§ Mr. DjanoglyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the farm income levels for farmers in Cambridgeshire in the last five years. [170854]
§ Alun MichaelNet farm income for farms in Cambridgeshire, the EU East Region and for England over the last five years are show in the table below.
The fall in incomes for 2002/03 in Cambridgeshire is a reflection of the high proportion of output accounted for by the potato crop on farms in that county compared to the East region in general. In 2002/03 the price of potatoes was low.
An exercise has also been recently commissioned to look at types of polythene crop covers and mulches used in horticultural production. This will examine the scope for re-use or replacement with sustainable alternatives such as paper, starch or cellulose, which offer easier routes for disposal.
§ Chris RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was given in farm subsidies to each region of the United Kingdom in each of the last 10 years. [166677]
§ Alun MichaelThe figures given below are based on the European Agriculture Guidance & Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) financial years, i.e. 16 October to 15 October. Earlier figures are not available.
1491WNorth East
The increased expenditure in EAGGF year 2003 was mainly due to the Cereals, Suckler Cow and Beef Special Premium schemes.
North West
The downturn of expenditure in EAGGF year 2003 relates to the Cereals and Set Aside food schemes.
Yorkshire and The Humber
The upturn in costs for EAGGF year 2003 was mainly in Cereals.
East Midlands
The sizeable increase in EAGGF year 2003 occurred in the Cereals, Oilseeds, Proteins, Set Aside Food and Slaughter Premium schemes.
East of England
For EAGGF year 2003 the increase is in the Cereals scheme.
South East
The increased expenditure in EAGGF year 2003 is in the Cereals, Oilseeds, Proteins and Set Aside Food schemes.
South West
In the EAGGF year 2002 the decrease in expenditure was mainly in Cereals, Oilseeds, Proteins, Set Aside Food, Suckler Cow and Beef Special Premium schemes.
In the EAGGF year 2003 there are increases in Cereals, Set Aside Food,
Suckler Cow, Beef Special Premium and Slaughter Premium schemes.
§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the rate of take-up of training of farmers at entry level under the modulation scheme. [173877]
§ Alun MichaelThe pilot Entry Level Scheme is an agri-environment scheme that provides payment for good land management. The scheme is being piloted in four areas in England and has proved popular with farmers with a total of 271 agreements that started in August 2003. The Government has announced its intention to roll out the Entry Level Environmental Stewardship Scheme across England, as part of the England Rural Development Programme, using funding generated through modulation.
There is a separate Vocational Training Scheme, which is also part of the England Rural Development Programme. Under current ED rules, it does not involve modulation funding. Under that scheme, DEFRA has funded over 12,500 farmers to undertake training courses, involving over 30,000 training days, up to 31 March 2004. For the whole of the period of the programme (to the end of 2006), DEFRA has so far committed funding to over 7,500 courses, covering 73,000 training days, for participants in the farming and forestry sectors.
§ Nick HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what initial consideration the Government are giving to agricultural support and subsidies for farmers beyond 2012; and if she will make a statement. [174081]
1492W
§ Alun MichaelThe UK played a pivotal role in securing agreement to major reforms to the EU's Common Agricultural Policy over the past year, which will help farmers focus their production on market demand, reduce environmental damage and reduce the damaging impact of EU subsidies on developing countries.
Over the longer term we want to see this progress towards a sustainable subsidy system completed in line with the objectives set out in our Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy. That means addressing remaining barriers to a market driven industry, such as those that still exist in the dairy sector, seeing a greater proportion of expenditure directed towards environmental and rural development measures, which provide real public benefits, and, at an international level, reducing further the damaging impact of trade-distorting agricultural subsidies, through the World Trade Organisation's Doha Development Agenda.
We also want to see CAP expenditure contained within limits that are consistent with our objectives for controlled EU expenditure as a whole.
§ David MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farms in Cumbria will be classified as being in a severely disadvantaged area when the single farm payment is introduced. [169076]
§ Alun MichaelIt is not possible to give a precise answer at the present time as entitlements to subsidy under the new single payment scheme will be allocated on the basis of claims made by farmers in 2005. However based on Integrated Administration and Control System scheme applications in 2003, the latest information currently available, 40 per cent. of holdings registered for IACS in Cumbria, 1,705 out of 4,235 farmers, have the majority of their land within the severely disadvantaged area.
§ David MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what she estimates the difference in average payment in Cumbria would be if the lower rate of subsidy for land currently classed as a severely disadvantaged area (SDA) were applied only to those farms currently in the hill farm allowance scheme instead of the whole SDA. [169094]
§ Alun MichaelIt is not possible to give definitive answers at the present time as entitlements under the new single payment scheme will be allocated on the basis of claims made by farmers in 2005. However from previous claim data, the majority of land claimed in the severely disadvantaged area in Cumbria, also receive hill farm allowance payment.
§ David MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of livestock in Cumbria will be classed as being in a severely disadvantaged area from 2005. [169100]
§ Alun MichaelThe proportion of livestock in a severely disadvantaged area in Cumbria in 2005 will depend upon decisions made by farmers in that year. For single payment scheme purposes, the Department will not seek to class animals as being in a particular area in 2005 as that is not relevant to the number or value of entitlements that farmers are allocated. It will be 1493W necessary to determine the value of payments made to farmers under existing CAP livestock schemes in the 2000–02 reference period. But, the allocation of this 'historical' element to entitlements held by farmers in one region or another will not affect the total value of subsidy that those farmers receive.