Payments made to sheep farmers in the last 12 months related to entitlements under the 2000 ewe premium and 2000 sheep headage scheme in disadvantaged areas. No payments have been made in respect of the 2001 ewe premium scheme. The sheep headage scheme in disadvantaged areas has been replaced this year with a new area-based compensatory allowance scheme.
The position is that 40,368 sheep producers were paid a total of £77.6 million under the 2000 ewe premium scheme. In addition, 26,209 of those producers in disadvantaged areas were paid a total of £21.7 million under the 2000 sheep headage scheme.
Under the ewe premium scheme, sheep farmers are paid a premium for maintaining a flock of ewes. In order to be paid, producers must hold a quota right for each ewe on which premium is claimed. A farmer may not be paid on more than the allocated quota. The ewes applied on must be in the ownership and possession of the applicant at the time of application and must be maintained at a specified location for a period of 100 days from the closing date for receipt of applications. All applications are subject to administrative and on-farm controls as required under EU regulations. A minimum of 10% of applications are selected for on-farm inspection each year and these cases are selected using risk analysis. Up to 70% of all on-farm inspections are unannounced. However, in mountain commonage areas a maximum of 48 hours notice is given as provided for in EU regulations because of the difficulties in assembling sheep for inspection in these areas. Producers not selected for on-farm inspection are asked each year to confirm the number of sheep on their holding towards the end of the retention period as well as details of any sheep lost or disposed of since application. All of the controls, both administrative and on-the-spot, are carried out within the retention period.