Rural Payments Agency

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising the issue that a wider community depends on farming. He is absolutely right, and we are extremely mindful of the pressures on those business. At this moment I cannot give him a date of the kind that he seeks, but I can certainly tell him that that is part of the consideration. When I told several hon. Members that we did not rule out making interim payments, that was one of the reasons why—so I can assure him that we shall keep the matter very much under review.