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Stock-proof Fencing
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make it her policy to introduce legislation compelling adjoining landowners to maintain stock-proof fencing against commons.
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Mr. Jack : I see no need to introduce such legislation, since there is a general duty on landowners, whether adjoining common land or not, to contain their livestock and to ensure against straying.
Contracting Out
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all those services or functions contracted out in her Department and agencies, since November 1991, in which the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 were not applied.
Mr. Jack : The application of TUPE depends on the nature of the work awarded and the contractors' own proposals for carrying out the work.
Since publication of the White Paper "Competing for Quality, Buying Better Public Services", the Department's market-testing programme has included the activities listed which have been contracted out under contractual arrangements which did not need to incorporate the 1981 regulations :
Building and Estates Management (Part)
General Recruitment (Up to Grade 7)
Library Services (Books and Journals)
Royal Navy Surface Surveillance (Fisheries Protection Contract) Relocation Work (Central Science Laboratory)
Information relating to services or functions which are not on the Department's market-testing programme but which have been contracted out since November 1991 cannot be obtained except at disproportionate cost.
Houses
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will list the member states in the European Community which currently designate agricultural animal status or its equivalent to horses ; and if she will make it her policy to adopt such a designation in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Jack : The practice of designating horses as agricultural animals varies among member states. The Government have no plans to adopt a comprehensive designation since this would, in itself, have no significance. What is significant is how horses are treated in specific pieces of national legislation.
Small Businesses
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on the achievements of (a) her policies and (b) her Department in helping small businesses over the last 12 months as against the previous 12 months ; and if she will publish the performance indicators by which her Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
Mr. Jack : The Government continue to help small businesses, through improvements to the business climate, through deregulation and through specific programmes of support and assistance. This Department has continued to contribute significantly to the process. The completion and implementation of the common agricultural policy reform agreement
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provides a framework for the development of a competitive agricultural industry for future years. It gives farmers the stability to plan ahead.In other areas of its work also the Department continues to offer help and assistance. For example :
(i) special rules to enable small producers to claim arable area payments under simplified arrangements that do not require them to set aside land ;
(ii) specific arrangements to enable meat from low-throughput abattoirs to be supplied to wholesalers as well as retailers and final consumers ;
(iii) the group marketing grant which can assist individual farmers to band together to market their produce more effectively ; (
(iv) the prospective easing of salmonella controls for poultry producers with small breeding flocks ; and
(v) the establishment of small business panels to enable Ministers to hear at first hand the views of small businessmen on the regulatory burden.
All the schemes operated by this Department are closely monitored. Reports on particular schemes are published from time to time.
Pesticides
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research has been undertaken by her Department into the relationship between instances of pesticide contamination of humans and symptoms of depression amongst the farming community.
Mr. Soames : I would advise any farmers suffering symptoms of depression to seek the advice of their doctor in the first instance. Specialist advice on farming issues can be obtained through the nearest Ministry regional service centre.
Fur Farms
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what procedures are required by his Department for mink farmers to follow when mink are moved from one fur farm to another.
Mr. Soames : The Mink (Keeping) Regulations 1975, as amended, require that no mink shall be transported from place to place except in closed cages or other containers constructed in such manner and of such materials as to prevent their escape. There is no requirement to inform the Ministry of the transportation of mink.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information she has about the mink transported from Halifax to Appin in Scotland in September and October 1992 ; when her Department became aware of the movement ; and what action was taken.
Mr. Soames : I have no information on this. There is no requirement to inform the Ministry of the transportation of mink.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessments she has received from (a) the Agricultural Development Advisory Service, (b) the National Rivers Authority and (c) English Nature as to whether the Isle of Wight is free from an established feral mink population ; and what assessment her Department has made.
Mr. Soames : Although sightings of mink on the isle have been reported in the press, ADAS has not been
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presented with evidence to support any claims of a feral mink population, nor has it received any complaints of small animals and poultry, which are easy prey for mink, being taken. Its overall assessment is that, at present, there is no feral mink population on the isle.A 15-month study of otters and mink in south-eastern Britain, including the Isle of Wight, carried out on behalf of the Hampshire Wildlife Trust and the National Rivers Authority, found no evidence of mink on the isle in late 1991 or again in 1993.
