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Mr. Soames : No consignments of sheep for slaughter have been imported from Spain since 22 March, when this Department took immediate action to intercept a consignment and to safeguard the welfare of the animals. Close liaison was maintained with the local authorities concerned, which are investigating the case with a view to prosecution. The Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1992 contains powers for similar action to be taken as necessary in relation to any future consignments.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what mechanisms there are to record the number of farm animals injured during transport to other EC member states.
Mr. Soames : There are no official mechanisms of this kind.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on the current discussions of the Council of Agriculture Ministers on the welfare of animals during transport.
Mr. Soames : I refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave to the hon. Members for Worsley (Mr. Lewis) and for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) on 24 March, at column 370.
Private Security Firms
Mr. George : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many private security firms have been employed by her Department for each of the last 10 years ; what has been the annual value of the contracts ; and if she will estimate how many guards have been employed for each of those years.
Mr. Jack : The following is the number of private firms employed for each financial year with the calculated annual total value of all contracts and the guards employed. The figures do not include the employment of guards on a short-term ad hoc basis.
|Number of firms|Value (£'000) |Guard posts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |7 |170 |18
1985-86 |7 |277 |20
1986-87 |7 |297 |20
1987-88 |7 |312 |20
1988-89 |7 |329 |20
1989-90 |7 |358 |21
1990-91 |7 |469 |21
1991-92 |7 |534 |22
1992-93 |8 |650 |23
1993-94 |8 |705 |23
Increases in recent years in the cost of guarding is due to the provision of more comprehensive security cover at a number of vulnerable sites.
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Fishermen (Subsidies)
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the total payments to fishing vessel owners on (a) subsidies and support, (b) compensation for loss of fishing and (c) decommissioning in each year since 1974.
Mr. Jack : The following information on construction and modernisation grants and on decommissioning is readily available.
Construction and
modernisation grants
Expenditure year by year is
shown below, except that the
figures prior
to 1982-83 relate to grant
approvals rather than to
grant expenditure.
|£ million
------------------------------
1977-78 |5.0
1978-79 |5.4
1979-80 |7.0
1980-81 |5.2
1981-82 |3.8
1982-83 |8.1
1983-84 |9.1
1984-85 |12.3
1985-86 |15.8
1986-87 |19.1
1987-88 |21.6
1988-89 |19.8
1989-90 |10.1
1990-91 |7.7
1991-92 |3.7
1992-93 |1.2
Decommissioning
Expenditure on
decommissioning between 1983
and 1986 totalled £18.4
million, and a further £7.8
million was spent under the
1993 scheme. There were no
decommissioning schemes
between 1974 and 1983 and
between 1986 and 1993.
Grey Squirrels
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is her policy on measures to reduce grey squirrel populations in Britain.
Mr. Soames : It is not practical to reduce the number of grey squirrels over the whole of Britain. The Government's policy is, therefore, to control grey squirrels in those areas where they are causing significant damage to broad-leaved trees and in those areas where there are red squirrels present.
Grey squirrels, unlike our native red squirrels, are not a protected species. Responsibility for the general control of grey squirrels lies with individual landowners and occupiers, who are free to use any legal method of control, including traps, approved pesticides and shooting if they feel that this is necessary to prevent damage.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if she will give details of her advice to landowners wishing to kill grey squirrels ;
(2) if she will specify which (a) poisons and (b) traps she advises for killing grey squirrels.
Mr. Soames : Grey squirrels, unlike our native red squirrels, are not a protected species, and they may be killed by owners and occupiers of property and land if they feel this is necessary to prevent damage. Recommended methods of killing squirrels are by poisoning or trapping.
Except in the counties specified in the Grey Squirrel (Warfarin) Order 1973, grey squirrels may be killed
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outdoors by the use of the anticoagulant poison warfarin. When used outdoors, the bait must be presented in a hopper of the dimensions and specification given in the 1973 order. Warfarin may be used inside a building throughout England without the use of a hopper. Spring traps set in artificial or naturally occurring tunnels may be used but are not recommended for areas where red squirrels are present. Only traps authorised for use against squirrels under a spring trap approval order may be used. Single and multi-catch traps may be used in any part of the country for the live capture of grey squirrels and any grey squirrels so caught should be humanely despatched. It is an offence under section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to release any captured grey squirrel. Advice on controlling grey squirrels is available from both ADAS and the Forestry Commission.Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence she has that grey squirrels are a problem in the British countryside.
