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Mr. Donald Thompson (holding reply 24 February 1989) : Before BSE became a notifiable disease on 21 June last year, histopathological examinations of brains from suspected animals were carried out at the Ministry's central veterinary laboratory, Weybridge, and at other Ministry establishments. Since 21 June last year, diagnoses have been carried out at nine veterinary investigation centres. The number of cases of BSE confirmed by each centre is as follows :
|Number
-------------------------
Cambridge |230
Carmarthen |213
Newcastle |64
Polwhele |404
Reading |188
Shrewsbury |453
Starcross |244
Thirsk |357
Wye |66
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing the distribution of the total number of confirmed cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to date, by county, in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Donald Thompson [holding reply 24 February 1989] : Up to 17 February, 2,888 cases of BSE had been confirmed in the following counties and regions of Great Britain :
County |Confirmed cases ------------------------------------------------------------ Avon |29 Bedfordshire |7 Berkshire |37 Borders |2 Buckinghamshire |20 Cambridgeshire |12 Central |3 Cheshire |42 Cleveland |1 Clwyd |16 Cornwall |316 Cumbria |51 Derbyshire |28 Devonshire |394 Dorset |191 Dumfries |17 Durham |4 Dyfed |91 Essex |3 Glamorgan Mid |7 Glamorgan South |11 Glamorgan West |2 Gloucestershire |133 Grampian |14 Gwent |29 Gwynedd |10 Hampshire |126 Hereford and Worcestershire |66 Hertfordshire |9 Highland |4 Humberside |8 Isle of Wight |12 Kent |80 Lancashire |51 Leicestershire |56 Lincolnshire |36 Lothian |2 Manchester |1 Merseyside |1 Norfolk |33 Northamptonshire |15 Northumberland |16 Nottinghamshire |12 Orkney |2 Oxfordshire |50 Powys |17 Salop |72 Shetland |1 Somerset |205 Staffordshire |47 Strathclyde |11 Suffolk |36 Surrey |49 Sussex East |30 Sussex West |78 Tayside |8 Warwickshire |20 Wiltshire |164 West Midlands |3 Yorkshire North |83 Yorkshire South |3 Yorkshire West |11
Salmonella
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many laying flocks of chickens have been tested for salmonella in each week since 5 December 1988 ;
(2) how many breeding flocks of hens have been tested for salmonella in each week since 5 December 1988.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Codes of practice for the control of salmonellae in commercial laying and breeding flocks, copies of which are available in the Library of the House, set out procedures for the bacteriological monitoring of birds by flock owners.
Testing of samples may be carried out either by public or by private bacteriology laboratories. Samples from the following number of flocks were submitted to my Department's veterinary investigation service for testing :
Week beginning |Layers |Breeders |Total ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 December 1988 |50 |0 |50 26 December 1988 |8 |0 |8 2 January 1989 |25 |0 |25 9 January 1989 |30 |2 |32 16 January 1989 |26 |5 |31 23 January 1989 |39 |5 |44 30 January 1989 |32 |4 |36 6 February 1989 |35 |5 |40 13 February 1989 |17 |1 |18 20 February 1989 |21 |0 |21
I have no information on the number of samples submitted to other laboratories.
Sir Eldon Griffiths : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the principal strains of salmonella which can be passed on by carriers or in excreta, indicating in each case which types of animals or birds are most likely to be infected by this particular strain ; and what studies he is undertaking in conjunction with the Secretary of State for Health of the risks to health that can arise from these types of infection, as distinct from the salmonella strains identified in poultry and eggs.
Mr. Donald Thompson : There are over 2,000 serotypes of salmonella which can be carried by animals or birds or in excreta. I am arranging for tables giving details of isolations in food animals recorded in Great Britain to be placed in the Library of the House. A list of current research projects on salmonella which are wholly or partly funded by my Department will also be placed in the Library. Human health research projects are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health.
Rabies
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will be amending the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974 prior to or during 1992 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Donald Thompson : It will be necessary to extend the provisions of the 1974 order to cover animals imported through the Channel tunnel but I have no other plans for any changes. The Government support the objective of eradicating rabies from the Community as a whole, but our stringent rabies controls, including quarantine, will remain in force for as long as necessary to maintain our freedom from this disease.
Staff Losses
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimates he has of staff losses as a result of closures at (a) experimental horticultural stations and (b) experimental husbandry farms, as a result of the Barnes review.
