Rural Development Funding

EDM number 173 in 1999-00, proposed by Paul Marsden on 08/12/1999.

That this House welcomes the Government's announcement on the Rural Development Regulation which increases rural development and environmental investment to ú1.6 million over the next seven years and which is a 60 per cent. increase; believes that this demonstrates the Government's commitment to agriculture, rural communities and the rural economy; particularly welcomes the 229 per cent. increase in funding for the organic conversion scheme amounting to ú140 million and an extra ú500 million for the countryside stewardship scheme; recognises the full match funding agreed by the Government for the modulated element; which is new money; congratulates the Minister of Agriculture and his team for securing this deal with EU partners; notes the last Tory Government's failure to achieve any comparatively significant funding for agr-environment schemes; and urges farmers, rural communities and the Government to maximise the potential of this new investment.

This motion has been signed by a total of 27 MPs.