Written question asked by David Lidington (Conservative) on Tuesday, 14 October 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 22 October 2003. It was answered by Baroness Beckett (Labour) on Wednesday, 22 October 2003 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 running costs were of the Rural Enterprise Scheme, broken down by region, in each year since the scheme was established (a) in cash terms and (b) as a percentage of the scheme's budget. - Including figures.

Answer: Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the running costs were of the Rural Enterprise Scheme, broken down by region, in each year since the scheme was established (a) in cash terms and (b) as a percentage of the scheme's budget. [132627] Margaret Beckett: The Rural Enterprise Scheme (RES) is delivered by Defra's Rural Development Service (RDS), but running costs are not available broken down by both scheme and region. In 2001-02 many RDS operational staff made a substantial contribution to work related to the foot and mouth disease outbreak and were not employed on their normal duties for much of the year. In consequence, it is not possible to provide an accurate figure for RES running costs in 2001-02. In 2002-03 RES accounted for 75.7 staff years of RDS effort at a total estimated cost of £2.6 million. RDS running costs are not funded from RES programme expenditure, however £2.6 million expressed as a percentage of the final RES budget for 2002-03 is 16.7 per cent. It is important to note that 2002-03 running cost expenditure relates not just to the in-year budget, but also to the assessment and approval of projects which will incur expenditure in subsequent years; forward funding commitments at the end of 2002-03 amounted to £15.4 million.

Secondary information