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Rail Electrification
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what economic assessment his Department has made of the impact upon the east midlands of electrifying the midlands main line and of not doing so.
Mr. Portillo : The commercial opportunities for developing the line are a matter for British Rail.
Addingham Bypass
Mr. Waller : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects construction work to commence on the A65 Addingham bypass.
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Mr. Peter Bottomley : We plan to start construction on Addingham bypass this summer.
Departmental Expenditure
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what amounts are included within the estimated outturn public expenditure for his Department in 1987-88 in Cm. 288-II for (a) expenditure by way of grants or other forms of non-recoverable expenditure and (b) expenditure by way of loans.
Mr. Portillo : The outturn public expenditure for my Department in 1987-88 as estimated in Cm. 288 included £240 million net repayments of loans. The remainder of the estimated expenditure of £4,721 million was not recoverable except for about £15 million port severance grants which may become recoverable in certain circumstances. The figures for 1987 -88 now show a total expenditure of £4,592 million, including £362 million net repayments of loans.
Coastguard
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in the Official Report those incidents in 1988 requiring assistance from each coastguard rescue station in Scotland.
Mr. Portillo : Figures for 1988 are not yet available. The number of incidents where assistance was co-ordinated by coastguard rescue centres in Scotland during 1987 are as follows :
|Number
------------------------
Aberdeen |53
Clyde |167
Forth |66
Moray |71
Oban |140
Pentland |56
Shetland |65
Stornaway |42
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Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many representations he has received against the proposed closure of the Moray coastguard rescue centre.
Mr. Portillo : The Department has received a number of representations including 13 letters from hon. or right hon. Members.
Heavy Lorries
Mr. Dykes : To ask the Secretary of Transport if he will list the number and type of local authority control schemes to restrict heavy lorry movements which have been implemented since the coming into force of the Heavy Commercial Vehicles Act 1973.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The Department does not keep a record of such schemes.
Bus Doors
Dame Jill Knight : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on the safety of bus doors since the answer to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston on 19 May 1988, Official Report , column 524 .
Mr. Portillo : Good progress has been made in our discussions with the bus operators and manufacturers. I hope to make an announcement shortly.
London Regional Transport
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will tabulate in the Official Report income received, or estimated to be received, by London Regional Transport from (a) fares, (b) the Exchequer, (c) rate levy on London boroughs and (d) other income, for each of the years 1984-85 to 1989-90 at constant prices, together with the percentage of income arising from each source for each year, respectively.
Mr. Portillo : The information requested is as follows :
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Income received by London Regional Transport (1987-88 prices)
|<1>1984-85|1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |<2>1988-89|<3>1989-90
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total income
(£ million) |1,203.7 |1,070.3 |1,046.5 |997.4 |957.5 |1,086.9
Source
Traffic Income
(£ million) |802.0 |683.3 |693.5 |710.6 |726.4 |778.7
Per cent. of total |66.6 |64.3 |66.3 |71.2 |75.9 |71.6
Other Income
(£ million) |39.4 |33.8 |45.9 |47.8 |51.9 |51.0
Per cent. of total |3.3 |3.2 |4.4 |4.8 |5.4 |4.7
Grant (including GLC grant in 1984-85)
(£ million) |362.3 |348.2 |307.1 |239.0 |179.2 |257.2
Per cent. of total |30.1 |32.5 |29.3 |24.0 |18.7 |23.7
Grant recovered from levy on London ratepayers
(65.63 per cent. of total grant) |n/a |228.5 |201.6 |156.9 |117.6 |168.8
<1> 15 month accounting period 1 January 1984 to 31 March 1985. Audited figures for the fiscal year 1 April 1984 to 31
March 1985 are not available.
<2> Estimated outturn (as published in Annual Business Plan for 1989-90), deflated using an inflation rate for the
financial year 1988-89 based on the 1988 RPI and an average of independent forecasts for 1st quarter 1989.
<3> Forecast (as published in Annual Business Plan for 1989-90), deflated using an inflation rate for 1989-90 based on an
average of independent forecasts.
Source: Annual Report and Accounts except as stated in notes <2> and <3> above.
Channel Tunnel
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to develop a primary road network in Suffolk and Norfolk suitable for the advent of the Channel tunnel and the European single market.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : A primary route network, consisting of trunk roads and principal local authority roads, is already firmly established for the Department's eastern region, which includes Suffolk and Norfolk. We monitor its operation through a joint committee with the seven county surveyors for the region. The effects of predicted traffic growth and road developments on the network are taken into account at each annual review. This would include any increase in traffic to and from Europe through the east coast ports. The Channel tunnel is not expected significantly to influence traffic flows in Suffolk and Norfolk.
