Fisheries: Finance

Bill Wiggin
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department and its predecessor gave to the Environment Agency in grant-in-aid for the Environment Agency's fisheries functions in England and Wales in each year since 1997; how much he plans to provide over the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies
From 1997-8 to 2007-8, my Department provided grant-in-aid for the Environment Agency's fisheries functions as shown in the following table. Funding for fisheries functions in Wales has been the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government since 1999.

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|                                        |MAFF/DEFRA GIA (£ million)|
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|1997-81                                 |7.4                       |
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|1998-91                                 |7.9                       |
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|1999-2000                               |4.9                       |
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|2000-1                                  |4.8                       |
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|2001-2                                  |3.2                       |
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|2002-3                                  |5.8                       |
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|2003-4                                  |6.3                       |
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|2004-5                                  |6.3                       |
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|2005-6                                  |6.3                       |
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|2006-7                                  |5.9                       |
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|2007-8                                  |5.9                       |
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|1 Includes fisheries functions in Wales.|                          |
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DEFRA's grant-in-aid for the Environment Agency's fisheries functions in England has been confirmed at £5.9 million for 2008-9 and 2009-10. The amount of grant-in-aid for 2010-11 and subsequent years will be subject to business planning decisions and the outcome of future Spending Reviews. The funding provided for the Environment Agency's activities in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government.