§ Mr. Spearingasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he proposes to take in respect of 169W allegations of fraud in connection with CAP funds of the EEC raised recently at the Assembly of the EEC.
§ Mr. BishopI can assure my hon. Friend that so far as the United Kingdom is concerned we treat FEOGA funds in the same way as Exchequer funds—that is to say, they are subject to departmental audit and are open to independent investigation by the Comptroller and Auditor General's staff. They may, therefore, be drawn to the attention of the Public Accounts Committee.
My hon. Friend will have seen from my reply to the hon. Member for Moray and Nairn (Mrs. Ewing) on 10th June 1975.—[Vol. 893, c. 171]—that the Community is itself already taking measures against fraud and irregularities.