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20 May 2003 : Column 693W—continued
Farm Bureaucracy
Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to improve the speed of IACS payments; and if she will make a statement. [114270]
Alun Michael: The Rural Payments Agency makes IACS payments and is currently engaged in a programme which will modernise IT systems and working practices to enable more efficient use of resources and reduce bureaucracy for farmers and for Government. Good progress is being made and the first stage for land based IACS schemes is due to be delivered early next year. This will result in improved payment performance.
In the meantime RPA is making every effort to maintain performance on existing legacy systems. For 2002, the bulk of the Arable Area Payments and Sheep Annual Premium Payments were paid in record time. On the other hand the RPA has experienced difficulties with Bovine payments mainly as a result of complex regulatory changes.
Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to reduce the duplication of data required from farmers for payment; and if she will make a statement. [114271]
Alun Michael: The Rural Payments Agency which is responsible for payments to farmers, is currently engaged in a programme of developments to modernise the systems for administering payments to farmers. The first stage is due for delivery next year and the full programme will be implemented by 2005. The new e-enabled systems will include a number of features designed to reduce duplication of data collected from farmers. The programme is progressing well.
Farmers
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the issues raised most often in correspondence to her from farmers in the last three months, with the numbers of pieces of correspondence in each case. [111924]
Alun Michael: Records of correspondence from individual members of the public are not held centrally. Such letters are sent to relevant Divisions in the Department for them to answer direct. Letters from Members on behalf of constituents are recorded on the ministerial correspondence database by Member, date and constituent name. We do not record the occupation of the constituent.
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The Department receives a large postbag on a range of issues across its responsibilities.
Fisheries
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on current estimates of fishers' compensation claims pursuant to the latest restrictions as set out by the Fisheries Council in December 2002. [112497]
Mr. Morley: I appreciate the fishing industry's concern that their earnings have been affected by the limits on time at sea. The way to promote better viability for fishing operations is to bring the size of the fleet and fish stocks into better balance.
Flooding (North Shropshire)
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what provision there is to provide support to (a) home owners, (b) farmers and (c) businesses whose properties have been, or may in the future be, subject to flooding in the North Shropshire constituency. [113176]
Mr. Morley: The Government are committed to the effective management of flood and coastal erosion risk and have increased funding in all three spending reviews. Following autumn 2000 floods, i.e. between 2000–01 and 2005–06, total expenditure is expected to increase from £328.5 million to £564.2 million an increase of £236 million in cash terms. The Government plan to spend approximately £1.5 billion over the next three years.
The Environment Agency provide the public with timely warnings in order that they may be prepared in the event of a flood. In recent years flood warning has been improved, and there is now a flood watch area covering most of North Shropshire and four flood warning areas covering the River Severn from Shrawradine to Coalport.
The emergency response to flooding falls primarily to local authorities and emergency plans have been checked and amended and liaison arrangements between the Agency, local authorities and emergency services have been improved.
The Government do offer other support in instances of flooding:
- In cases of genuine hardship, help may be available from the social fund; details are available from Benefits Agency offices.
Properties that are vacant while being repaired or refurbished after flooding are generally exempt from council tax, although the tax may be payable on any temporary accommodation.
Local Authorities receive Civil Defence Grants to help fund, for instance, reception and rest centres for evacuated families. Local authorities would be required under homelessness legislation to provide long-term accommodation to flood victims.
The Government have in the past made Ministry of Defence housing available.
Defra may be able to achieve some flexibility in the rules of various farm schemes (e.g. adjustments to allow farmers to enter flooded land into the set-aside scheme).
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A joint Environment Agency, Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) and Building Research Establishment (BRE) website provides advice on restoration and repair of flooded property. In particular, this provides guidance on appropriate flood-resistance materials, such as special plasters and building plastics.
Flood insurance is widely available and provides a range of cover.
Food from Britain
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) representations she has received from and (b) consultations she has held with small and medium sized food (i) producers and (ii) exporters concerning the allocation of the recently announced additional funding for Food from Britain. [113762]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 19 May 2003]: The additional funding for Food from Britain is intended to help implement Defra's regional food strategy. That strategy was drawn up and agreed in a series of meetings between the department and key stakeholders and forms part of the Government's Sustainable Food and Farming Strategy (SFFS) launched in December 2002. In drawing up the SFFS we took as our evidence-base the work of the Curry Commission, the submissions which we received from over 1,000 organisations that we consulted on taking forward its conclusions and the views of those people who joined in our regional roadshows.
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of the additional funding for Food from Britain will be spent on (a) personnel, (b) training, (c) members' services and (d) press relations; and if she will provide a breakdown of spending in other categories. [113764]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 19 May 2003]: Food from Britain will receive an additional £1 million this year for the promotion of English regional food and drink. This is in addition to the £260,000 they already receive. The provisional breakdown of the combined allocation (rounded to the nearest thousand pounds) is:
- (a) and (b) £45,000 for Food from Britain personnel and their training needs;
(c) none (Fast Track members' services are concerned with export promotion only);
(d) £42,000 for public relations.
- national trade development activities (e.g. trade shows, meet the buyer events, regional food directories) £133,000;
consumer awareness (e.g. national consumer food shows; national regional food tourism portal and guides) £155,000;
business competitiveness (e.g. export guides, benchmarking) £15,000;
Eat the View initiative £150,000; and
delivery of regional projects to support FFB's national programme £720,000 (£90,000 for each region).
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medium sized food and drink (a) producers and (b) exporters must become members of Food from Britain to receive support from her Department. [113769]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 19 May 2003]: No.
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will provide support for British Food Fortnight. [113763]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 19 May 2003]: The Government's Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy recognises the need to help farmers and regional food and drink producers add more value by reconnecting with customers and the rest of the food chain. The additional money being made available to Food from Britain to support the quality regional food sector is intended to help address this need. These objectives chime well with those of British Food Fortnight, but direct Government aid to the latter could conflict with our obligations under Article 28 of the EC Treaty not to distort competition by favouring products because of their national origin.
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