§ Mr. David Steelasked the Secretary of State for Scotland, in view of the undertaking given by his Department last November to the Scottish NFU that compensatory allowances for hill cows and upland sheep would be paid in January, how many farmers have applied for such payments; how many have been paid to date; and how many are still awaiting payment.
§ Mr. William RossThe closing date for applications for the 1976 payment of hill compensatory allowances was 31st January. Some 21,500 applications have been received, of which 3,500 have been paid. It is expected that the bulk of the outstanding payments will be made by the end of May. These payments do not include the increase of £4.50 per head in the rate of compensatory allowances for 123W breeding cows announced at the 1976 Annual Review; subject to Parliamentary approval of the increase, the additional payments will be made early this summer.