§ Mr. Spellerasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why hill livestock compensatory allowance payments have not been increased for the current year; if he will now index these scales for inflation; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. JoplingI explained in the written reply I gave to my hon. Friend on 17 December 1986, at column 598 why we decided that the rates of hill livestock compensatory allowances would not be increased for 1987. Many factors are taken into account in our annual autumn review of economic conditions in the hills and uplands, in the light of which we determine the level of HLCA rates, and it would be inappropriate simply to take account of movements in the inflation indices. This Government's commitment to the hill livestock sector is well illustrated by the fact that HLCA payments in this country have almost doubled since 1979.