To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to settle the outstanding annual payment due to the Holne Commoners for the year ending 31 August 2007 in accordance with the Environmentally Sensitive Agreement 1999. (153660)

I can confirm that the outstanding annual payment due under the Holne Commoners’ Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) agreement was processed on 9 July 2007.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has made to the European Commissioner responsible for environmentally sensitive schemes on the EU’s financial obligations to commoners in Dartmoor National Park. (153661)

None. The financial arrangements for the Rural Development Programme for the period 2007-13 were announced on 29 March 2007. This provides for £2.9 billion for agri-environment schemes, over double the expenditure spent in the last programme. This will enable all existing agri-environment agreements, including those for Dartmoor Commoners, to be maintained, and in addition allows for new agreements under Environmental Stewardship to be set up when the existing agreements expire.