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the financing of a new railway line between the Channel tunnel terminal area and London can be carried out with public funds.
Mr. Portillo : Under section 19(2)(a) of the Transport Act 1962, British Rail has the power to borrow public funds for capital investment.
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether there is any requirement for a specified minimum rate of return to be achieved if the financing of the construction of a new railway line between the Channel tunnel terminal area and London is to be carried out with public funds.
Mr. Portillo : If the new line were to be financed by British Rail, the board would need to demonstrate that the project would produce a commercial return. The discount rate used to test this (currently 7 per cent.) will be agreed between BR and the Department. It will need to reflect the Treasury's required rate of return, which is intended to ensure that commercial public sector investment programmes (such as BR's) provide a rate of return which is broadly equivalent to that which could be achieved in the private sector. The required rate of return was set in 1978 and is reviewed from time to time.
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the circumstances in which he will not give his approval to a proposal from British Rail to construct a new railway line between London and the Channel tunnel.
Mr. Portillo : We will not give our approval if the board's proposals (which will need to include environmental protection measures) fail to establish a commercial case for the construction of a new line.
Road Traffic (Tax Yield)
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much tax yield the Treasury would gain from each 1 per cent. increase in the volume of road traffic. Mr. Peter Bottomley : Tax receipts do not relate directly to traffic volume. The gain would vary according to how
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much of the growth came from increased vehicle mileage and how much from increased numbers of vehicles on the road, and on their fuel consumption. Increased motoring taxes would be partly offset by the costs of the extra wear and tear caused by the extra traffic.Underground Stations (Fire Brigade Reports)
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether, in the light of the recommendations in the Fennell report, he will place in the Library the annual reports put forward in 1988 by the London fire brigade on each deep underground station.
Mr. Portillo : I understand that London Underground will, in the light of the Fennell recommendations, place in the Library of the House copies of the annual reports by the London fire brigade together with its responses. This procedure will be implemented starting from the inspection reports received in 1989.
M20
Mr. Speed : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to let the contract for the construction of London-Ashford section of the M20 motorway.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : We expect to let the contract for the Lenham to Ashford section of the motorway this spring.
Settle-Carlisle Railway
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has decided upon a date on which to announce his decision on the future of the Settle-Carlisle railway.
Mr. Portillo : My right hon. Friend will reach his decision when he has considered all the evidence before him.
Guardian Angels
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the British transport police on the activities on the London Underground system of the organisation known as the Guardian Angels.
Mr. Portillo : I see no need for such a report. The Government have made it clear that we are opposed to private citizens adopting a policing role except as special constables. There can be no objection to any persons travelling on the Underground if they do so in an unprovocative manner as fare-paying and law-abiding citizens. If, however, they act unlawfully or engage in conduct likely to provoke a breach of the peace, their presence will not be welcome and in that event they could not expect to be exempt from the ordinary processes of the law. The British transport police committee is considering the changes that would be necessary to the British transport police scheme to allow the force to recruit special constables and the Government look forward to their proposals.
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Severn Bridge
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the amount collected in tolls on the Severn bridge since it opened to the latest available date.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : A total of £48,547,086 to 31 March 1988.
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the present debt on the Severn bridge.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The latest available figure is £85,469,667 at 31 March 1988.
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the proposed doubling of toll charges on the Severn bridge takes place in September 1989, when he expects the debt on the bridge to be finally discharged.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : In 2006.
