§ Mr. RobathanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects payment of arable area IACS for the past year to be completed. [R] [26741]
§ Mr. MorleyIndustrial action, which has been delaying the processing of arable aid (AAPS) claims, was suspended by the trade unions with effect from 11 January. This allowed the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) to step up the amount of overtime being worked beginning in the weekend of 12–13 January. Overtime working will now continue, as long as the suspension remains in place, until the backlog of claim processing is cleared. The RPA expects to be able to pay the vast majority of AAPS claims within the regulatory timeframe which ends on 31 January. However, because of the782W processing time which has already been lost, it is likely that more claims than usual will be carried over into February. Every effort will be made to keep this to the absolute minimum. As at 13 January 80 per cent. of AAPS claims had been passed for payment.
§ Mr. RobathanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the average proportion of an arable farmer's income that is made up by an IACS payment at the latest date for which figures are available. [R] [26742]
§ Mr. MorleyInformation on total farm output (including direct subsidies), total input costs, and net farm income for full-time arable farms in England is given in the table. The data relate to 1999–2000. In this year, the average subsidy exceeded the average income.
Data for 2000–01 will be available on 31 January.
Average output (including subsidies), input and income for full-time arable farms in England (1999–2000) General cropping farms Cereals farms Total farm output (£ per farm) 207,200 123,900 of which: Direct crop subsidies (£ per farm) 28,800 34,200 Direct livestock subsidies (£ per farm) 2,400 2,300 Direct general subsidies (£ per farm) 600 1,200 Direct crop subsidies (as a percentage of output) 13.9 27.6 Direct livestock subsidies (as a percentage of (output) 1.2 1.9 Direct general subsidies (as a percentage of (output) 0.3 1.0 Total input (costs) (£ per farm) 199,100 112,200 Net farm income (£) 8,100 11,700
§ Mr. RobathanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of arable area IACS payments were made to farmers by(a) 1 January 2001 for the preceding year and (b) 1 January 2002 for this past year. [R] [26740]
§ Mr. MorleyBy 30 December 2001, 29,075 IACS payments (68.03 per cent.) had been passed for payment, with a value of £495,577,987.14. The figures at the same stage last year was 39,516 (90 per cent.) with a value of £725,996,684.