Mr. MacGregor : The impact of this review on the research and development service will depend on the extent to which the industry takes up the funding of near market research. Consultations with the industry are still under way.
Food Laboratories
Mr. Wray : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps is he now taking to improve the facilities and working conditions of the laboratories for food research in Bristol, Reading and Norwich.
Mr. Jackson : I have been asked to reply.
This is a matter for the Agricultural and Food Research Council. I understand that, in line with the intentions first outlined in its corporate plan for 1984-88, the director of the Institute of Food Research is producing long-term plans for the restructuring of the institute on to two sites. These plans will include provison for improved facilities and working conditions.
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Mr. Wray : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the total number of scientists and researchers working in food laboratories funded by his Department, for each year since 1976.
Mr. Ryder : During the current financial year, the Ministry has committed £16.5 million in respect of 402 external investigations with a variety of contractors, most of which are at laboratories. At the Ministry's own food science laboratories, 56 staff are engaged in food research and a further 41 normally engaged in non-laboratory work carry out varying degrees of monitoring on the externally commissioned projects. It is not possible to ascertain the total number of scientists involved in the external contracts without disproportionate cost.
The total number of scientific and research staff employed in the Department's food science laboratories from 1976 to date is as follows :
|Number
---------------------
1976 |71
1977 |69
1978 |72
1979 |68
1980 |77
1981 |81
1982 |80
1983 |71
1984 |77
1985 |73
1986 |88
1987 |94
1988 |99
Listeria
Mr. Wray : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the research and studies carried out by his Department on listeria contamination in food since 1985.
Mr. Ryder : I refer the hon. Member to the answers on this subject which I gave to the right hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South (Mr. Ashley) on 22 December at columns 445-450 and the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) on 9 February at columns 780-781.
Grain Shipments
Sir Richard Body : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether any shipment of grain from France has been rejected at a United Kingdom port in the last 12 months.
Mr. MacGregor : I am not aware that any shipment of grain from France has been rejected at a United Kingdom port in the past 12 months.
Fishing Offences
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list by offence and fine (a) the European Community nationals in British courts and (b) the British nationals in European Community courts found guilty of fishing offences in the latest year for which comparable figures are available.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Following are details of offences and fines in respect of European Community nationals found guilty of fishing offences in British courts
Column 96
during 1988. Comparable information in respect of offences by British nationals in European Community courts is not available.
Nationality |Offence |Fine
|£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Danish |Illegal gear |<1><2>3,500
Danish |Excess by-catch |1,500
Danish |Excess by-catch |<1>3,400
Danish |Excess by-catch |<1>4,575
Danish |Excess by-catch |<1><2>9,050
Danish |Fishing for stock when quota |<1><2>6,379
|exhausted
Danish |1. Fishing for stock when quota |<1><2>31,860
|exhausted
|2. Log book offence
|3. Undersize net
Danish |1. Fishing for stock when quota |<1><2>31,860
|exhausted
|2. Log book offence
|3. Undersize net
Irish |Undersize fish |200
Irish |1. Log book offence |1,150
|2. Illegal net attachment
Irish |1. Undersize fish |1,250
|2. Log book offence
Belgian |Undersize nets |1,600
Belgian |Undersize fish |<1>2,800
Belgian |Log book offence |2,200
Belgian |Log book offence |1,238
|Illegal net attachment
Belgian |Fishing inside six miles |<1>6,200
Belgian |Fishing inside six miles |<1>7,200
Belgian |Illegal attachments |3,400
Belgian |1. Undersize net |<1>11,300
|2. Fishing inside 12 miles
Belgian |1. Undersize net |4,500
|2. Fishing inside 12 miles
Belgian |Undersize nets |4,600
Dutch |Illegal net attachment |3,200
Dutch |1. Undersize nets |4,050
|2. Log book offence
Dutch |Log book offence |3,100
Dutch |Undersize net |<1> <2> 865
Dutch |Illegal attachments |<1> 8,500
Dutch |Log book offence |2,450
Dutch |Log book offence |1,650
Dutch |Log book offences |4,250
Dutch |Undersize net |4,460
Dutch |Illegal net attachments |<2> 4,000
Dutch |1. Illegal attachments |<1> <2> 18,960
|2. Non facility of a boarding
Dutch |Illegal attachments to nets |<1> <2> 12,830
French |Undersize net |3,000
French |Illegal net attachment |3,755
French |Undersize net |<2> 600
French |Log book offence |2,000
French |Log book offence |450
French |Log book offence |1,260
French |Log book offence |2,200
French |1. Undersize net |3,350
|2. Illegal attachments
French |Log book offence |2,200
French |Log book offence |1,200
French |1. Log book offence |<1> 3,450
|2. Undersize net
French |Log book offence |2,200
German |1. Retention of non-licensed species|3,550
|2. Log book offence
Spanish |1. Undersize fish |<2>10,100
|2. Illegal net attachment
|3. Log book offence
Spanish |1. Log book offence |4,850
|2. Unlicensed species
Spanish |1. Undersize fish |1,750
|2. Log book offence
Spanish |1. Unlicensed fishing |<1><2>6,650
|2. Log book offence
Spanish |Log book offence |2,800
Spanish |1. Log book offence |<1>3,300
|2. Undersize fish
Spanish |Log book offence |1,000
Spanish |1. Retaining fish without licence |<1>2,750
|2. Log book offence
Spanish |1. Unlicensed fishing |<1>6,100
|2. Log book offence
<1> Includes value of fish.
