Countryside Stewardship Claims

HL Deb 29 November 2001 vol 629 cc67-8WA

Baroness Byford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman on 20 February (WA 88), what proportion of stewardship payments are overdue:

1. (a) by number; and
2. (b) by value;

and by how much they are overdue. [HL1566]

Lord Whitty

Of the Countryside Stewardship claims that were outstanding at the date of the previous written answer, there are 26 which are still partly or wholly unpaid. This represents around 0.3 per cent both by number and by value of all claims received.

We would normally aim to have paid all the outstanding claims within two months of receipt. However, these 26 claims required further investigation, such as field inspections, prior to payment and in some cases these were delayed for biosecurity reasons. All claimants have been kept informed about the reasons for the delay.