§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the assistance available to beef farms which have been affected by the BSE crisis. [2582]
§ Mr. BaldryI refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Wentworth (Mr. Hardy) on 16 October 1996,Official Report, columns 934–35.
The Government have also:
announced that an additional £60 million will be made available to eligible cattle producers under the 1997 hill livestock compensatory allowances scheme;allocated some £29 million of national funds to a second beef marketing payments scheme, covering cattle sold for slaughter for human consumption during the period 1 July to 30 September 1996. Claim forms and guidance notes will be issued in early December;secured a further £50 million of EU funds. It is our intention that as much as possible of this extra assistance will benefit suckler producers. Further details will be announced once a Commission proposal is available and discussions have taken place with the farming unions.In all, nearly £250 million of additional aid has now been committed for direct support for UK beef producers. This is in addition to the considerable sums spent on market support measures, such as the expanded intervention arrangements and the calf processing scheme, which have protected producers' incomes.