<2> Gear confiscated.
Lowestoft Fish Market
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he next expects to visit the fishing market at Lowestoft.
Mr. Donald Thompson : My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has no plans, but I hope to visit Lowestoft this summer.
Fisheries (Grants and Licensing)
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has had since 11 February about a grants and licensing scheme for fisheries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Donald Thompson : I had an opportunity to discuss both vessel licensing and the size of the fleet at a meeting with representatives of the fishing industry on 15 February. At that time, I made it clear that no options for reducing the size of our fishing fleet had been ruled out, and that these options included a decommissioning scheme ; but, before we would be prepared to consider such a scheme, we would need to be satisfied that it would provide value for taxpayers' money and that there were no better alternatives.
Fishing Industry
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many meetings he has had with representatives of the United Kingdom fishing industry in the past 12 months ; and what was discussed.
Mr. Donald Thompson : My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has had two extensive meetings with representatives of the fishing industry. Since I took on responsibility for fishing matters seven months ago, I have made eight visits to fishing areas, meeting a wide range of
representatives during the course of the visits, and I have had four meetings in London. Many issues of local and national importance to the fishing industry have been fully aired on these occasions. Further we discuss issues in the margins of meetings of the EC Fisheries Ministers Council of which there were five in 1988.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals he has to deal with the adverse structural difficulties of the fishing industry following his Department's consultation review in 1988.
Mr. Donald Thompson [holding reply 24 February 1989] : The comments received on our consultation paper raised a number of extra issues which we are considering further in consultation with industry organisations.
Column 98
Woodlands
Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all woodlands in Sussex either sold or proposed for sale by the Forestry Commission since the passage of the Forestry Act 1981 ; if he will state, for each such woodland (a) the acreage, (b) the map reference, and (c) the species composition by percentage ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : The information is given in the following tables :
Name |Area (hectares)|Grid reference |Species<1>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Woodlands sold in East Sussex
Blossom Wood |1.2 |TQ 866 217 |C
Funnells Wood (part) |3.4 |TQ 440 264 |C
Haywards Heath Package:
Beechy Wood |8.0 |TQ 412 258 |B
Brickyard |14.0 |TQ 405 245 |B
Circle Wood |8.0 |TQ 404 250 |B
Coneyborough |8.0 |TQ 398 246 |B
Cpt. 255 |0.5 |TQ 412 249 |B
Dane Wood (part) |6.8 |TQ 407 270 |C
Hatches Wood |8.0 |TQ 432 251 |C
Kings Wood |9.0 |TQ 392 253 |B
Knell Wood |6.0 |TQ 392 257 |B
Mill Rough |5.0 |TQ 417 256 |B
Pound and Furzefield |14.0 |TQ 405 253 |B
Rigg Wood |8.0 |TQ 428 250 |C
Round Wood |6.0 |TQ 394 249 |C
Shepherds Wood |1.0 |TQ 408 242 |C
Spring and Verralls |25.0 |TQ 440 250 |C
Wapsbourne Wood |76.0 |TQ 395 240 |B
