To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress has been made in making single farm payments to farmers in Northamptonshire. (72937)

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many single farm payments have been made in (a) England and (b) Shropshire in excess of entitlements; and, in each case, by what aggregate amount. (74175)

As at 23 June 2006 104,230 payments had been made in respect of Single Payment Scheme applications. This figure consists of full and partial payments. Work is continuing by the Rural Payments Agency to pay as many claims as possible using a variety of methods by the end of the payment window on 30 June.

Payments have been calculated and paid based on the number of entitlements established, including a substantial number of partial payments, where the payment was calculated on the basis of an estimated number of entitlements.

Details of payments made in England up to 30 June 2006, including by constituency and county, are not presently available but will be published in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the chief executive of the Rural Payments Agency will receive a financial bonus for the complete payment of single farm payments. (76182)

The chief executive of the RPA was replaced after advising Ministers that, contrary to earlier assurances, the bulk of 2005 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) payments would not be made by the end of March. The current interim chief executive, who is now responsible for turning the system around, will be eligible for a bonus payment at the end of this financial year subject to the achievement of challenging targets. These will be set in the light of his plans to improve the RPA’s performance and will certainly cover the administration of the SPS.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what payments have been made to third parties in relation to administering the Single Payment Scheme. (74071)

The main third parties whose services have been used to set up the administration of the Single Payment Scheme are Accenture, Infoterra and Black & Veatch. Payments made to date to each of these companies are detailed as follows:

In addition, the Rural Payments Agency has employed agency staff and consultants.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission regarding EU fines for not paying all of the Single Farm Payment by 30 June 2006; whether the deadline will be extended; and if he will make a statement; (79894)

The end of the regulatory payment window for the 2005 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) is 30 June 2006. Discussions with the European Commission suggest that a formal extension to that window is unlikely, but those discussions will continue, focussed on the application of separate regulatory requirements on the EU funding of payments. As things stand, those requirements are, in summary, that where payments made after 30 June in any member state amount to 4 per cent. or less of what was paid out before that date, no reduction in EU funding will be imposed. For any amounts outstanding after 30 June over and above the 4 per cent. threshold, reductions will apply as follows:

Furthermore, where the 4 per cent. threshold has not been used by 15 October, it will be reduced to 2 per cent.

Whether there is any reduction in EU funding of UK 2005 SPS payments and, if so, how much will, therefore, depend on the amount and timing of any payments made after 30 June deadline across the UK.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on computer training for the systems to implement the Single Farm Payment. (79897)

The expenditure on training in the new business processes and IT systems in the implementation and ongoing delivery of the Single Payment Scheme was £1,342,296.