§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to the Prime Minister's answer to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) of 20 April,Official REeport, column 181 on the integrated administration control system, what mapping documentation can be used as alternatives by farmers if they have difficulty obtaining maps of the right scale; and what further advice on this he has issued to his Ministry's offices and farmers' organisations.
§ Mr. CurryWe made clear in the IACS explanatory booklet sent to all farmers the procedure to be followed if they could not obtain the required maps or field reference numbers by the 15 May deadline for submission of the IACS application form. The advice to such farmers was to make sure they submitted the application before the deadline, together with an explanation of why any supporting detail could not be supplied, and give details of each field area and its location. Full details would be required later. My right hon. Friend the Minister has since announced that where existing maps of forage areas do not give field sizes, we will accept estimates. The location could be identified through a 1:25,000 map which is readily obtainable. The advice we have given to the Department's offices and farming organisations is that we should be as reasonable as we possibly can, within the rules of the scheme, over the submission of mapping documentation.