Lucks Wood |12.0 |TQ 625 336 |B
Newlands Wood and Long Shaw |6.0 |TQ 626 296 |C
Sheffield Park Woodlands:
Dane Wood (part) |0.2 |TQ 407 270 |C
Little Rotherfield |6.0 |TQ 403 227 |B
Rotherfield and Great Wet Wood |18.5 |TQ 410 225 |C
The Plantation |5.0 |TQ 393 223 |C
Smiths Charities:
Bacon Hollow etc. |21.0 |TQ 637 167 |B
Causeway Wood |14.0 |TQ 606 172 |C
Church Wood |10.5 |TQ 606 178 |C
Little Iwood etc. |29.0 |TQ 628 173 |B
Snape Wood (part) |2.7 |TQ 628 305 |B
Whartons Wood |7.0 |TQ 461 177 |C
Woodlands proposed for sale in East Sussex
Batts Wood |64.5 |TQ 635 275 |C
Woodlands sold in West Sussex
Arundel Estate |462.0 |TQ055075 |B
Brick Kiln Copse |11.0 |SU783222 |B
Brinsbury Estate (part) |18.0 |TQ057215 |B
Harting Combe |15.0 |SU805260 |C
Kingspark Plaist
(land at) |0.1 |SU996313 |B
Kingspark Wood
(land at) |1.1 |SU990310 |B
Littlewood Common
(land at) |0.7 |SU874152 |B
Marden (fenced-in piece) |12.0 |SU799165 |C
Markwells (West) |43.4 |SU750138 |C
Markwells (East) and
High Copse |39.6 |SU755136 |C
Newells Rough and
Lodgesale |54.0 |TQ202262 |C
Sheepwash Copse-
Elsted |6.0 |SU804195 |C
Southwater |142.5 |TQ143256 |B
Tilgate (land at) |0.3 |TQ266343 |B
Tullecombe (land at) |0.8 |SU804255 |B
Walderton Down
(land at) |0.3 |SU792104 |B
Wildham (land at) |1.2 |SU811129 |B
Woodshill |38.0 |TQ093204 |C
Woolavington Down |38.0 |SU930164 |B
Woodlands proposed for sale in West Sussex
Drovers Estate |44.0 |SU865155 |B
Elsted Manor Estate
(part) |43.0 |SU805180 |B
Hedgelands Copse |11.0 |TQ002293 |C
Old Copse |23.0 |TQ220295 |C
Owlbeech Wood |21.9 |TQ205315 |C
Sheephovel and
Northland Wood |16.0 |TQ201292 |B
Sparrwood and Swear
Hanger |13.3 |SU995298 |B
Wephurst Wood |38.0 |TQ028298 |C
<1>The species composition is not available in any more detail than B for mainly broadleaves and
C for mainly conifers.
Mr. Gardiner : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all woodlands in Surrey either sold or proposed for sale by the Forestry Commission since the Forestry Act 1981 and give, in respect of each woodland (a) its acerage, (b) its map reference and (c) its species composition, by percentage.
Mr. Ryder [holding answer 15 February 1989] : The information is given in the following table :
Name |Area (hectares)|Grid reference |Species<1>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Woodlands sold in Surrey
Abinger and Poynters Estate:
Chatley Wood |18.7 |TQ 088 589 |C
Bramble Wood (part) |3.6 |TQ 099 584 |B
Bramble Wood (part) |1.0 |TQ 099 583 |B
Brickfield (part) |1.9 |TQ 099 580 |B
Brickfield (part) |3.1 |TQ 101 581 |B
Barrow Green |2.6 |TQ 375 530 |B
Barrow Green Court |36.5 |TQ 378 534 |B
Birch Wood |39.0 |TQ 355 565 |B
Bunce Farm Woods |16.0 |TQ 213 464 |C
Canterbury Copse (part) |1.3 |SU 990 340 |B
Collick Moor Farm |3.0 |TQ 145 455 |B
Crocknorth Cottage (land at) |0.5 |TQ 105 506 |B
Ford Manor Estate:
Bidbury Wood |2.0 |TQ 421 410 |C
Burnpit Wood |5.5 |TQ 414 412 |C
Cowden Birches |3.0 |TQ 417 410 |B
Old Furzefield |6.0 |TQ 432 412 |B
Old Plantation |27.5 |TQ 425 423 |C
Great Church Wood |5.0 |TQ 370 540 |B
High Chart, Titsey |75.0 |TQ 433 523 |C
Ledgers Park-
Holt Wood |26.0 |TQ 377 593 |C
Lower Canfold Wood |23.0 |TQ 082 393 |C
Quince Cottage (land at) |0.2 |SU 982 351 |B
Scammels Grove |15.0 |TQ 187 463 |C
Sydney Wood (part) |2.0 |TQ 020 330 |C
Whitmoor Pond and Poor Jack |30.0 |SU 993 545 |B
Winterfold-Hurt Wood |129.0 |TQ 069 435 |C
Woodlands proposed for sale in Surrey
None.