In its response to the Ministry's public consultation exercise, reviewing the Mink (Keeping) Order 1987, English Nature said : "Although the mink is now well established in England, it is not yet established on the Isle of Wight."
A number of mink farms existed on the isle prior to the introduction of controls on the keeping of mink in 1962. Escapes from these farms could have led to the establishment of a feral mink population many years ago, although there is no evidence that this occurred. Hampshire has a well- established feral mink population and mink are capable of swimming the distance from the mainland. Therefore, there is always the possibility that mink could reach the isle and in the absence of adequate control by the owners and occupiers of land responsible for such control, establish a feral mink population.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will give details of the numbers of mink farms which have existed on the Isle of Wight since controls on mink keeping were introduced, with the size of such establishments.
Mr. Soames : Mink keeping controls were introduced in 1962. Since then only one mink farm owner has been licensed to keep mink at premises on the island. Details of mink farms provided in support of licence applications are confidential between the Ministry and the applicant.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information she has on outbreaks of botulism on mink factory farms ; and how many resulting mink deaths have occurred on individual mink farms.
Mr. Soames : Botulism in animals is not compulsorily notifiable and therefore complete data are not available. We are aware of an outbreak on one mink farm in September 1992 which resulted in around 1,000 mink deaths.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many mink were (a) reared and (b) killed on fur farms in each of the last five years.
Mr. Soames : The Mink (Keeping) Order 1992, which requires that mink farms be licensed by Agriculture Departments, does not require returns of numbers of mink reared and killed to be made. Therefore no official figures are available.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is she will give details of the size of mink cages most often found by officers of the state veterinary service when inspecting mink farms.
Mr. Soames : The majority of mink cages inspected by officers of the state veterinary service were of dimensions being greater than 38 cm in depth, 23 cm in width and 30.5 cm in height.
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Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what work has been carried out to assess the impact on wildlife of the Isle of Wight were a feral mink population to become established ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Soames : No studies have been carried out by the Ministry to assess the possible impact were a feral mink population to become established on the Isle of Wight. Experience in other parts of Britain has shown that feral mink can have a significant effect on local populations of birds and water voles if adequate measures are not taken by landowners and occupiers to control the feral mink.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment officers of the state veterinary service have been made of the extent to which the current cages used for fur farming meet the ethological needs of mink.
Mr. Soames : In monitoring welfare standards on fur farms the state veterinary service operates to the guidelines laid down in the relevant recommendations adopted by the Council of Europe. Officers of the SVS note any signs of abnormal behaviour in the mink which may indicate that the cages do not meet the ethological needs of the animal. Such abnormal behaviour was observed in only a very small proportion of animals and on no occasion was it considered by officers to be associated with unnecessary pain or unnecessary distress.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will give details of reports of feral mink on the Isle of Wight of which her officials were aware in 1983, 1987, 1992 and February 1993.
Mr. Soames : The Ministry is aware of press reports and claims, from time to time, of feral mink on the Isle of Wight. In 1983 a dead mink was reported on the road at Chale and collected by a Ministry official and in 1992 a report was made to the Ministry of a mink being shot at Porchfield. Officials are aware of the recent reports in 1993 of evidence of mink on the River Medina. Their presence has not been confirmed. ADAS has advised the working group, set up by the Isle of Wight county council this year in response to these reports, on appropriate methods of capture and humane despatch of feral mink which can be employed by land occupiers and owners if this proves necessary.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what additional security precautions her officers have advised in order to ensure that mink are securely held in the mink farm on the Isle of Wight in addition to the general provisions of the Mink (Keeping) Orders.
Mr. Soames : The Mink (Keeping) Regulations 1975, as amended, set out the requirements for keeping mink under licence and allow for modifications to the requirements to be made where local conditions may make these appropriate.
The conditions of the licence issued to the Isle of Wight mink farm were drawn up on ADAS advice following inspection of the premises and with regard to the local conditions and the need to prevent mink escaping into the surrounding area. The details of particular licences to keep mink are confidential between the Ministry and the licensee.
