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Ozone-depleting Chemicals
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the amount in tonnes of ozone-depleting chemicals used or purchased by his Department for the years 1989, 1990 and 1991, and estimates of usage for the next year ; what is the estimated bank of ozone- depleting chemicals contained within his Department ; and how many months' supply of ozone-depleting chemicals have been ordered by his Department.
Mr. Aitken : Figures for the amount of ozone-depleting substances procured and used by the Ministry of Defence in the years 1989, 1990 and 1991 are not readily available and it would require disproportionate time and effort to assemble them. This also applies to estimates of usage for the next year and to how many months supply have been ordered by the Department. The first phase of a procurement monitoring exercise to establish a baseline will be completed mid/late 1992. The current holding of ozone-depleting substances is estimated to be 2,000 tonnes.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's policy on purchasing ozone-depleting chemicals and goods manufactured with these substances ; and in which year his Department expects to cease using, purchasing or releasing ozone-depleting substances controlled by the Montreal protocol and hydrofluorocarbons. Mr. Aitken : It is our policy to monitor the procurement of all ozone-depleting chemicals contained in articles to be supplied against contract. This procurement will be
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reduced in line with percentage reductions prescribed by the Montreal protocol. Release to atmosphere of all ozone depleting substances, including HCFCs, is restricted to operational emergency use only.Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will outline his Department's policy on recovery and recycling of ozone- depleting chemicals.
Mr. Aitken : It is our policy to recover ozone-depleting substances from service equipments and installations during maintenance or at end of service life. The substances are then recycled.
Amritsar Massacre
Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now release all papers concerning the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre in Amritsar on 13 April 1919.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : All official papers relating to the Amritsar massacre on 13 April 1919 have been available to the public since 1968 and are currently held at the Oriental and Indian Office collection of the British Library.
Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what technical capacity the United Kingdom possesses to dismantle nuclear depth charges and free-fall nuclear bombs ; and what are his Department's plans to store or dispose of the nuclear materials recovered from dismantled warheads.
Mr. Aitken : The United Kingdom has the appropriate expertise and facilities for dismantling United Kingdom nuclear weapons withdrawn from service. It is not in the national interest to give details of the processes involved as they are classified.
Prisoners of War
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent information Her Majesty's Government have received from the authorities of the former Soviet union about British prisoners of war moved to Russia during or at the end of the Korean war.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now declassify all documents relating to British prisoners of war in Korea.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Most contemporary records dealing with this subject are already open in the Public Record Office. A very small number of files continues to be properly witheld from the public domain under the criteria of the Public Records Acts of 1958 and 1967. The personal service records of all servicemen from this period are retained in the Ministry of Defence. Information from these records is available on request to the serviceman concerned or his proven next of kin.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make representations to the authorities of the former Soviet Union about allowing the Commonwealth War Graves Commission access to the records and sites of camps in Russia where British prisoners of war are believed to have been held.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for the graves of British and Commonwealth Service personnel from the first and second World Wars, but not the Korean war. If any definite evidence is received that graves of British service personnel have been found in Russian, appropriate action will be taken.Rescue Co-ordination Centre
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the rescue co-ordination centre of RAF Pitreavie.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The RAF is reviewing its arrangements for the co-ordination of rescues, but no final decisions have been taken.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Countryside Premium
Mr. Temple-Morris : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to extend eligibility for the countryside premium to the set-aside scheme to all counties in England and Wales.
Mr. Curry : We plan to introduce a national successor to the countryside premium scheme once we have the necessary legal powers to do so. The agri-environment proposals agreed in principle last month as part of the CAP reform package should provide that legal basis. We aim to submit proposals next year for a programme of
agri-environmental measures, including an environmental set-aside scheme, to the EC Commission for its approval.
Water Management
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what powers his Department has in respect of water resource management ; if he has any plans to bring forward proposals to enhance those powers ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : Responsibility for water resource management rests with the National Rivers Authority and the Secretary of State for the Environment under the Water Resources Act 1991. We are in close touch with both on questions of water resource management for agriculture and horticulture.
Common Agricultural Policy
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if any plans have been made to help Cheshire farmers adjust to the cuts in support under the CAP reforms.
Mr. Curry : While the overall level of support to procedures has been reduced, in most sectors cuts in price have been accompanied by the introduction of, or increases in, direct payments to farmers. These will help farmers throughout the United Kingdom to adjust to the new arrangements.
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list the projections on which the expected reduction in the cost of the common
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agricultural policy is based including indications of timing and the amount of increase and decrease in food purchases and European Community budget, respectively ;(2) if he will publish a table showing for each of the next five years the range of estimated expenditure on the common agricultural policy, showing that part which is estimated to arise from the recently announced measures and which constitute additional expenditure, together with any estimated reductions for those and succeeding years up to the estimated reduction of £8,000 million per year.
