Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the costs of administering the English Rural Development Programme in each of the (a) last and (b) next five years.

The Common Agricultural Policy is a devolved policy and Defra is responsible for its delivery in England. Decisions relating to the implementation of the CAP are integrated into numerous policy areas within the department and the delivery of the CAP is carried out primarily by the Rural Payments Agency, Natural England, and the Forestry Commission, alongside other business. This arrangement allows the various objectives of the CAP to be delivered effectively. However, this integrated approach to delivery also makes it difficult to calculate the total annual cost of the CAP in isolation. This is something that was identified by the National Audit Office in its recent report ‘Early Development of the CAP Delivery Programme’, and Defra is currently considering how to respond to this recommendation.