§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) which of the options contained in the Arable Stewardship Pilot Scheme has now been applied across England; [43114]
(2) what assessment she has made of the Arable Stewardship Pilot Scheme; [43115]
(3) what the final cost to public funds is of the Arable Stewardship Pilot Scheme; [43116]
(4) if she will make a statement on financial penalties for breach of agreements between farmers and her Department in respect of the Arable Stewardship Pilot Scheme. [43122]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Arable Stewardship Pilot Scheme opened in 1998 and closed to new applications in 2000, but some individual agreements under the scheme will run until July 2006. The total amount paid to farmers over the period 1998–2006 will be approximately £7.5 million.
In the third year of the pilot, ecological and economic evaluations of the scheme options were undertaken. Following this evaluation, seven new options were incorporated into the Countryside Stewardship Scheme from January 2002. The options are:
- overwintered stubble followed by a spring crop;
- overwintered stubble followed by a low-input spring cereal;
- overwintered stubble followed by a spring/summer fallow;
- conservation headlands with restricted insecticide and herbicide use;
- conservation headlands with no fertiliser and restricted insecticide and herbicide use;
- wild bird seed mixtures;
- pollen and nectar mixtures.
Financial penalties for breaches of agreement under the Arable Stewardship Pilot Scheme are the same as those for the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. Payments made may be withheld or reclaimed with interest. In addition, a 10 per cent. penalty may be imposed where appropriate. In certain circumstances, the agreement may also be terminated and the agreement holder banned from entering a new agreement under any Rural Development Regulation scheme for up to two years.