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Arable Area Payments Scheme
Dr. Strang:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many payments (a) were made in England in 1994-95 and (b) he expects to be made in 1995-96 under the arable area payments scheme between (i) £0 and £5,000, (ii) £5,001 and £10,000, (iii) £10,001
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and £15,000, (iv) £15,001 and £20,000, (v) £20,001 and £25,000, (vi) £25,001 and £50,000, (vii) £50,001 and £75,000, (viii) £75,001 and £100,000, (xi) £100,001 and £150,000, (x) £150,001 and £200,000, (xi) £200,001 and £250,000, (xii) £250,001 and £300,000, (xiii) £300,001 and £350,000, (xiv) £350.001 and £400,000, (xv) £400,001 and £450,000, (xvi) £450,001 and £500,000, (xvii) £500,000 and £999,999 and (xviii) £1 million and over. [15320]
Mr. Douglas Hogg:
The distribution by size of total payments made against claims in 1994-95 under the arable area payments scheme is as follows. Similar figures are not yet available for 1995-96 as the final oilseeds payments and some payments on non-food set-aside for the year have not yet been made.
| Size band | Number of payments |
|---|---|
| £0 and £5,000 | 19,078 |
| £5,001 and £10,000 | 6,140 |
| £10,001 and £15,000 | 4,761 |
| £15,001 and £20,000 | 3,432 |
| £20,001 and £25,000 | 2,496 |
| £25,001 and £50,000 | 6,289 |
| £50,001 and £75,000 | 2,200 |
| £75,001 and £100,000 | 978 |
| £100,001 and £150,000 | 694 |
| £150,001 and £200,000 | 223 |
| £200,001 and £250,000 | 95 |
| £250,001 and £300,000 | 32 |
| £300,001 and £350,000 | 15 |
| £350,001 and £400,000 | 9 |
| £400,001 and £450,000 | 12 |
| £450,001 and £500,000 | 3 |
| £500,000 and over | (29)13 |
(29) It is not possible to identify separately the number of payments above £1,000,000 for reasons of confidentiality.
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Set-aside Payments
Dr. Strang: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many payments (a) were made in England in 1994-95 and (b) he expects to be made in England in 1995-96 for set-aside of between (i) £0 and £5,000, (ii) £5,001 and £10,000, (iii) £10,001 and £15,000, (iv) £15,001 and £20,000, (v) £20,001 and £25,000, (vi) £25,001 and £50,000, (vii) £50,001 and £75,000, (viii) £75,001 and £100,000, (ix) £100,001 and £150,000, (x) £150,001 and £200,000, (xi) £200,001 and £250,000, (xii) £250,001 and £300,000, (xiii) £300,001 and £350,000, (xiv) £350,001 and £400,000, (xv) £400,001 and £450,000, (xvi) £450,001 and £500,000 and (xvii) over £500,000. [15334]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: The distribution by size of payments made against claims in 1994-95 for set-aside is as follows. Similar figures are not yet available for 1995-96 as not all payments have been made where non-food crops have been grown on set-aside land.
| Size band | Number of payments |
|---|---|
| (i) £0 and £5000 | 17,738 |
| (ii) £5,001 and £10,000 | 6,708 |
| (iii) £10,001 and £15,000 | 2,284 |
| (iv) £15,001 and £20,000 | 1,040 |
| (v) £20,001 and £25,000 | 467 |
| (vi) £25,001 and £50,000 | 564 |
| (vii) £50,001 and £75,000 | 62 |
| (viii) £75,001 and £100,000 | 24 |
| (ix) £100,000 and over | (30)8 |
(30) It is not possible to identify separately the number of payments above £150,000 for reasons of confidentiality.
Sheep and Goats
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimates he has made of the number of eartags on sheep which are likely to (a) become illegible and (b) be lost in the space of a 12 month period. [15579]
Mrs. Browning: None. There was no need for such an estimate given our intention only to require sheep that are consigned for transport outside Great Britain to be either eartagged or tattooed.
Mr. Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the number and percentage of sheep in the United Kingdom that are tattooed. [15577]
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimates he has made of the number of people who keep (a) sheep and (b) goats. [15622]
Mrs. Browning: We estimated that there are 92,398 sheep holdings and 7,730 goat holdings in England and Wales. This information is contained in the compliance cost assessment and is based on information contained in "The Digest of Agricultural Census Statistics" in 1992.
Mr. Prentice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consultation he had with local authorities concerning the staffing and other resources that
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will have to be committed by them to enforce the Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) Order 1996. [15582]
Mrs. Browning:
A representative from the national animal health and welfare panel of the local authorities sits on the specially formed industry/Government working group which considered the proposals for the Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) Order 1996.