Mr. Curry : Commissions estimates of expenditure under the common agricultural policy for the next five years are as follows :
Year |£ billion ------------------------------ 1993 |23.6 1994 |25.3 1995 |26.5 1996 |27.5 1997 |27.1
These figures take account of the effect on the EC budget of the measures agreed in the reform package including the accompanying measures. They assume that in other respects patterns of production and trade remain unaltered.
It is not possible to give estimates of expenditure on individual commodities, as a number of details remain to be decided. However, it is expected that there will be additional expenditure on direct aids for arable producers, higher beef premia and the accompanying measures, and savings on intervention and/or export refunds for cereals, beef, butter, pigment and poultry products. There will also be savings in the tobacco sector.
The additional cost to the EC budget of the reform measures will be offset by savings to consumers. The figure of £8,000m to which the hon. Member refers is a broad estimate of the extent to which consumers' expenditure on food will be lower than otherwise when the effects of the agreement have fully worked through, assuming patterns of consumption remain unchanged. It reflects the support price reductions agreed for beef, butter and cereals and a number of assumptions about the impact on market prices : some of the effects are expected to be evident in 1993 and the rest should have worked through by 1997.
Sir Teddy Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing the expenditure by the EC on agriculture in each of the most recent annual periods for which figures are available ; and what estimates have been made for expenditure in 1992 and 1993.
Mr. Curry : The information requested is in the table. There are as yet no published figures available for 1993.
|EC
|expenditure
|on
|Agriculture
|(£ million)
------------------------------------
1988 |19,563
1989 |17,855
1990 |20,147
1991 |24,105
1992 |26,463
Sources: 1988-90: budget outturn;
1991: provisional outturn; 1992:
budget.
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Whaling
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent meetings he has had with representatives of groups regarding the forthcoming International Whaling Commission meeting ; what was the outcome of the meetings ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : I had a very helpful meeting on 10 June with the cetacean group of Wildlife Link to discuss our approach to the next meeting of the IWC. I made it clear that we will not contemplate any lifting of the present moratorium on commercial whaling, of which we have been a leading advocate, because present evidence suggests that whales cannot be taken in an acceptable and humane manner ; because we have to be assured that any revised management procedures include proper enforcement and monitoring ; and because we must be sure that whale stocks are at healthy levels. I and my officials look forward to working closely with Wildlife Link on these and other points.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the international forums at which he has raised the issue of commercial whaling ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : I attended and opened the 39th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Bournemouth in 1987 and have also made clear the
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Government's views about whaling in statements made on my behalf at the commission meetings in New Zealand in 1988, in the Netherlands in 1990 and in Iceland in 1991. I plan to open the 44th meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Glasgow on 29 June.Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what criteria he uses to establish whether a whale stock is healthy ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : Responsibility for advising on the states of whale stocks and the impact of catches on them is a matter for the scientific committee of the International Whaling Commission. These are matters currently being addressed by the committee meeting in Glasgow and we look forward to receiving their advice. I have made clear elsewhere the reasons why we cannot contemplate any lifting of the present moratorium on commercial whaling.
Potato Marketing
Mr. Pike : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what quantity of potatoes in weight and percentage terms of the United Kingdom market are imported (a) in total and (b) in processed form.
Mr. Curry : Potato imports into the United Kingdom over the past five years were :
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b
|1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |<1>1991
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a)Total imports('000 tonnes) |985.00 |947.00 |1,005.00|897.00 |907.00
Percentage of United Kingdom total usage |13.39 |12.40 |13.38 |12.52 |12.65
Of which:
(b)Processed imports
(000 tonnes raw equivalent) |394.00 |488.00 |543.00 |521.00 |557.00
Percentage of United Kingdom total usage |5.36 |6.39 |7.23 |7.27 |7.75
<1>Provisional.
The Naze
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will make a statement on the current role of his Ministry in preventing the erosion of the Naze at Walton-on-the-Naze ; (2) by what date he expects to have reached conclusions about providing funds to prevent erosion of the Naze at Walton-on-the-Naze.
Mr. Curry : The Coast Protection Act 1949 empowers maritime district councils to carry out works to protect land from erosion and encroachment by the sea. Proposed schemes must be submitted to the Department for approval. To qualify for approval and for grant aid from the Department, schemes must be technically sound, economically worthwhile and environmentally acceptable.
The Department has been awaiting the submission of further documentation from Tendring district council as regards the economic justification for the proposed scheme to reduce the rate of erosion at the Naze. This has now been received. We hope to be able to reach a decision shortly.
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what estimate he has made of the costs of schemes to prevent the erosion of the Naze at Walton-on-the-Naze ;
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(2) if he will set out the method of analysis his Ministry is applying in attempting to calculate the economic benefits which would arise from preventing futher erosion of the Naze atWalton-on-the-Naze.
Mr. Curry : Coast protection authorities are responsible for estimating the costs and benefits of proposed coastal works which are put to the Department for approval and for grant aid, in conformity with project appraisal guidance issued by the Department. In the case of Walton- on-the-Naze, it is for Tendring district council, the responsible authority, to assess relevant costs and benefits. The Department will then consider whether the proposal is economically worthwhile, using best available techniques for quantification of the expected benefits from the scheme.
