§ Mr. LetwinTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any plans to close or restructure his Department's regional network. [123970]
§ Ms QuinMinisters are currently considering the report of the review of CAP scheme administration, which my right hon. Friend the Minister commissioned from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) last autumn. The report recommends that we should merge the CAP scheme processing functions of MAFF's Regional Service Centres and the Intervention Board Executive Agency to create a new payments agency. taking full advantage of the benefits offered by modern technology. On this basis, PwC consider that it will be possible to deliver a radically improved service for farmers and significant savings to the taxpayer.
My Department is also drawing up plans to align other aspects of its regional activities with the Government Office network. This will ensure that we can further strengthen our regional policy presence.
The future of the Department's Regional Service Centres is being considered in the context of these two reviews. Radical restructuring will be possible only if funding can be made available in the Spending Review 2000.