of the CAP in the form of reduced food bills, with the average saving for a typical family rising to £65 a year by 2010. In relation to the Department's responsibility for fisheries policy, our key priority is to protect our fisheries resources for the future and we are taking firm action to ensure a viable future for the fishing industry. The last set of grant schemes, which ended in 1999, invested over £27 million in measures to help the fishing industry in England. Fishermen operating in the Plymouth, Sutton, Plymouth, Devonport and South-West Devon constituencies will now benefit from the £22.5 million aid package announced on 2 April, to help restructure the English fishing industry, to improve the quality and value of the catch, and to retrain fishermen and rejuvenate fishing ports.