§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many milk quota holders there were in the UK in each of the last five years; and how many of those quotas were non-producing. [88147]
§ Mr. MorleyDetails of the total number of quota holders for each year 1997–98 to 2001–02, and of those, the presumed number of non-producing quota holders (NPQHs), are contained in the table.
The 'quota holders' figure for each year in the table is the number of permanent quota holders at the end of the quota year. It is considered that the most representative figures on NPQHs, prior to 1999, are the number of quota holders who have leased out a high proportion of their quota in any given year. The figures given in the last three columns in the table are thus for the number of permanent quota holders who leased out the percentages of their quota shown, and might therefore be assumed to be NPQHs. The corresponding figures for 2002–03 will not be known until after the end of the quota year.
Quota year Quota holders 100 per cent. 95 per cent. 91 per cent. 1997–98 37,090 5,309 5,783 5,855 1998–99 35,711 5,663 6,025 6,094 1999–2000 34,663 6,181 6,556 6,621 2000–01 33,106 5.778 6,412 6,529 2001–02 31,605 6,099 6,792 6,937