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) on how many occasions in the last two years Ministers from his Ministry have visited the Naze at Walton-on-the-Naze ;
(2) if he will list the meetings which his Ministry has had and the bodies concerned, over the last two years, on the subject of the erosion of the Naze at Walton-on-the-Naze.
Mr. Curry : Ministers from the Department have not visited the Naze in an official capacity in the past two
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years. During that period Ministry officials have met representatives of Tendring district council on five occasions.Mr. Sproat : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has about the extent to which the Naze at Walton-on-the -Naze has eroded over the last 12 months.
Mr. Curry : Erosion at the Naze is being monitored by Tendring district council, the responsible coast protection authority. Their latest report is that on average some 1.76 metres has been eroded along the length of the Naze in the past 12 months.
The rate of future erosion will depend upon weather, wave and ground conditions and so cannot be predicted with certainty. Current estimates are that if no further coast protection works are carried out, the Naze tower will probably be lost in around 26 to 30 years time. Tendring district council has submitted a proposal to the Department for approval and for grant aid for works which would slow the rate of erosion at this site and so could delay loss of the tower until around 40 to 50 years from now.
Cereals
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if it is his intention that the intervention standard for cereals will be based on the existing feed wheat criteria.
Mr. Curry : No decision has yet been taken on the quality standards that will apply for intervention but the Council has asked the Commission to bring forward proposals. In the negotiations, we shall be seeking an outcome that takes account of the importance of feed wheat in the United Kingdom.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will exercise the regional base area for cereals, as distinct from imposing farm quotas.
Mr. Curry : Yes. The United Kingdom will not exercise the option of imposing individual farm quotas. We will publish details of the regional base areas as soon as possible.
Early Retirement
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will apply the early retirement scheme so as to ease the structural changes which will follow the CAP reforms.
Mr. Curry : The scheme is primarily designed to amalgamate farms in those member states with large numbers of very small holdings. It is not relevant to United Kingdom conditions, where the average farm is already five times larger than in the EC as a whole.
Agencies
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much was spent on events and publicity surrounding the launch of Agricultural Development Advisory Service and the Central Science Laboratory as agencies ; and whether the cost was borne by the parent Department or the new agency.
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Mr. Curry : As the launch of ADAS and the Central Science Laboratory coincided with the run-up to the general election, events and publicity surrounding the launch were scaled-down and involved minimal costs. Both agencies are highlighting their change in status in the course of their normal working and promotional programmes.
Beef Special Premium
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if it is his intention to set individual reference quantities for the beef special premium.
Mr. Curry : Although the option exists for the setting of individual quotas for the beef special premium rather than apply a generalised regional ceiling, I do not at present intend to take up this option. Before making a final decision, industry representatives will be consulted.
Agri-environment Programme
Mr. Tyler : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure that the provisions of the EC environmental directives will be met under the agri-environment programme.
Mr. Curry : In preparing our proposals to implement the new agri- environment regulation we will take account of relevant EC environmental directives.
Ozone-depleting Chemicals
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the amount in tonnes of ozone-depleting chemicals used or purchased by his Department for the years 1989, 1990 and 1991, and estimates of usage for the next year ; what is the estimated bank of ozone- depleting chemicals contained within his Department ; and how many months' supply of ozone-depleting chemicals have been ordered by his Department.
Mr. Curry : Data on amounts and use of ozone-depleting chemicals could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will outline his Department's policy on recovery and recycling ozone-depleting chemicals ;
(2) what is his Department's policy on purchasing ozone-depleting chemicals and goods manufactured with these substances ; and in which year his Department expects to cease using, purchasing or releasing ozone-depleting substances controlled by the Montreal protocol, and hydrofluorocarbons.
Mr. Curry : The Department is currently preparing an environmental strategy which will contain an environmental policy statement and a plan for environmental action. This strategy is expected to include policy and an action plan on ozone-depleting substances. The Department plans to have this strategy in place by December 1992.
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Rabies
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 19 May, Official Report, column 121, if he will now publish the EC scientific veterinary committee's report on the control of rabies.
Mr. Gummer : I am arranging for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.
Quarantine
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the groups of mammals from schedule 1 to the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats, and other Mammals) Order 1974 which will be exempt from quarantine control as a result of the agreement with Agriculture Ministers in the EC on 15 June ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : From 1 January 1994, commercially traded animals born and kept on the holding of origin, from the following groups, will be subject to similar rules as for farm livestock and need not undergo quarantine :
Edentata
Hydracoidea
Dermoptera
Insectivora
Lagomorpha
Marsupalia
Rodentia
Additionally, from 1 July 1994, subject to very stringent conditions certain commercially traded cats and dogs for breeding may move between registered premises without quarantine.
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