Agriculture: Maps

Questions

Asked by

Lord Taylor of Holbeach
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many original maps were submitted in each month for the Rural Payments Agency's (RPA) remapping exercise; how many maps have been confirmed by the RPA in each month; how many maps have been amended; how many have been returned in each month; and how many have yet to be returned from each month of submission. [HL2913]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Davies of Oldham)
The number of maps that the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has confirmed, amended and returned and those still outstanding, are shown in the table below.

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|Week Ending                                   |4/9/2009|21/10/2009|30/10/2009|27/11/2009|18/12/2009|29/1/2010|26/2/2010|19/13/2010|
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|Original Maps Sent from RPA                   |49,512  |71,396    |103,416   |107,111   |107,111   |107,247  |107,247  |107,247   |
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|Maps Accepted by Customers                    |10,520  |26,847    |38,833    |52,150    |*53,949   |*57,045  |*57,064  |*57,064   |
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|Maps Returned to RPA for Amendment            |9,885   |16,814    |27,567    |44,360    |49,011    |50,183   |50,183   |50,183    |
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|Customer Responses Outstanding                |29,107  |27,735    |37,016    |10,601    |4,151     |19       |0        |0         |
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|Amended Confirmation Maps Sent                |293     |293       |1,397     |4,627     |10,254    |24,208   |30,362   |39,850    |
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|Outstanding Confirmation Maps still to be Sent|9,592   |16,521    |26,170    |39,733    |38,757    |25,975   |19,821   |10,333    |
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* The number of maps accepted by customers includes customers who did not respond after several reminders and were therefore deemed to have accepted by default.

Asked by

Baroness Byford
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps are taken, when the Rural Payments Agency reduces a farmer's landholding, having sent him a final map, to compare the new map with the old map. [HL3007]

Lord Davies of Oldham
The Rural Land Register has been using base data from Ordnance Survey 2001 Mastermap. The Rural Payments Agency has been updating this with the 2008 version and using this information, along with aerial photography, to identify changes to land and features ineligible for the single payment scheme.

The maps sent to farmers show field parcel sizes so farmers can compare the new map information with the old maps they held previously and can see any increase or decrease in field size.