HC Deb 08 April 2003 vol 403 cc128-9W
Mr. Todd

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the spending plans are from 2003 to 2008 for(a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland under pillar two of the Common Agricultural Policy. [106202]

Mr. Morley

Rural Development Programmes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a matter for the relevant Administrations.

Plans for CAP pillar 2 spending up to 2006 are set out in the published rural development programmes and are summarised as follows. These figures relate to the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund accounting years (to 16 October) and consist of both EU and national funds included in Rural Development Programmes. They do not include spending financed by the European Structural Funds.

£ million (21£0.63)
2003 2004 2005 2006
England 242.2 269.1 284 320
Northern Ireland 39.9 41.7 41.7 43.8
Scotland 154.4 131.1 136.5 144.6
Wales 79.6 74.6 78.7 72.4

The figures do not include the additional funding that was made available as a result of the 2002 Spending Review to match an increase in modulation to 10 per cent.; that funding was conditional on future ministerial decisions and (in England) on the success of the pilots for the Entry Level Agri-Environment Scheme.

Spending in 2007 and 2008 will depend on future decisions on the allocation of EU rural development resources.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the impact on British agriculture of the European Commission"s proposals of January 2003 to reform the Common Agriculture Policy; and if she will publish the results. [106504]

Margaret Beckett

We have just this week published our assessment of the economic impact of the Commission"s Long Term Perspective for Sustainable Agriculture, based on both commissioned and in-house analysis. I have placed copies of the assessment in the Libraries of the House. It is also available on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/esg/economics/capreform.pdf