§ Mr. LeighTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the reasons are for delays in payments to farmers by the Rural Payments Agency regarding set-aside land after grass crops; and what information the Rural Payments Agency may require in order to effect the payments as speedily as possible. [106847]
§ Alun MichaelThe payments to farmers to which the hon. Member refers result from a decision of the European Court of Justice in a case concerning penalties imposed in the United Kingdom for set-aside following grass. That decision was subsequently clarified in a judgment of the High Court of England and Wales on 14 November 2002.
Defra lawyers are currently awaiting a response from the NFU lawyers in respect of those farmers in the group litigation. Of those 260 farmers affected by the judgment who are not in the group litigation, 188 have already been contacted for further information relating to the cultivation and harvesting of grass from the areas of land that had been the subject of penalties. 27 of these cases have been rejected as not meeting the relevant criteria for settlement.