Government response
Introduction
The Government welcomes the Select Committee's report.
It is particularly pleased at the support the Committee has given
for the Secretary of State's decision to allocate entitlement
to the new CAP Single Payment on the basis of three regions in
England.
The Government agrees with the Committee concerning
the desirability of publishing further assessments and analysis
of the impact of the implementation of the CAP reform on the industry
and the environment and of the need to research further the future
impacts. The Government has published an analysis of the impact
of the chosen payment method and other possible payment models.
The Government also agrees with the Committee that
the timetable for implementation in 2005 is challenging. However,
we remain on target for the new payment scheme to be delivered
on schedule. Defra and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) have joint
programme management systems in place, working very closely with
Devolved Administrations, to ensure this happens.
This response comments in turn on each of the Committee's
recommendations and conclusions. The Committee's recommendations
are reproduced in bold.
| 
