Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Hansard, 23 April 1990)

§ Mr. Simon Hughes
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to increase the levels of support offered to farmers under the environmentally sensitive areas scheme; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Maclean
We have no plans at present to increase the level of support offered to farmers in ESAs. Payment levels in ESAs are reviewed three years after the scheme is established. We carried out a payments review on ESAs designated in 1987 (Broads, Pennine dales, Somerset levels and moors, south downs and west Penwith) last year and concluded there was no strong evidence to suggest an increase or decrease in their levels. We shall be carrying out a payments review of ESAs designated in 1988 later this year. The rate of uptake in ESAs has been well up to expectations which suggests that payments are pitched broadly at the right levels.

§ Mr. Geraint Howells
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what would be the cost, at present uptake, of increasing the payment for ESAs from £64 to £90 per hectare; what estimate he has made of the percentage increase in land governed by the ESA scheme of such an increase; and what the inclusion of such additional land under the ESA would cost.

§ Mr. Maclean
The level of ESA payments varies between £10 and £300 per hectare reflecting the agricultural and environmental circumstances of each area. In no ESA is there a current payment rate of £64 per hectare.

§ Mr. Geraint Howells
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent representations he has received(a) from the National Farmers Union and (b) from other sources in respect of the operation and levels of payment of the ESA scheme; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Maclean
During the course of our review of ESA payments in those areas designated in 1987 (Broads, Pennine dales, Somerset levels and moors, south downs, west Penwith) the NFU reiterated its view that ESA payments should be index-linked. We received no representations from other sources. The level of ESA payments are reviewed three years after the area is designated. We concluded that the recent review showed no strong evidence to suggest payments should be increased or decreased from their current levels. The rate of uptake in ESAs has been well up to expectations which suggests that payments are pitched broadly at the right levels.
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§ Mr. Geraint Howells
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he plans to review the level of payments made under the ESA scheme; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Maclean
The levels of payments in ESAs are reviewed three years after each scheme is introduced. We carried out a payments review on those ESAs designated in 1987 (Broads, Pennine dales, Somerset levels and moors, south downs, west Penwith) last year and concluded there was no strong evidence to suggest an increase or decrease in their levels. We shall be carrying out a payments review of those ESAs designated in 1988 later this year. The rate of uptake in ESAs has been well up to expectations which suggests that payments are pitched broadly at the right level.