§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on the achievements of(a) her policies and (b) her Department in helping small businesses over the last 12 months as against the previous 12 months; and if she will publish the performance indicators by which her Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
§ Mr. JackThe Government continue to help small businesses, through improvements to the business climate, through deregulation and through specific programmes of support and assistance.
This Department has continued to contribute significantly to the process. The completion and implementation of the common agricultural policy reform agreement 177W provides a framework for the development of a competitive agricultural industry for future years. It gives farmers the stability to plan ahead.
In other areas of its work also the Department continues to offer help and assistance. For example:
- (i) special rules to enable small producers to claim arable area payments under simplified arrangements that do not require them to set aside land;
- (ii) specific arrangements to enable meat from low-throughput abattoirs to be supplied to wholesalers as well as retailers and final consumers;
- (iii) the group marketing grant which can assist individual farmers to band together to market their produce more effectively;
- (iv) the prospective easing of salmonella controls for poultry producers with small breeding flocks; and
- (v) the establishment of small business panels to enable Ministers to hear at first hand the views of small businessmen on the regulatory burden.
All the schemes operated by this Department are closely monitored. Reports on particular schemes are published from time to time.