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6 Mar 2006 : Column 1072W—continued

Departmental Expenditure

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent by her Department on media training in each year since 1997–98. [55207]

Jim Knight: Defra was formed in June 2001; information on media training is not held centrally prior to that date. Media training expenditure through the centrally held budget managed by Defra's Communications Directorate since that date is as follows:

FY	£
2001–02	56,198.44
2002–03	31,313.75
2003–04	28,728.75
2004–05	66,616.62
2005–06	65,096.78

These payments have been made to a company providing television and radio interview training . This training has enabled senior Defra delivery staff to accept invitations from regional media to do factual interviews explaining their work.

Providing details of non-centralized Defra spend would incur disproportionate cost.

Farm Incomes

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the average farm income for each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [55648]

Jim Knight [holding answer 3 March 2006]: The average net farm income for farms in England for each of the last 10 years is shown in the following table.
 
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Average net farm income in England

£/farm(1)
March/February	Nominal terms	In real terms at 2004–05 prices
1995–96	38,200	47,800
1996–97	31,700	38,800
1997–98	15,200	18,000
1998–99	11,500	13,200
1999–2000	8,700	9,800
2000–01	10,600	11,600
2001–02(2)	14,900	16,100
2002–03	16,600	17,600
2003–04	29,500	30,400
2004–05	21,200	21,200

⁽¹⁾ All farm types, including horticulture.
2 Excluding farms subjected to compulsory foot and mouth disease cull.
Note:
1. Deflated by the Retail Price Index.
Source:
Farm Business Survey.

Net farm income is the return to the principal farmer and spouse for their manual and managerial labour and to the tenant-type capital of the business.

Single Payment Scheme

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment her Department has made of the impact on farmers in West Lancashire of late payments of the single farm payment. [53315]

Jim Knight: The first SPS payments reached farmers on 20 February. This is in line with the forecast the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) made over a year ago and well within the EU regulatory window of 1 December 2005 to 30 June 2006. The RPA is now in the process of authorising over £300 million worth of claims for payment and remains on track to pay the bulk of the £1.6 billion to English farmers by the end of March.

All evidence to date suggests no otherwise viable businesses will fail because of the timing of these payments, but I know cash flow is currently an important issue for a number of farmers and that the start of payments has, consequently, been widely welcomed.

Mr. Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the Rural Payments Agency on the efficiency and accuracy of their computer systems; and whether the Agency has allocated the correct single farm payment to each farm. [52525]

Jim Knight: My noble Friend Lord Bach has regular meetings with senior officials of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) to review progress towards making
 
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payments under the Single Payment Scheme (SPS). All operational issues, for example resources, systems and business processes are discussed.

RPA also uses the Office for Government Commerce Gateway Review process to peer review the progress they are making with the programme of work.

I am pleased to confirm that the first SPS payments were released by the RPA on 20 February 2006. As part of the process there is a review of the proposed payment before it is authorised. There is of course, as a matter of customer service, a process for customers to appeal on grounds of fact if they believe there is a material error in their payment.

Mr. Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Government will make provision to reimburse farmers for the interest they have lost from the single farm payment as a result of the delays in payments being made. [52527]

Jim Knight: The payment window for the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) 2005 as set by EU legislation opens on 1 December 2005 and runs until 30 June 2006.

Further to the announcement I made on 31 January 2006, I am pleased to report that the first SPS payments were released by the Rural Payments Agency on 20 February 2006. The bulk of payments are expected to be complete by the end of March, and I expect all payments will be made well within the regulatory payment window.

Under the circumstances it is not appropriate to pay interest.

Organic Farming

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers in Staffordshire have been registered under the Organic Entry Level Scheme. [51417]

Jim Knight: As at 16 February 2006, three applications have been received by the West Midlands Rural Development Service, one of these has generated a full agreement.

Public Information

Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on the Department's public relations and information services in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [48960]

Jim Knight: The information requested is as follows:

(a) Public Relations

With regard to public relations expenditure incurred by Defra's Communications Directorate since 2001, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 19 December 2005, Official Report, column 2385W, relevant details of which are as follows:

Date	Agency	Cost (£)	Project
2002	Good Relations	5,900	Sustainable Food and Farming
2002	Biss Lancaster	189,366.67	Your countryside your welcome
2002	Red	121,848,93	Illegal Imports
2002	Country Porter Novelli	16,243	Sustainable Development
2003	Forster Company	11,170	Darwin Initiative
July 2004-March 2005	Media Moguls	261,558.70	Illegal Food Imports Campaign Phase 1
August 2005-present	Media Moguls	22,362.31	Illegal Food Imports Campaign Phase 2
January-May 2005	Amazon Public Relations	55,904.84	Launch of the Sustainable Development Strategy
August 2005 to date	Amazon Public; Relations	18,750	Sustainable Development case; studies
October 2005 to March 2006	Weber Shandwick	60,000	Climate Change

 
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Inclusion of non-centralized Defra spend would incur disproportionate cost.

(b) Information Services

The Department does not maintain separate records of its expenditure for information services. Expenditure can only be indicated through the centrally held budget managed by Defra's Communications Directorate, and covers all paid publicity activity. Inclusion of non-centralized Defra spend would incur disproportionate cost. Expenditure for the last five years is as follows:

	Expenditure (£ million)
2001–02	6.6
2002–03	4.7
2003–04	3.7
2004–05	6.8
2005–06	(2)3.9

⁽²⁾ Budgeted expenditure for FY 2005–06

Waste Incineration

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's plans are to increase mass-burn incineration of waste. [53695]

Mr. Bradshaw: Local authorities are responsible for deciding the most appropriate waste management facilities for their areas and currently recover energy from about 9 per cent. of municipal waste via incineration. Economic modelling undertaken to inform the Government's current waste strategy review suggests that this may increase to about 25 per cent. nationally by 2020. This is less than was forecast in Waste Strategy 2000 due to our expected better performance on recycling.

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