Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will set out, with statistical information relating
as directly as possible to the Ribble Valley constituency, the effects on Ribble Valley of his Department's policies and actions
since 2 May 1997. [157852]
Ms Quin: MAFF does not hold statistical information on a constituency basis relating to the Department's policies. Information on
land use, crop areas, livestock numbers, and labour on holdings in England by parliamentary constituency has been produced from 1
June 1999 Annual Agricultural and Horticultural Census. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House. Information from 1 June
2000 census will be available shortly and also placed in the House Library.
As many of the Department's policies flow from measures agreed within the framework of the EU Common Agricultural Policy,
statistical data are normally available on a UK or England basis. Farmers in the UK receive approximately £3 billion per year in
direct CAP payments. This does not include the significant additional costs to consumers as a result of CAP price supports which
keep EU prices above prevailing world prices. The value of direct CAP payments to the average farmer is set out in the table.
Average subsidies received by full-time farm businesses, England 1999-2000
£000
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Of which:
Total direct Crop subsidies Livestock subsidies Agri-environment Other{ 1}
subsidies
Cereals 37.8 34.2 2.3 1.0 0.1
General Cropping 31.8 28.8 2.4 0.6 0.0
Horticulture 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.2
Pigs and Poultry 3.6 2.2 1.4 0.1 0.0
Dairy 8.5 2.8 4.9 0.8 0.0
LFA Cattle and Sheep 29.3 0.4 25.4 3.3 0.2
Lowland Cattle and Sheep 14.1 1.7 10.6 1.8 0.0
Mixed 33.8 21.4 10.7 1.7 0.0
All types 22.5 14.8 6.4 1.2 0.1
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{1} Includes capital grants and any other miscellaneous grants. These reflect a combination of nationally funded and partly match
funded schemes. Notes: HLCA payments to hill farms are included under livestock subsidies. The figures show direct subsidy payments;
they do not include allowance for the financial benefit of prices supported above world market levels under the CAP. Source: Farm
Business Survey
In addition to CAP direct payments, farmers in the UK are benefiting from £1.35 billion in short-term financial relief since 2 May
1997.
This includes £785 million in agrimonetary compensation worth some £4,800 per average arable farmer, £3,200 per average dairy
farmer, £1,400 per average sheep farmer, and £1,140 and £3,800 per average farmer for agrimonetary compensation related to the Beef
Special Premium Scheme and Suckler Cow Premium Scheme respectively.
Since May 1997 the Government have more than doubled expenditure on agri-environment schemes in England. We now have more than twice
as much land covered by Countryside Stewardship agreements and we have increased the funding of organic conversion from £571,000 in
1997-98 to £12 million in 2000-01 and £18 million in 2001-02. Full-time hill farmers in England will be in receipt of some £6,360 on
average following the introduction of the Hill Farm Allowance Scheme this year. This compares with £4,048 under the Hill Livestock
Compensatory Allowance in 1996-97.
Farmers in Ribble Valley can benefit from schemes available under the England Rural Development Programme, which is backed by
funding of £1.6 billion over the period 2000-06. Three of the schemes within this programme--Rural Enterprise, Processing and
Marketing, and Vocational Training--have a budget of around £190 million and are being operated on a regional basis; each region has
its own allocation. These allocations are set out in the England Rural Development Programme.
Consumers in Ribble Valley will benefit from the Agenda 2000 reforms of the CAP in the form of reduced food bills, with the average
saving for a typical family rising to £65 a year by 2010.