Mr. Soames : The Forestry Commission's annual survey and the Timber Growers Association's 1991 survey both show that grey squirrels are causing serious damage to a wide range of tree species by stripping the bark from the trees and that they are threatening the success of the Government's policy for maintaining the existing broad-leaved woodlands and establishing new ones. Landowners report that they may have to stop planting trees in certain areas because grey squirrels make it impossible to establish the trees. Grey squirrels can, in some situations, cause serious damage to cereals, top and soft fruit, bulbs and root crops.
In addition, grey squirrels rob the nests of woodland nesting birds such as thrushes, tits and nuthatches, as well as killing young birds and competing for breeding sites. There is circumstantial evidence that grey squirrels compete with red squirrels and that the number of red squirrels in Britain has declined in recent years with the increase in the population of greys.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research her officials have carried out into humane methods of killing or controlling grey squirrels.
Mr. Soames : As grey squirrels cause serious damage primarily to trees, research into humane methods of killing or controlling them is carried out by the Forestry Commission.
The commission has carried out research work on the development, testing and methods of deployment of cage traps and is also undertaking research into alternative silvicultural systems which may reduce the amount of damage caused by grey squirrels. The use of reproductive inhibitors has also been investigated but a practical way of using these has not yet been found.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate has been made of the economic damage caused to forests by grey squirrels.
Mr. Soames : It is estimated that the damage to forests caused by grey squirrels leads to a loss in excess of £1 million each year.
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Pest Control
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will give details of research projects funded or undertaken by her officials or the Agricultural Development Advisory Service into controlling pest species by contraceptive bait and other non-violent means.
Mr. Soames : Listed are the research projects currently funded by the Ministry on non-violent means of pest control. The Ministry does not currently undertake any research on contraceptive baits for the control of vertebrate pests. The two projects for
immunocontraceptives for rabbits shown involve the development of immunocontraceptive vaccines and include oral administration of vaccines but not field baiting. Once promising vaccines have been developed, field studies including baiting will be commissioned. Preparatory field research, without the use of vaccines, is planned to begin in 1995-96 in order to collect baseline data.
The Forestry Commission is carrying out research on deer-proof fencing, repellants and the use of genetics and tree breeding to produce natural compounds to deter deer ; and on the use of tree guards against rabbits.
MAFF research projects on the control of vertebrate pests by non-violent means
1. Strategic monitoring and modelling of bird pest populations to predict damage, damage limitation and the impact of agriculture on population.
2. Prevention of damage by birds using naturally occurring stimuli.
3. Predicting damage to winter wheat in relation to the density of rabbits and the timing of population control.
4. Developing humane, environmentally acceptable and cost-effective techniques for reducing rabbit numbers or otherwise preventing crop damage.
5. Modelling rabbit populations and designing control packages. 6. Uteroglobin as an immunocontraceptive vaccine.
7. Irreversible immucontraception for the control of wild rabbits.
8. Devising a procedure to be followed when badgers may have to be removed from a sett.
9. Mammalian pheromones and their use in pest control. 10. The management of mammal pests in farm woodlands.
Mink Farms
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many times her officials inspect a licensed mink farm each year to ensure compliance with the security arrangements of the Mink (Keeping) Order 1992.
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Mr. Soames : Licensed mink farms are inspected at least annually by the Agriculture Development Advisory Service before a licence is renewed to ensure that the security arrangements meet the stringent requirements of the Mink (Keeping) Regulations 1975. Further inspections may be made at any time during the year to ensure that the security arrangements have not deteriorated since the last inspection.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many mink farms are currently operating in England.
Mr. Soames : As at 31 March 1994, there were 10 licensed mink farms operating in England.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many inspections were carried out by her officials last year to ensure security arrangements at licensed mink farms complied with the Mink (Keeping) Order 1992.
Mr. Soames : During the 1993-94 financial year, 17 inspections of mink farms were carried out by the Agricultural Development Advisory Service on behalf of the Ministry.
Deformed Fish (North Sea)
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on recent incidents of deformed fish caught in the North sea, indicating where the fish were caught.
