§ Mr. Peter Millsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he will take to speed up the payments to farmers of deficiency payment grants.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithI am taking steps to fill staff vacancies in order to speed up payments under the fat sheep guarantee 733W and beef premium schemes, both of which have been in continuous payment recently.
§ Mr. Peter Millsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the average time it takes to pay out to farmers deficiency payments on stocks.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe average time between the presentation of animals for certification under the beef premium and fat sheep guarantee schemes and the issue of payments due is about four weeks, but some payments are taking longer at present.