To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she is undertaking into the implications of the use of the milk quota and other quota arrangements as a means of access to the single farm payment.

The use of milk quota to generate "historic" entitlements would tend to favour larger, more intensive, producers compared to the flat rate area based entitlements that are being adopted in England over an eight year transition period. It also increases the value of milk quota prior to decoupling. The issue was considered in the report by David Colman and David Harvey on "The Future of UK Dairy Farming", which was commissioned by the Dairy Supply Chain Forum and we are not undertaking any further research on the matter.