§ Lord Hoosonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What money the European Commission allocates to the United Kingdom for anti-fraud work and whether this sum is allocated annually or for a longer period; when the allocation first began; and how much of the money Her Majesty's Government have taken up over the years.
§ Lord HenleyThe budgetary authority allocated 139.14 million ecu (£105 million) in the 1994 budget to programmes to fight fraud. This sum was additional to provision for administrative resources within the Commission which are used to fight fraud. This compares with an outturn of 115.285 million ecu (£87 million) in 1993. The budget for anti-fraud programmes includes both funds spent directly by the Commission and funds available to member states to co-finance new controls and new anti-fraud mechanisms.
United Kingdom receipts from the EC budget for anti-fraud programmes are included with other departmental receipts. Detailed information on these receipts is not held centrally. However, the United Kingdom does take advantage of Community financing. For example, following the introduction of Integrated Control and Administration Systems (IACS), some £7.8 million was taken up by the United Kingdom in 1993 and 1994 to meet part of the cost of introducing a computer database to record details of areas and livestock numbers subject to support. The United Kingdom has also taken advantage of the provision for computer systems in the CAP export refund area, where Customs received £185,759 and £114,679 in 1992 and 143WA 1993 respectively. Customs have also applied for £248,993 for the same purpose in 1994.