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Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the annual cost of (a) animal welfare inspections of mink farms by officers of the state veterinary service, (b) the administration of the Mink (Keeping) Orders by her Department and (c) annual inspections of mink farms by her officials over the last five years to ensure compliance with the security provisions of the Mink Keeping Orders.
Mr. Soames : Information on the annual cost of animal welfare inspections is not separately available.
The costs for administration and annual inspections for compliance with the Mink (Keeping) Regulations 1975, as amended and the issue of licences are as follows :
|MAFF Administration|Annual Inspections
|£ £
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1988-89 |840 |2,270
1989-90 |910 |2,920
1990-91 |700 |1,000
1991-92 |520 |1,710
1992-93 |220 |1,600
Mr. Soames : The keeping of Arctic foxes is not subject to control. Ministry officials visiting licensed mink premises confine their security checks to the arrangements for the keeping of mink.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) on how many occasions in each of the last five years welfare inspections of Arctic fox farms were carried out by her officials ; (2) if she will make a statement on the accommodation for Arctic foxes witnessed by her officials during welfare inspections of fur farms.
Mr. Soames : In monitoring welfare standards on fur farms, the state veterinary service operates to the guidelines laid down in the relevant recommendations adopted by the Council of Europe. Welfare inspections of Arctic fox farms were carried out by officers of the SVS on four occasions in 1989 and once in 1990. Of the two farms visited, the accommodation in one was found to be well constructed and in good condition. On the other farm improvements to flooring were recommended and this was satisfactorily carried out. I understand that both farms have since ceased to operate.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on how many occasions in each of the last five years officers of the state veterinary service monitored or observed the slaughter of Arctic foxes in fur farms ; and if she will give details of the various methods of killing used.
Mr. Soames : Officers of the state veterinary service monitored the slaughter of Arctic fox once in the last five years. The method of slaughter used was by lethal injection.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) whether officers of the state
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veterinary service have witnessed (a) the gassing of mink on fur farms and (b) the gassing of mink via a box connected to car or tractor exhausts ; and if she will give details of precautions taken in the latter case to ensure that the mink die humanely ; (2) what assessment her officials have made of the humaneness of carbon monoxide gassing of mink ; and what is the average time to unconsciousness and death noted by officials of the state veterinary service when observing the gassing of mink on fur farms.Mr. Soames : Officers of the state veterinary service have witnessed the gassing of mink on fur farms by a variety of methods. Killing by exhaust gases from a car or tractor was not observed on any occasion.
The Department has carried out no specific research into the gassing of mink. However, research and observation in other countries have concluded that gassing by carbon monoxide as practised in Britain is humane.
Very few data are available on the average time to unconsciousness and death, but in the cases observed the time has varied between one and a half to seven minutes to unconsciousness with death supervening between three to 15 minutes later. No evidence of undue stress was observed prior to unconsciousness.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research has been conducted into the areas recommended by the Farm Animal Welfare Council for research to determine the optimum enclosure for mink and fox in 1989.
Mr. Soames : The Farm Animal Welfare Council review of fur farming recommended that the industry should carry out research to determine the optimum enclosure for mink and fox. However, the fur farming industry in this country, being one of the smallest in Europe, has so far been unable to support such research and development. The Council of Europe recommendation on fur farming also contains a recommendation that research should be undertaken in the area of, inter alia, the development of husbandry systems to improve the health and welfare of the animals. Such research is being carried out in other countries such as Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands, whose industries are large enough to bear the costs involved.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action is being taken by her Department in respect of the report by the Institute of Fisheries Ecology of evidence of a feral mink population on the River Medina in the Isle of Wight.
Mr. Soames : ADAS has advised the working group set up by the Isle of Wight county council this year in response to the institute's report on the methods of capture and humane despatch of feral mink. The county ecology officer is to hold courses for local landowners and occupiers who are responsible for feral mink control, to ensure that they are able to identify signs of mink and the ways of controlling them.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many times the mink farm on the Isle of Wight was inspected by his officials in each year since 1988 in connection with the security provisions of the Mink (Keeping) Orders.
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Mr. Soames : The number of inspections made by ADAS on behalf of the Ministry was as follows :
|Number
---------------------
1988 |1
1989 |1
1990 |2
1991 |1
1992 |2
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the annual income over each of the past five years from mink farm licence fees.