Mr. Jack : The Ministry has routinely monitored fish caught in the North sea for many years and there has been no recent increase in the landings of deformed fish.
Veal
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the tonnage of veal imported into Britain from (a) France, (b) Holland and (c) Italy in each year since 1985.
Mr. Soames : Data are available for imports into the United Kingdom of carcases, half-carcases and hindquarters and forequarters of veal and for boneless cuts from veal and this information is shown for years 1985 to 1982 in the table. Other information on cuts of veal or veal products is not available.
Column 75
Imports of veal, fresh or chilled or frozen-Weight in metric tonnes
|1985 |1986 |<1>1987|1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carcases, half-carcases or "compensated" quarters of a unit weight of
136 kg or less for carcases or "compensated" quarters, or of a
unit weight of not more than 68 kg for half-carcases, fresh or chilled
France |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |85 |93 |0
Holland |131 |73 |41 |13 |8 |18 |6 |1
Italy |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Separated or unseparated forequarters, of a unit weight of 60 kg or
less for unseparated forequarters, or of a unit weight of 30 kg or
less for separate forequarters, fresh or chilled
France |0 |0 |5 |157 |0 |20 |40 |156
Holland |0 |14 |0 |9 |6 |1 |6 |0
Italy |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Separated or unseparated hindquarters, of a unit weight of 75 kg or
less for unseparated hind-quarters, or of a unit weight of 40 kg or
less for separate hindquarters, fresh or chilled
France |0 |17 |6 |7 |74 |35 |36 |4
Holland |1,303 |1,275 |1,356 |306 |532 |369 |441 |503
Italy |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Boneless cuts from veal, fresh or chilled
France |n.a. |n.a. |n.a. |136 |152 |838 |489 |612
Holland |n.a. |n.a. |n.a. |738 |261 |504 |962 |464
Italy |n.a. |n.a. |n.a. |0 |0 |0 |0 |11
Source: Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.
<1> Discontinuities in the series between 1987 and 1988 are due to changes of classification.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many calves were exported to veal crates in (a) France, (b) Italy and (c) Holland ; and how many in each case were exported for (i) further fattening and (ii) immediate slaughter, in each year since 1985.
Mr. Soames : No information is available on the system of husbandry for which particular consignments of calves exported from the United Kingdom are intended.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the consumption of veal in Britain in each year since 1985 which came from (a) Britain, (b) France, (c) Italy and (d) Holland.
Mr. Soames : Details of veal consumption are shown in the table.
Veal consumption in the United Kingdom - source of supply Weight in thousand tonnes ------------------------- 1985 |4.7|0.0|0.0|1.4 1986 |1.8|0.0|0.0|1.4 1987 |0.5|0.0|0.0|1.4 1988 |0.6|0.3|0.0|1.0 1989 |0.0|0.2|0.0|0.8 1990 |1.5|0.9|0.0|0.9 1991 |1.4|0.7|0.0|1.4 1992 |1.0|0.8|0.0|1.0 There is a discontinuity in the series between 1987 and 1988 in respect of imports due to changes of classification.
Live Animals (Exports)
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures she is taking to ensure that British animals exported for slaughter to Spain are killed in accordance with legislation designated to ensure humane slaughter.
Mr. Soames : I refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave him on 16 February, Official Report, column 847.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farm animals are exported by species from Britain for (a) further fattening and (b) slaughter in each year since 1985.
Mr. Soames : Figures for exports from Great Britain in the years 1985 to 1992 are given in the following table. Figures are not available for 1993.
Column 77
Animals inspected and certified as fit for transportation prior to export ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1985 |150 |10,381 |none |none |142,427 |11,761 |none 1986 |187 |154,017 |none |none |190,683 |7,745 |1,321 1987 |1.014 |182,781 |none |574 |365,166 |130,775 |none 1988 |136 |262,647 |none |323 |234,651 |184,120 |none 1989 |358 |216,886 |24 |1,712 |302,223 |275,006 |none 1990 |175 |186,038 |none |284 |338,806 |302,871 |none 1991 |154 |196,870 |3,297 |187 |399,599 |576,632 |9,963 1992 |115 |326,777 |691 |40 |420,620 |1,046,880|1,911 Source: "Animal Health-Report by the Chief Veterinary Officer", reports 1985 to 1992.
