§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were his Department's total gross running costs for travel, including fares, subsistence, accommodation and any other expenses met from public funds but excluding all such costs for journeys and stays exclusively within the United Kingdom(a) since 1 May 1997 and (b) in the last 12 months. [149139]
§ Ms QuinThe information requested is set out in the table.
changes in the United Kingdom once agreement is reached in the Council. The outcome of any consultation is notified to the farming industry in a Press Notice.
Changes to the rules of the aid schemes are announced in scheme literature issued by the Ministry and the Intervention Board Executive Agency or in letters sent directly to farmers and traders. The scheme literature gives details of payment rates fixed in Euros but, where the Sterling rates are given, it is made clear that these are estimates and that the final rates of payment will depend 505W on the exchange rate effective on the date which sets the conversion rate applicable to the scheme in question. These dates vary from scheme to scheme. Changes in payment rates resulting purely from changes in the Euro/Sterling exchange rate are published in Notices to Traders issued by the Intervention Board.
Individual claimants are notified by the Regional Service Centre of the Ministry which handles their claim (or by the Intervention Board, as appropriate) of the amounts of aid that will be paid to them.