§ Dr. CunninghamTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much his Department has contributed in grant aid to farm pollution control under the Mersey basin campaign for every year since 1984.
§ Mr. CurryThis information is not available in the form requested. In the Crewe and Preston divisional offices, which cover the area including the Mersey basin and which spearheaded my Department's contribution to this important campaign, total expenditure on waste facilities under the agriculture improvement scheme, which ran from 1985 to 1988, was as follows:
1986–7 £367,819 1987–8 £238,317 1988–9 £97,362 In addition, prior notifications by farmers of intention to claim grant waste facilities under the farm and conservation grant scheme, which replaced the agriculture improvement scheme in February, were until the end of October:
Crewe
506 notifications covering grant expenditure of £4,002,139.Preston
182 notifications covering grant expenditure of £209,164.My Department has also supported this campaign through intensive publicity and advice to farmers including visits to farms identified by the water authority and, more recently, the National Rivers Authority.