§ Mr. Bob Clayasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the total amount to date of payments made to farmers under the exceptional weather aid scheme.
§ Mr. JoplingTo date, payments made to farmers in England under this scheme amount to £3.25 million.
§ Mr. Clayasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the administrative costs involved in implementing the exceptional weather aid scheme.
§ Mr. JoplingI estimate that the administrative costs of this scheme in England will amount to about £100,000.
§ Mr. Clayasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps were taken and what costs were incurred in publicising the exceptional weather aid scheme.
§ Mr. JoplingThe scheme was publicised by press releases, supplemented by various forms of local publicity in the areas concerned. In addition, a leaflet explaining the scheme was sent to every potential applicant. I estimate that the total costs were about £5,000.