§ Ann WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to compensate for any virement of moneys under the Objective One fisheries programme transferring financial aid for decommissioning to other sectors of the programme following her earlier announcement denying access to the English Decommissioning Scheme for vessels outside of the North Sea; and if she will make a statement. [129415]
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§ Mr. BradshawWhether decommissioning grant for fishing vessels is available in Cornwall under the EU structural fund for fisheries (FIFO) is determined by the Cornish Objective One programme monitoring committee. I understand that on the advice of the programme's fisheries representatives the decision has been taken not to plan for expenditure on decommissioning for the remainder of the 2000–06 structural funds programme, in order to provide funding for strategic projects to which they give priority.
The Government have made no decision to make other funds available for the decommissioning of vessels in the south-west fleet.