§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence she has of farmers having used fields subject to set-aside payments for car boot sales.
§ Mr. JackCar boot sales can be held on land set aside under the non-agricultural use option of the voluntary five year set-aside scheme; payments under this option are reduced to reflect the fact that the farmer may be earning some income from the land. In certain, strictly defined circumstances, car boot sales may also be permitted on some other land set aside under the five year scheme and the arable area payments scheme. In all cases, it is the farmer's responsibility to obtain any planning permission that may be required.
The information which we have about the numbers of car boot sales on set-aside land is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.