Mr. Soames : The annual income, on a financial year basis, from mink farm licences in England is as follows :
|£
--------------------
1988-89 |6,267
1989-90 |4,715
1990-91 |3,220
1991-92 |2,530
1992-93 |2,185
Mr. Spellar : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what representations he has made to the Council of Ministers to retain the subsidy for school milk ;
(2) what representations he has made to ensure the continuation of the subsidy for school milk.
Mr. Jack : At the Agriculture Council on 20-21 September the United Kingdom, supported by several other member states, argued that the Commission's proposal for a 50 per cent. cut in the rate of school milk subsidy was too drastic a measure for achieving budgetary savings and would threaten the viability of a popular scheme which had played an important role in encouraging consumption of milk and milk products. In the light of these representations the Council agreed to limit the reduction in subsidy to 25 per cent. and to find the balance of the necessary savings by making technical adjustments aimed at improving the cost-effectiveness of the scheme. The Government are satisfied that this represents a sensible compromise which safeguards the viability of the scheme while at the same time taking account of the severe pressure on the Community budget.
Abattoirs
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the throughput in British abattoirs in each month since January 1992.
Mr. Jack : The throughput of abattoirs in the United Kingdom is published each week in a press notice entitled "United Kingdom Slaughter Statistics". Historical monthly figures, including those since January 1992, are given on the reverse of this press notice.
Agriculture Expenditure
Sir Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much of the overall expenditure on agriculture, fisheries and food, as shown in the public
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expenditure White Paper is attributable to (a) agriculture, (b) fisheries, (c) food, (d) forestry, (e) coast defence and (f) all other non-agricultural activities including civil defence for each year since 1985-86.Mr. Jack : The information available is contained in the 1991, 1992 and 1993 editions of the MAFF/IB departmental report, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Lupin Seed
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information she has received from the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods about the toxic components of lupin seed.
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Mr. Soames : None. The committee is unable to report on this matter pending the completion of additional studies necessary for the safety assessment of two applications to use lupin products in food.
Cereals
Sir Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was (a) the total amount paid by each member state of the EEC in cereals co-responsibility levy for each year since the co-responsibility levy has been operative and (b) the total tonnage of cereals produced in each member state of the EEC, showing in each case how much per tonne the co-responsibility levy represented.
Mr. Jack : Information on the total amount paid by each member state in cereals co-responsibility levy, the total tonnage of cereals produced in each member state and the rate of the co-responsibility levy per tonne of cereals each year since 1986 is provided in the following tables.
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EC Cereals Production 1986-87 to 1991-92<1>
('000 tonnes)
|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Belgium |2,345 |1,920 |2,207 |2,243 |1,996 |1,979
Denmark |7,968 |7,271 |8,067 |8,808 |9,606 |9,169
Germany |25,590 |23,770 |27,112 |26,113 |37,580 |39,289
Greece |5,263 |5,071 |4,587 |4,534 |4,042 |5,607
Spain |15,974 |19,814 |23,146 |19,346 |18,230 |18,851
France |50,100 |52,242 |55,866 |57,310 |55,118 |60,232
Ireland |1,831 |1,992 |1,979 |1,872 |1,970 |2,093
Italy |17,796 |17,436 |16,563 |16,207 |16,286 |18,202
Luxembourg |48 |61 |124 |124 |126 |138
Netherlands |1,261 |1,145 |1,217 |1,363 |1,388 |1,296
Portugal |1,593 |1,563 |1,295 |1,643 |1,200 |1,543
United Kingdom |24,511 |21,676 |21,110 |22,725 |22,566 |22,635
|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
Source: EC Commission's Cereals Bilans.
<1> Cereals marketing year runs from 1 July to 30 June.
