Defra told to find £200m in six months to pay for SFP delivery
UK - The true cost of the debacle surrounding delivery of the Single Farm Payment became apparent this week as DEFRA was forced to slash its budget by nearly £200m over the next six months in search of savings.The cuts are likely to be borne in large part by the Environment Agency which is expected to cut nearly £15m from flood defences and £9m from environmental protection.
Natural England, the new body taking over from the Countryside Agency in October, is to lose £12m from its budget just months before it comes in to operation.
However, agri-environment schemes such as the Entry Level Scheme and Higher Level Scheme are not expected to be affected as funds for these are allocated from the central budget and already committed, commented a DEFRA spokesman.
Source: FWi
3 August 2006
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