§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has further to redirect Pillar 2, CAP funding to the Rural Development Regulation; and if she will make a statement. [111269]
§ Mr. MorleyGovernment has redirected, and match funded, a proportion of production linked subsidy payments into rural development measures since 2001. In the current negotiations on CAP reform we are pressing for both a shift in support from production-linked subsidies to environmental and rural development measures and a significant increase in the UK's share of current EU funding for rural development programmes. We are committed to increasing expenditure on the England Rural Development Programme. The detailed arrangements for delivering this commitment will depend on the outcome of the ongoing negotiations on the reform of the CAP.