To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Government has been obliged to pay to the European Commission as a result of late payments under the new Single Farm Payment Scheme. (165965)

The current estimate of the total financial correction to be imposed on the UK for failure to meet payment deadlines in respect of the 2005 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) is around £70 million. No such corrections are expected for subsequent scheme years.