Written question asked by Peter Ainsworth (Conservative) on Tuesday, 22 January 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 31 January 2002. It was answered by Baroness Beckett (Labour) on Thursday, 31 January 2002 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the annual administration costs of the Rural Enterprise Scheme are. - Inc figure.

Answer: Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the annual administration costs of the Rural Enterprise Scheme are. [30647] Margaret Beckett: The Rural Enterprise Scheme (RES) is one of the new grant schemes in the England Rural Development Programme which was launched in October 2000. It is delivered on a regional basis by DEFRA's Rural Development Service (RDS). Expenditure on the development and administration of the scheme in 2001-02 was forecast to be around £2 million. The final outturn figure is likely to be lower because a significant number of RDS staff were diverted temporarily on to foot and mouth disease work.

Secondary information