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Total EC payments of cereals co-responsibility levy (Basic and
Additional) (Thousand ECU)
|1986<1>|1987<2>|1988<3>|1989<4>|1990<4>|1991<4>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Belgium |5,203 |18,958 |15,538 |14,932 |11,602 |14,527
Denmark |1,841 |12,081 |14,621 |40,509 |29,315 |50,376
Germany |16,749 |77,866 |148,822|104,688|87,409 |151,123
Greece |877 |4, 592 |9,204 |13,918 |9,189 |7,686
Spain |- |33,765 |33,971 |71,743 |80,204 |59,073
France |10,337 |103,625|315,827|329,104|273,701|390,911
Ireland |766 |5,106 |9,434 |10,816 |7,540 |11,851
Italy |10,074 |37,430 |33,589 |66,053 |60,661 |62,174
Luxembourg |69 |419 |325 |476 |352 |704
Netherlands |769 |22,110 |21,249 |7,872 |7,951 |11,454
Portugal |- |- |- |- |- |-
United Kingdom |9,745 |62,752 |74,924 |139,151|147,166|166,154
Total |56,430 |378,704|677,504|799,262|715,090|926,033
Source: EAGGF-payments represent amount of cereals co-responsibility
levy paid in each EAGGF financial year.
<1>1 January-31 December.
<2>1 January 1987-31 October 1987.
<3>1 November 1987-15 October 1988.
<4>16 October-15 October.
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Cereals co-responsibility levy net rate 1986-87 to 1991-92<1>
|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intervention price (ecu/tonne) |179.44 |179.44 |179.44 |174.06 |168.55 |168.55
Net rate<2> (ecu/tonne) |5.38 |5.38 |8.25 |5.22 |7.59 |8.43
<1> 1 July to 30 June.
<2> Net rate of levy includes both basic and, where appropriate, additional levies.
The basic co-responsibility levy was calculated as 3 per cent. of the
common wheat intervention price (5 per cent in 1991-92). The additional levy was
charged in cases where the Maximum Guaranteed Quantity was exceeded. The basis of
calculation was not consistent throughout this period.
Sir Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the tonnage and average price of grain exported from the United Kingdom (a) generally and (b) separately for each country to which grain was exported in each year since 1989.
Mr. Jack : The information sought cannot be produced without disproportionate cost to the Department. However, details for each type of grain covering total trade in volume and value, as well as a list of the major trading countries involved and their respective trade, can be found in the annual volumes of the "Overseas Trade Statistics for the United Kingdom" (MA 20) for 1989-91, while figures for 1992 can be found in the December 1992 issue of the monthly version (MM 20) of the same publication. Copies of these publications are in the House of Commons Library.
Details of grain classification within the Standard Industrial Trade Classification Division 04 are shown in the "Guide to Classification for Overseas Trade Statistics" (MA 21), which is also in the House of Commons Library. All the data itself can be found within table VI, section 0, 041- 045.99 of the MA and MM 20s.
Sir Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what was the size of the United Kingdom harvest in (a) tonnes and (b) value, at actual and at 1989 prices in each year since 1979 ;
(2) if she will list the quantity and value of grain produced in the United Kingdom in each year since 1979 giving value in real and 1990 prices.
Mr. Jack : I assume that my hon. Friend's first question refers to the cereals harvest. As values are not available at 1989 prices, I have answered both questions together showing values in actual, 1990 prices and as deflated by the index of retail prices (1990=100). The information is set out in the table.
United Kingdom Cereal Production and Value of Output
|Quantity (thousand |Value (£ million) |Value at 1990 prices|Value deflated by
|tonnes) |(£ million) |RPI (1990=100)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |17,415 |1,184 |1,300 |2,635
1980 |19,480 |1,463 |1,548 |2,758
1981 |19,621 |1,693 |1,648 |2,853
1982 |21,910 |2,062 |1,888 |3,200
1983 |21,307 |1,996 |1,670 |2,963
1984 |26,602 |2,420 |2,319 |3,421
1985 |22,466 |2,281 |2,279 |3,041
1986 |24,489 |2,153 |2,139 |2,776
1987 |21,681 |1,990 |1,983 |2,463
1988 |21,162 |1,821 |1,907 |2,148
1989 |22,729 |2,052 |2,134 |2,246
1990 |22,583 |2,055 |2,055 |2,055
1991 |22,635 |2,165 |2,081 |2,044
1992 |22,063 |2,221 |2,050 |2,022
Sir Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will give the average price of imported wheat into the United Kingdom for each year since 1979, showing the quantity of all imported wheat in each of these years.
Mr. Jack : The information sought on United Kingdom imports of wheat is as follows :
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