Mr. Prentice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consultations have taken place with organisations representing sheep and goat farmers about the assumptions his Department made in respect of the likely costs of complying with the Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) Order 1996.[15757]
Mrs. Browning:
We consulted the industry regularly on our proposals for the implementation of EC directive 92/102, including for sheep and goats. Views were specifically sought in June 1994 on a draft of the compliance cost assessment.
Mr. Prentice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reasons the statistical information used in the compliance costs assessment for the Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) Order 1996 was drawn from 1992 publications. [15756]
Mrs. Browning:
A draft compliance cost assessment was issued for comment in 1994 based on the latest complete statistical information available. It was not felt that circumstances had changed to such an extent that a revised CCA based on later figures would be justified.
Mr. Morley:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many of his veterinary officers and technical assistants were involved on (a) 13 February and (b) 14 February in lairages near Dover in inspecting animals to ensure that they were fit to travel under the Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1994 and to deal with other related matters. [16155]
Mrs. Browning:
On 13 February there were three veterinary officers, one temporary veterinary inspector and eight technical staff present.
On 14 February there were five veterinary officers, one temporary veterinary inspector and nine technical staff present.
Mr. Morley:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many consignments on 13 and 14 February were inspected by his veterinary officers and technical assistants; how many (a) sheep and (b) calves were inspected; how many hours were spent in carrying out the inspections; and if he will make a statement.[16156]
Mrs. Browning:
On 13 February there were five consignments of sheep totalling 1,805 sheep and seven consignments of calves totalling 828 calves. Ministry staff were present at Dover lairages from 0900 on 13 February until 0130 on 14 February.
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On 14 February there was one consignment of sheep totalling 405 sheep and eight consignments of calves totalling 1,165 calves. Ministry staff were present at lairages from 0730 on 14 February until 1700 on 14 February.
13. Mrs. Lait:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people now have the rights to a private pension. [14363]
Mr. Heald:
The latest estimates are that there are more than 20 million people in the country with rights to an occupational pension, and more than 8 million personal pensions. In 1993, the total value of funds in occupational and personal pensions was approaching £600 billion.
19. Mr. Peter Atkinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total sum invested in funded private pensions in the United Kingdom; and what are the equivalent figures in other EU member states. [14369]
Mr. Heald:
In 1993, the total value of funds in funded pension schemes in the United Kingdom was nearly £600 billion. This is substantially more than the latest estimate of £480 billion for all the other countries in the European Union.
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Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of (a) the savings to the Exchequer from the take-up of personal pension schemes and (b) the cost to the Exchequer of providing relief from employers' national insurance on contributions made by employers to pension schemes for their work force. [14668]
Mr. Heald
[holding answer 12 February 1996]: The information is in the tables:
| Decade | Savings | Cumulative savings |
|---|---|---|
| 2002-09 | 250 | 250 |
| 2010-19 | 2,350 | 2,600 |
| 2020-29 | 5,300 | 7,900 |
| 2030-39 | 7,200 | 15,100 |
| 2040-49 | 4,500 | 19,600 |
| 2050-59 | 1,900 | 21,500 |
| 2060-69 | 500 | 22,000 |
Source:
Government Actuary's Department.
Notes:
1. The estimated savings are expressed in 1993-94 price terms.
2. Appropriate personal pension--APPs--have been available since April 1988, but earners were allowed to backdate their minimum contributions based on earnings for the previous tax year, as 1987-88. The estimated savings in the table relate to the SERPS that would have become payable in respect of earnings between April 1988 and March 1993, if those who took out an APP between those dates had not done so.
3. An increase in real earnings of 1½ per cent. has been assumed in these calculations.
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| Amount of rebate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Primary (Employee) | Secondary (Employer) | Total | Cumulative total |
| 1988-89 | 99 | 190 | 289 | 289 |
| 1989-90 | 587 | 1,116 | 1,703 | 1,992 |
| 1990-91 | 504 | 958 | 1,462 | 3,454 |
| 1991-92 | 600 | 1,139 | 1,739 | 5,193 |
| 1992-93 | 654 | 1,243 | 1,897 | 7,090 |
| 1993-94 | 707 | 1,344 | 2,051 | 9,141 |
Notes:
1. 1993-94 is the latest year for which published audited accounts are available.
2. The table shows the cost of providing relief (rebates) from employers' national insurance contributions and for completeness, the cost of providing rebates on the employees' contribution as well as the overall total cost.
3. The figures showing the "Total" cost are taken from the published audited accounts of the national insurance fund, and show the amount of rebates paid over to providers of APPs in each of the relevant tax years up to and including 1993-94. The breakdown between the "Employee" and the "Employer" has been estimated by the Government Actuary's Department.
4. These rebates (along with any income tax relief, incentives and appropriate additions) are paid over to the pension providers in arrears following the end of the tax year in which the relevant earnings were paid.
Source:
Government Actuary's Department based on national insurance fund accounts.
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