Single Farm Payments
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
10:34 am
Andrew George (Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, International Development; St Ives, Liberal Democrat)
What plans she has for the disbursement of single farm payments.
Jim Knight (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South Dorset, Labour)
As announced in February 2005, the Rural Payments Agency expects to start making payments under the new single payments scheme in February 2006.
Andrew George (Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, International Development; St Ives, Liberal Democrat)
At the NFU conference in February this year, the Secretary of State made it clear that the Government were minded to make interim payments to farmers under the single farm payments scheme to help the many thousands of farmers who will inevitably suffer cash flow problems, provided that they are within European rules, which has yet to be checked. Will the Under-Secretary confirm that such two-stage payments are permissible within European rules?
Jim Knight (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South Dorset, Labour)
We have not ruled out making an advance payment but it would need new EU legislation, something we are discussing actively with the Commission.
Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley, Labour)
I can assure my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary that the measure is very important to farmers all over country. The farmers in Chorley to whom I have spoken are very worried that the February cheques may not arrive and they need that cash flow. Will my hon. Friend ensure that if it looks like there will be a hiccup or that the cheques will not get there, there will be interim payments, without which those farmers will struggle during a bad time, coming up to Christmas?
Jim Knight (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South Dorset, Labour)
It remains our priority to ensure that we meet the target date of February of next year. That is what Ministers are actively focused on. Advance payment carries a considerable risk with changes to the new IT system, which have been the cause of some of the teething troubles. We are also in discussion with banks on the cash flow implications for their farming customers of implementing a new scheme.
Peter Atkinson (Whip, Whips; Hexham, Conservative)
I also support the demand for interim payments. The Under-Secretary may not be aware that, in the past few days, the price of fat stock has collapsed by 10 per cent. If that continues until the big sales in the autumn, livestock farmers, particularly upland ones, will have a serious cash flow problem. If there is a delay in the single farm payment cheques, farmers will have serious problems.
Jim Knight (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South Dorset, Labour)
There is not much else I can add for the hon. Gentleman. Obviously, I take seriously what he says about his constituents, and hill farmers in particular, but we are focused on achieving the February target that we have set. We are also mindful of the difficulties that farmers are facing and we are having the discussions I talked about earlier.
David Drew (Stroud, Labour)
It is good to hear my hon. Friend say that this matter is being given the correct priority. At my rural issues task force meeting on Friday, this was the most important issue to be discussed. A representative of the banks was there and indicated that the Government were asking whether the banks might lend money to farmers free of interest. That is a novel idea that we could examine in other fields, but as long as we can get the message out to those farmers that we will make those payments, a lot of the fears will be assuaged.
Jim Knight (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South Dorset, Labour)
As ever, I am grateful to my hon. Friend and I pay tribute to his work in liaising with farmers in his rural constituency and in keeping the House up to date with these matters.
William McCrea (South Antrim, DUP)
Will the Minister comment on the recent attacks on single farm payments by the Government and will he assure us that that will not hinder any of the payments?
Jim Knight (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South Dorset, Labour)
If I heard the hon. Gentleman correctly, he was suggesting that the Government were attacking the single farm payments scheme. We are not. Obviously we are discussing CAP reform in the wider context of the European finance settlement and we are doing that in the interests of the country, of farmers and of European citizens.
James Paice (Shadow Minister (Agriculture), Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; South East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
The Minister referred to the February target date. He will be aware that the Government's target is to start paying in February, but to pay 96 per cent. by the end of March. Does he accept that most farmers therefore assume that they are looking at March at the earliest, rather than February? Is he aware that some of the single farm payment money has been hived off, or modulated off, to pay for the entry level scheme, and that that scheme, too, is in absolute chaos? Farmers who asked for help six months ago still cannot make their applications. Not only are they facing a delay in their substantive single farm payment, their access to the other money—they see that money as theirs by right because it was originally modulated off—is being delayed even further into the distance. How much longer do we have to wait before the Government make a decision stemming from the remarks that the Secretary of State made at the NFU conference six months ago?
Jim Knight (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South Dorset, Labour)
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made no secret of her anger and frustration at some of the delays. As and when we have something to announce with certainty, we will do so. However, as things stand for both the entry-level scheme and the single payments scheme, we remain committed to the February payment.
David Taylor (North West Leicestershire, Labour)
Like many MPs with rural constituencies, I frequently meet National Farmers Union representatives over a quarterly cycle. Could the Minister clarify for those who raised the point with me at our last meeting whether it will be possible to buy or sell land or entitlements after the single payments scheme has started?
Jim Knight (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South Dorset, Labour)
I might have to get back to my hon. Friend on that question. Some of the complex aspects of the single payments scheme leave me a little perplexed at times, and that is possibly one of them.