§ Mr. David LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her target is for making payments under(a) the Vocational Training Scheme and (b) the Rural Enterprise Scheme; what proportion of payments meet those targets; and if she will make a statement. [80452]
§ Margaret BeckettThe Rural Development Service has responsibility for processing and authorising claims made under the Vocational Training Scheme and the Rural Enterprise Scheme. For both schemes the aim is to pay all complete claims, ie those submitted with the appropriate supporting documentation, within one month of receipt. Most recent available information indicates that around 90 per cent, of Vocational Training Scheme claims and 83 per cent, of Rural Enterprise Scheme claims are authorised within one month of receipt. The above-mentioned figures reflect the fact that a proportion of claims are submitted with incomplete supporting documentation in the first instance.