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Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Answer

Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the 20 largest payments made under the (a) Arable Area Payments Scheme, (b) Beef Special Premium Scheme, (c) Suckler Cow Premium Scheme, (d) Sheep Annual Premium Scheme, (e) Hill Farm Allowance Scheme, (f) Slaughter Premium Scheme, (g) Integrated Administration and Control System, (h) Dairy Premium Scheme, (i) Dairy Additional Payments Scheme and (j) Extensification Payment Scheme were in the most recent EU budget year for which figures are available. [156141] Alun Michael: The figures in the following table represent the total of the 20 largest payments made under the listed schemes. These are based on the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) Year which runs from 16 October 2002 to 15 October 2003. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Scheme Value (£) Arable Area Payments 10,067,954.47 Beef Special Premium 819,631.12 Suckler Cow Premium 1,721,515.19 Sheep Annual Premium 1,438,796.95 Hill Farming Allowance 310,191.42 Slaughter Premium 600,375.50 Extensification Payment 915,768.43 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Figures have not been provided for (g) Integrated Administration and Control System as this is an umbrella scheme which encompasses the individual schemes listed in the table; (h) Dairy Premium Scheme and (i) Dairy Additional Payments Scheme which are new schemes being introduced with effect from 2004. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is bound by commercial confidentiality in its dealings with its customers, whether sole traders or farmers or corporations, breach of which by disclosing information relating to the affairs of individual traders or farmers or corporations would expose the RPA to the liability of legal proceedings in tort. In relation to individual farmers or traders, information which is of a personal nature, such as individual payments to such persons, is personal data which is protected from voluntary disclosure under the Data Protection Act 1998. While the RPA can release global figures relating to payments, which do not identify individual persons, including corporations, it is unable to release individual figures without incurring the liabilities under the two principles

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

419 c693-4W;419 c696W; 156141

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Agriculture Payments Subsidies Hill farming Suckler cow premiums Beef premiums Arable area payments scheme Sheep premiums Extensification schemes

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk