§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to the oral answer of 24 January 2001,Official Report, column 920, to the hon. Member for St. Ives (Mr. George), if he will publish Her Majestys Governments estimate of (a) the percentage of farm holdings in the United Kingdom which they do not regard as efficient, (b the number of farmers and farm workers obtaining their livings from them and (c) the proportion of the UK agricultural workforce they represent. [148403]
§ Ms QuinThe Government do not forecast or publish estimates of the percentage of farm holdings in the United Kingdom which we do not regard as efficient. We do not obtain the detailed business information on the 300,000 or so holdings in the United Kingdom which would be required to attempt to do this. Information on the productivity and performance of the agriculture industry was published by the Ministry on 30 March 2000 as part of the announcement of the Governments Action Plan for Farming in Strategy for Agriculture: Current and prospective economic situation paragraphs 26–35.
The Action Plan, now backed by £500 million, is providing short-term relief to the sectors hit hardest by the current economic crisis but also supports longer-term action to encourage industry restructuring. Good progress is being made in delivering the commitments in the plan.
The establishment of the Rural Development Regulation (RDR), or second pillar of the CAP, was a substantial step forward in redirecting the CAP away from production support and towards rural development and environmentally-friendly farming. By extending support to activities beyond food production, the RDR will open up new options for farms of differing types, sizes and economic characteristics.