§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the aggregate loss of arable aid payments to farmers in less-favoured areas of Wales in 1994–95 as a result of the decision to divide Wales into two regions for arable aid on the basis of the LFA/non-LFA boundary, in comparison with what they would have received if Wales had been treated as one region; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Redwood[holding answer 14 June 1994]: If Wales were treated as one region in 1994–95, the total payment for cereals to Welsh farmers in the LFA would be approximately £1.5 million 1. With Wales divided into two regions on the basis of the LFA/non-LFA boundary, the total payment available to Welsh farmers in the LFA in 1994–95 will be approximately £1.1 million 1, the same as in 1993–94. It is not fair to say that farmers have lost compared with some hypothetical figure: total cereals payments in 1994–95 will actually remain the same in the LFA as they were in 1993–94.
1 These figures assume:
- (i) That the area of land on which arable aid payments for cereals are claimed in the 1994–95 marketing year is the same as that in 1993–94;
699 - (ii) That the proportions of LFA and non-LFA land on which claims are made in the 1994–95 marketing year remain the same as in 1993–94; and
- (iii) A green rate of £0.920969 per ecu, ie the current rate. Actual payments for the 1994–95 marketing year will depend on the green rate in force on 1 July 1994.