Road Traffic (London)
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will tabulate in the Official Report the number of vehicles of different categories crossing the
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three London traffic cordons in a combined 24 -hour flow for the years 1983 and 1987 together with the total vehicle flow at each cordon in passenger car units for the period together with the percentage change for each category and total as set out in Table 4 of his recent publication "Statement on Transport in London".Mr. Peter Bottomley : The information on flows in passenger car units is as follows :
Summary of Radial Traffic Movements in London
Combined direction 24 hour flows-thousands of passenger car units
|1983 |1987 |per cent. change
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
London Boundary cordon |2,133 |2,257 |+6
Inner London cordon |2,144 |2,203 |+3
Central London cordon |1,660 |1,664 |+0.3
The remaining information is set out in table 3 of the "Statement On Transport in London", reproduced as follows :
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Summary of radial traffic movements in London
Combined 24 hour flow-thousands of vehicles
Mode |1983 |<1>1987 |per cent. change|per cent. share
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Vehicles crossing the London boundary cordon
Buses and coaches |19 |16 |-16 |1
Private cars |1,565 |1,705 |+9 |79
Taxis |6 |9 |+50 |-
Goods vehicles:
light |159 |206 |+30 |10
medium |111 |111 |0 |5
heavy |77 |52 |-32 |2
Motor cycles |46 |39 |-15 |2
Pedal cycles |15 |16 |+7 |1
|------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |1,998 |2,154 |+8 |100
B. Vehicles crossing the Inner London cordon
Buses and coaches |35 |35 |0 |2
Private cars |1,535 |1,606 |+5 |75
Taxis |40 |40 |0 |2
Goods vehicles:
light |196 |216 |+10 |10
medium |116 |110 |-5 |5
heavy |40 |34 |-15 |2
Motor cycles |77 |58 |-25 |3
Pedal cycles |31 |24 |-23 |1
|------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |<2>2,070 |2,123 |+3 |100
C. Vehicles crossing the Central London cordon
Buses and coaches |39 |34 |-13 |2
Private cars |1,071 |1,086 |+1 |67
Taxis |125 |131 |+5 |8
Goods vehicles:
light |134 |173 |+29 |11
medium |91 |90 |-1 |5
heavy |32 |17 |-47 |1
Motor cycles |81 |65 |-20 |4
Pedal cycles |47 |30 |-36 |2
|------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |1,620 |1,626 |+0.4 |100
<1> Estimates extrapolated from 1986 survey. See Statistics Bulletin (88) 39-London Traffic Monitoring
Report for 1987.
<2> Estimates extrapolated from surveys conducted in 1981 and 1984. See Statistics Bulletin (88)
39-London Traffic Monitoring Report for 1987.
The question asks for results expressed in the form of passenger car units. This measurement is used by traffic
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engineers to express the demands of different vehicle types as a single value, usually in connection with traffic control at signalled junctions.Column 57
The following values are commonly used by the transport and road research laboratory to convert other vehicle types to their equivalent in passenger car units.
Tonnes
STC Division code |1985 |1986 |1987
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
00 |Live animals chiefly for foods |44 |38 |55
01 |Meat and meat preparations |441 |957 |216
02 |Dairy products and birds' eggs |117 |131 |113
03 |Fish, crustaceans and molluscs and
| preparations thereof |70,638 |70,807 |63,972
04 |Cereals and cereal preparations |644,165 |307,847 |706,142
05 |Vegetables and fruit |586 |846 |374
06 |Sugar, sugar preparations and honey |128 |103 |41
07 |Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manu-
| factures thereof |1,927 |1,300 |2,135
08 |Feedingstuff for animals |1,122 |2,260 |2,331
09 |Miscellaneous edible products |2,410 |315 |342
Section 0 |Food and feed |721,578 |384,604 |775,721
Total value of these food and feed exports (£ million) 81.516 43.502 54.149
Miss Widdecombe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to ensure that those advising him on British Rail's preferred route for a new railway line between London and the Channel tunnel do not live on or near any of the routes in question.
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Mr. Portillo : Members of the Department are required to disclose any personal interest they may have in matters for which they are responsible in an official capacity.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Eastern Europe (Food Sales)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the foods and quantities sold to countries in Eastern Europe in each of the last three years.
Mr. Ryder : The following information on United Kingdom exports to Eastern Europe is derived from the "Overseas Trade Statistics". It covers exports to Albania, Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Data for the whole of 1988 are not yet available.
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Tonnes
STC Division code |1985 |1986 |1987
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
00 |Live animals chiefly for foods |44 |38 |55
01 |Meat and meat preparations |441 |957 |216
02 |Dairy products and birds' eggs |117 |131 |113
03 |Fish, crustaceans and molluscs and
| preparations thereof |70,638 |70,807 |63,972
04 |Cereals and cereal preparations |644,165 |307,847 |706,142
05 |Vegetables and fruit |586 |846 |374
06 |Sugar, sugar preparations and honey |128 |103 |41
07 |Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manu-
| factures thereof |1,927 |1,300 |2,135
08 |Feedingstuff for animals |1,122 |2,260 |2,331
09 |Miscellaneous edible products |2,410 |315 |342
Section 0 |Food and feed |721,578 |384,604 |775,721
Total value of these food and feed exports (£ million) 81.516 43.502 54.149
NATO Central Supply Agency
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the posts, ranks and responsibilities of United Kingdom representatives designated to form part of the staff of the NATO central supply agency in transition to war.
Mr. Ryder : Information on the posts, ranks and responsibilities of the staff of NATO central supplies agency is subject to NATO security classification, and I am therefore unable to provide this information.
Food Hygiene
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South, 1 December, Official Report, column 319, when the major national campaign on food hygiene will be launched ; which people and which organisations have advised on its content ; at whom it is aimed ; what form it will take ; and what the cost will be.
