§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much money has been paid out so far in the financial year in (a) regional development grant and (b) selective financial assistance; and if he will publish a table which compares actual expenditure with his original estimate of likely expenditure.
§ Mr. Peter Morrison[pursuant to his reply, 17 February 1986]: Expenditure on regional development grants (RDG) and regional selective assistance (RSA) in England for the period 1 April—31 December 1985 (the latest period available) is as follows:
outcome of the Government's scheme of assistance to farmers who suffered exceptional hardship as a result of the bad weather in the summer of 1985.
§ Mr. JoplingTo date, payments made to farmers in England under the exceptional Weather aid scheme amount to some £3.24 million. The few remaining claims are now being processed and we expect total payments to 97W amount to about £3.3 million, slightly lower than the original estimate of £3.4 million. It appears that virtually all eligible livestock farmers—about 9,600 in all—submitted applications.
As I announced on 3 December, we have adopted special procedures to pay advances (at the rate of 75 per cent.) to farmers eligible for hill livestock compensatory allowances. Under these, we have by today paid out some £13.3 million to 7,800 applicants in England. The remaining claimants should receive their advances very shortly after submitting their applications. In addition, payment of advances of sheep annual premium to producers in the less-favoured areas of England has been virtually completed: to date, some £6.4 million has been paid to 11,370 applicants.
These special measures will have been of substantial benefit to producers facing cash flow problems as a result of last year's bad weather.