<1>The species composition is not available in any more detail than B for mainly broadleaves
and C for mainly conifers.
Column 100
Agriculture Census
Mr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why the Economic and Social Research Council data archive of the rural areas database has been prevented by his Department from making figures from the agricultural census available for the purpose of research and analysis.
Mr. Ryder : Since 1985, agricultural census data for each year since 1975 have been deposited for research in a scholarly context with the rural areas database of the Economic and Social Research Council's data archive. These data have been regularly used for research and analysis. A new contract will shortly be signed with the Economic and Social Research Council which will allow non-academic use of these data.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will provide a breakdown according to the latest available annual agricultural census results of farm holdings in England and Wales separately, and both together, and numbers of workers according to size, measured in BSU, and main farm type size groups, to show separately those with whole-time hired male workers, whole-time hired workers, whole-time family workers, male whole-time family workers, total regular hired workers, total regular family workers, whole-time male workers, whole-time female workers, total whole-time workers, total part-time workers, total part-time hired workers, part-time male workers, part-time hired male workers, total part-time family workers, male part-time family workers, total regular workers, salaried managers, total seasonal or casual workers, and those with no workers at all and the distribution of farm holdings and standard gross margin by BSU and main farm type size groups.
Mr. Donald Thompson : This detailed information is extensive and can be prepared in the requested form only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will provide a detailed outline of the scope of the statistical analyses carried out on the June agricultural census data each year ; and what are the individual titles to each of the tables.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Results of the June agricultural census are published in statistical information notices, in "Agricultural Statistics UK", in "Agriculture in the UK", in various other publications of the Government statistical service, and in the farm structure survey publications of the European Community. Other tabular analyses are available for purchase.
Aggregates of all census items are published at national, regional, county and parish levels, and for less favoured areas. Analyses of farm holdings showing frequencies by size are published in respect of all major items. Other analyses are prepared on request. The following titles are available for direct purchase from the Ministry :
Agricultural returns--England and Wales, regions and counties for all areas and separately for less favoured areas, disadvantaged land and seriously disadvantaged land. Each item, crops, grass, tenure, labour livestock, horticulture small fruit, bulbs and flowers, hardy nursery stock and glasshouse and protected crops.
Distribution of holdings and crop and grass area by crops and grass size groups (county and regions).
Column 101
Distribution of holdings and total area by total area size groups (county and region).Number of holdings and total area by form of tenure (county and region).
Frequency distribution tables showing holdings and items by item size group at national, regional and county level.
Wheat, barley, oats, total cereals, total potatoes, sugar beet and oilseed rape.
Total vegetables, total hardy nursery stock, total commercial orchards, total flowers and bulbs.
Total dairy cows, beef cows, total cattle and calves, total breeding pigs, other pigs over 20 kg, total pigs, breeding ewes, total sheep and lambs, hens producing eggs for eating, breeding fowls, broilers, geese.
Full-time hired workers, full time family and hired workers, regular full- time and part-time workers.
Heated glasshouse area, unheated glasshouse area, total glasshouse area, heated tomatoes, unheated tomatoes, chrysanthemums.
Belgian Trawlers
Mr. Steen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when information has been passed by spotter planes working in conjunction with fisheries protection vessels, that Belgian trawlers were fishing in forbidden or restricted areas ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Donald Thompson : In 1988, two Belgian beam trawlers were observed by United Kingdom surveillance aircraft illegally fishing within the six mile limit. In both cases the vessels were prosecuted and financial penalties were imposed by the courts.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many times Belgian trawlers were boarded in area VII during the calandar year 1988 by fisheries protection vessels ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 102
Mr. Donald Thompson : In 1988, 135 Belgian fishing vessels were boarded in area VII by United Kingdom fisheries protection vessels.
Scrapie
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence his Department has about the incidence of scrapie in goats.
Mr. Donald Thompson [holding answer 24 February 1989] : In the last five years, veterinary investigation centres in England and Wales have diagnosed 16 cases of scrapie from samples of goat brain tissue submitted for laboratory analysis.
Salmonella
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will place in the Library a copy of the report prepared by his Department on the salmonella control programme in Sweden with particular reference to poultry.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Officials in my Department report to their senior officers when they return from official visits abroad. Such a visit was made to Sweden last year. The document requested is no more than a record for use within my Department and does not constitute a report by the Department. It would, therefore, be inappropriate to place it in the Library.
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