Mr. Ryder : The campaign was prepared by my Department in collaboration with DOH, the Health Education Authority, the public health laboratory service and the Institution of Environmental Health Officers and will be launched this spring. The campaign will be based on an educational leaflet "The Recipe for Food Safety"
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which will advise the general public on how to prevent food poisoning in the home. The leaflet will be distributed through supermarkets, doctors' surgeries and other outlets. The campaign will cost initially £50,000.Slugs
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has made any estimate of the size of the slug population ; and what evidence he has of its rate of growth in recent years.
Mr. Ryder : Whilst I have no estimate of the size of the slug population, long-term monitoring shows no indication of a population explosion. Recent weather conditions have, however, encouraged greater slug activity which has caused local problems for cereal and oilseed rape growers in particular.
Bottled Water (Nitrate Content)
Mr. Paice : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and food what are the nitrate levels in the five most popular bottled waters sold in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Ryder : My Department does not keep records of the composition of all individual brands of bottled waters. Information on levels of nitrates in natural mineral waters should be available from the authority which has
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"recognised" the water under the appropriate European Community rules. It may also be available from the exploiter of the water source.EC Produce (Chemical Treatment)
Mr. Paice : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps his Department takes to ensure that produce from other EEC states which has been treated with chemicals banned in the United Kingdom does not enter the United Kingdom market ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : The United Kingdom now has over 1,000 statutory pesticide maximum residue levels (MRLs) under the Pesticides (Maximum Residue Levels in Food) Regulations 1988. Some of these MRLs are set at levels designed to preclude use of certain pesticides and they apply to imported as well as home-produced food and crops. Other member states, like the United Kingdom, are free to approve pesticides not already banned in all member states under directive 79/117/EEC. Many pesticides approved for use here and elsewhere do not give rise to residues in food. However, if imported food were thought likely to contain undesirable residues of pesticides not approved in the United Kingdom, appropriate MRLs could be introduced and enforced under the regulations.
Salmonella
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on how many occasions during 1988 salmonella enteriditis was confirmed in egg-laying flocks and on which occasion he used his powers to prevent poultry or eggs from such units from being sold for human consumption.
Mr. Ryder : The provisional figures for 1988 show that salmonella enteritidis was isolated in 20 table-egg laying flocks. Where salmonella enteritidis has been isolated a veterinary investigation has been carried out and advice given. I announced last Friday in a parliamentary reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) that notices will be issued under the Zoonoses Order 1975 to egg producers with flocks known or suspected of infection with salmonella enteritidis or other similar types of salmonella. These notices will prevent the sale of eggs in a raw state direct for human consumption.
Farmers (Direct Aid)
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what information he has about the intention of EEC member states to introduce new direct aid schemes for farmers ;
(2) which European Economic Community member states currently operate direct income aids for farmers.
Mr. Ryder : None. The Council reached agreement on the Commission's income aid proposal on 24 January. Member states wishing to implement this optional regulation have four years in which to submit their proposals to the Commission.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will take steps to introduce a direct income scheme for farmers.
Mr. Ryder : I have no plans to do so.
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Common Agricultural Policy
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the total volume of each commodity held in the United Kingdom in storage under the common agricultural policy intervention regime.
Mr. Ryder : A note setting out the volume of United Kingdom intervention stocks of agricultural commodities is deposited in the Library of the House and updated monthly.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the level of expenditure incurred in the United Kingdom during 1988, for each commodity, in (a) common agricultural policy intervention buying and (b) storage.
Mr. Ryder : The information requested is as follows :
£ thousand
|1987-88 Outturn |1988-89 Forecast
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beef
Intervention purchases |100,759 |50,340
Intervention sales |-52,850 |-43,470
|------- |-------
Net cost of intervention buying |47,909 |6,870
Storage costs |18,356 |10,190
Cereals
Intervention purchases |5,470 |72,460
Intervention sales |-93,993 |-55,060
|------- |-------
Net cost of intervention buying |-88,523 |17,400
Storage costs |59,560 |35,276
Butter
Intervention purchases |133,837 |2,490
Intervention sales |-23,342 |-32,450
|------- |-------
Net cost of intervention buying |110,495 |-29,960
Storage costs |18,309 |4,750
Skimmed Milk Powder
Intervention purchases |363 |2,490
Intervention sales |-18,092 |-32,450
|------- |-------
Net cost of intervention buying |-17,729 |-29,960
Storage costs |243 |4,750
Oil-seeds
Intervention purchases |0 |7,240
Intervention sales |0 |-7,560
|-------
Net cost of intervention buying |0 |-320
Storage costs |0 |240
Beef Producers
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much financial support was available to British producers of beef for each of the last three years for which figures are available ; and what is his estimate for the next full financial year in the light of the new regime announced on 24 January.
