§ Sir Teddy TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the administrative cost of operating the area payments system; and how many staff are involved in the procedures.
§ Mr. JackThe arable area payments scheme is one of a number of schemes covered by the integrated administration and control system—IACS. It is not possible to give precise costs for administering each of the individual schemes within this joint system but the estimated United Kingdom cost for administering the arable area payments scheme for the 1993–94 financial year, including an appropriate share of the cost of IACS, is £7.2 million, involving some 365 man years.
51WThese figures do not include certain initial development costs.
§ Sir Teddy TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much has been spent on the payment of the new area allowances in the current financial year; what is the maximum individual sum paid to date; and what is the general purpose of the area payments.
§ Mr. JackArable area payments made by the end of December 1993 totalled £692 million. This does not include the final instalment of the area payment for oilseeds, which is due to be made early in 1994.
Under the integrated administration and control system, a single application must be submitted in respect of all holdings farmed by the same individual or organisation and some applications cover a significant number of separate holdings; the maximum total payment to an individual IACS applicant to date has been just over £1¼ million.
Arable area payments were introduced as part of the 1992 package of measures to reform the common agriculture policy. They are intended to compensate farmers for significant reductions in EC support prices for cereals over the next three years and to replace earlier support systems for oilseeds and proteins.