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Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The right hon. Gentleman should wait for the outcome. He has levelled some detailed questions at me. I have many questions to answer, and I will do my best to do so this evening. The RPA has already begun to process the 106,000 or so claims that have been submitted under the 2007 single payment system. The agency’s targets for 2007-08 were set out in a statement by my hon. Friend the Member for Brent, North (Barry Gardiner) on 26 June, and they include a target to pay 75 per cent. by value of valid 2007 SPS claims by 31 March 2008, and 90 per cent. by value of valid 2007 SPS claims by 31 May. That target represents a greater degree of challenge for the agency in the coming year, while reflecting the fact that it is still in a recovery period. I understand those who have called for a commitment to make partial payments in December this year. That might look like a simple matter, but there are real issues around the legal basis for such payments, the division of resources entailed in making them and the potential disallowance risks involved. As my hon. Friend the Member for Brent, North said in his statement, this is an issue, and we will return to it in the autumn, alongside the progress that we are making in processing those claims. I look forward to having further exchanges on that matter. I turn now to the ““Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy”” report. The evaluation of the CAP has taken major steps in the right direction since 2003. We believe that it still lacks a clear and justifiable long-term goal, however, and our ““Vision”” paper was designed to underpin a European farming industry that is profitable, competitive in its own right and more sustainable, and one that is rewarded for delivering genuine public good and benefits that give the developing world a chance, as my hon. Friend the Member for Luton, North (Kelvin Hopkins) said.