Mr. Ryder : Total expenditure in support of beef production in the United Kingdom in the last three financial years was as follows :
|£ million
------------------------------
1985-86 |404.2
1986-87 |312.0
1987-88 |292.2
These figures comprise intervention purchases and sales, intervention storage costs, export refunds, beef variable premium, suckler cow premium, calf premium and the beef element of hill livestock compensatory allowances.
In 1988-89 expenditure on the beef variable premium has been reduced as a result of firmer beef prices flowing from reductions in beef from the dairy herd. In 1989-90 expenditure will depend in particular on uptake of the special premium, the rate to be decided for the suckler cow premium and the extent to which the new system for intervention is activated.
Council of Ministers
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what will be the financial effect on the United Kingdom of the decision announced by the European Economic Community Council of farm Ministers at their meeting on 24 January.
Mr. Ryder : We are still assessing the financial consequences of the decisions reached at the Agriculture Council on 24 January. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Export Subsidies
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps his Department takes to verify the notice of quantity of agricultural products exported from the United Kingdom with the aid of EEC export subsidies.
Mr. Ryder : Physical control of United Kingdom exports and imports, including those of agricultural products, is the responsibility of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.
Agriculture Industry
Mr. Boswell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when, further to his reply of 5 December, column 30 , to the hon. Member for Daventry, he plans to publish data on the state of the agriculture industry in the United Kingdom.
Mr. MacGregor : "Agriculture in the United Kingdom : 1988" has been published today by Her Majesty's Stationery Office. I have made copies available in the Library of the House. As indicated in my earlier reply, this document is the successor to the annual review White Papers which have been published in previous years. The new publication contains enhanced information on commodities and on the general financial situation of the industry and provides a compendium of statistics, generally continuing the series which has been running for many years, and providing valuable data for all those with an interest in the industry.
The document notes that 1988 was a year in which major policy developments took place in the United Kingdom and in the European Community generally. In the EC, the most significant development was the agreement reached at the European Council in February 1988, introducing budgetary discipline in the common agricultural policy and improving its management. Last year also saw the introduction of a number of United Kingdom schemes offering farmers the opportunity to
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engage in commercially viable alternatives to surplus production. Set-aside, the farm woodland and farm diversification grant schemes were all introduced. The number of environmentally sensitive areas was increased and the reorientation of the capital grant scheme was announced.The different sectors of United Kingdom agriculture fared very differently during 1988. The situation of the industry reported in the document is therefore a complex one, but the following are among its main features.
Cereal and oilseed rape yields were low due to poor weather and because of this and lower prices the value of output was significantly reduced. The value of output of potatoes fell sharply as a result of lower prices. Horticulture had a relatively good year, with most parts of the sector recording a higher value of output. Within the livestock sector, higher beef prices and increased production of lamb maintained the output value of these meats, but lower prices for pigmeat meant that this sector was depressed for much of the year. Milk production was further reduced by the quota arrangements, but the value of output was maintained by price increases. Production of poultrymeat continued to expand, but lower prices reduced the value of egg production. The forecasts exclude the effects of the recent disturbance in the egg market.
There was little change in the overall quantity, average price or value of the industry's output, but with higher input costs its net product fell by nearly 7 per cent. which, after providing for labour and interest costs and net rent, was reflected in a 25 per cent. fall in farming income. However, no single measure can fully reflect the situation in such a diverse industry, and a variety of different compilations of the aggregate statistics, both United Kingdom and EC, can give different results. It is for that reason, among others, that I have recently suggested that we need a more sophisticated analysis of what is happening to farm incomes than a single aggregate measure can give. The document provides other indicators of farming prosperity which show smaller falls. It also shows that there were considerable income variations among farm types. While the arable and intensive livestock sectors did less well, net income from dairying and hill and upland livestock farms showed marked increases in all parts of the United Kingdom, and net income from lowland livestock increased in England and Scotland. Overall, England fared less well than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
For the first time Inland Revenue sample data are included in the document. They indicate that income from farming has accounted for 50 to 60 per cent. of total taxable income in recent years. Other earned income has contributed a further 15 to 20 per cent. It is the Government's policy to encourage farmers to find ways of generating an increasing proportion of their income from activities which respond to market demand, including alternative employment of assets and business skills on the farm.
These are sample data relating to earlier years. Further research and surveys are needed to get a more precise and accurate picture of the income position of farming households, and we are undertaking these.
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