Live Animals (Transport)
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether records are kept of the number of farm animals which die during transport (a) within Britain and (b) to other EC member states.
Mr. Soames : Such information may be recorded in cases where possible offences against the Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1992 were being investigated, either by inspectors of this Department or those of local authorities with enforcement responsibilities
Column 78
under the Animal Health Act 1981. The information is not collected centrally. The recording of deaths of animals during transport from Great Britain which occurred within the territory of another member state would be a matter for the member state concerned.Spanish and Portuguese Accession
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison) of 13 April, Official Report, columns 183-84, which member states (a) voted against and (b) abstained on the vote on the
Column 79
presidency compromise proposal on the procedure to be followed for amending the current arrangements applying to Spanish and Portuguese access to the waters of other member states.Mr. Jack : The presidency compromise proposal was adopted by qualified majority. Ireland voted against. No member state indicated abstention. Formal adoption of the legal text is planned to take place at a future meeting of the Council by "A" point procedure.
Near-shore Fishing
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals she has to use the new regime of licensing for boats under 10 m to study the nature and distribution of near-shore fishing in United Kindom waters.
Mr. Jack : We shall keep activity in this sector under review.
Farm Statistics
Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what proportion of (a) the total land mass and (b) the agricultural area of each English county
Column 80
and the counties as grouped together for the purposes of compiling the farm business survey, is designated (i) severely disadvantaged area, (ii) disadvantaged area and (iii) less-favoured area ; and what are the figures for England as a whole ;(2) what is the total hectarage of agricultural land for (a) each English county and (b) each farm business survey county group, which is designated (i) severely disadvantaged area, (ii) disadvantaged area and (c) less- favoured area according to the most recent unweighted figures from the annual farm census.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 20 April 1994] : The table provides the total hectarage of agricultural land on holdings designated as SDA, DA and LFA, as well as the proportions of total land mass and total agricultural area designated as SDA, DA and LFA, by English county and FBS province in 1992. The area of common rough grazing has been excluded from the figures of agricultural area as details are not available to show the breakdown between SDA, DA and non-LFA land.
Column 79
Estimates of the total agricultural land (a) by county and FBS province in 1992
Total Proportion of Proportion of
agricultural land total land mass (b) agricultural area
designated as: designated as: designated as:
FBS province |County |SDA |DA |LFA |SDA |DA |LFA |SDA |DA |LFA
hectares per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
East Midland
|Derbyshire |67,759 |13,824 |81,583 |26 |5 |31 |37 |8 |44
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
|67,759 |13,824 |81,583 |4 |1 |5 |6 |1 |7
Northern
|Cumbria |192,312 |40,427 |232,740 |28 |6 |34 |42 |9 |51
|Durham |77,440 |11,873 |89,312 |32 |5 |37 |49 |8 |57
|Northumberland |235,296 |23,594 |258,890 |47 |5 |51 |62 |6 |68
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
|505,048 |75,894 |580,942 |34 |5 |39 |50 |7 |57
North Eastern
|Cleveland |7,062 |1,766 |8,827 |12 |3 |15 |25 |6 |31
|North Yorkshire |159,269 |47,565 |206,834 |19 |6 |25 |25 |7 |32
|South Yorkshire |8,810 |6,141 |14,951 |6 |4 |10 |11 |7 |18
|West Yorkshire |29,993 |9,305 |39,298 |15 |5 |19 |30 |9 |39
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
|205,134 |64,776 |296,910 |13 |4 |17 |19 |6 |25
North Western
|Cheshire |8,812 |1,619 |10,431 |4 |1 |4 |5 |1 |6
|Greater Manchester |6,992 |4,873 |11,865 |5 |4 |9 |17 |12 |29
|Lancashire |59,869 |41,076 |100,944 |20 |13 |33 |27 |19 |45
|Shropshire |29,001 |13,632 |42,533 |8 |4 |12 |10 |5 |15
|Staffordshire |12,711 |17,732 |30,443 |5 |7 |11 |6 |9 |15
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
|117,384 |78,832 |196,216 |9 |6 |14 |13 |8 |21
Southern
|Hereford and Worcester |10,689 |6,518 |17,207 |3 |2 |4 |3 |2 |6
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
|10,689 |6,518 |17,207 |1 |1 |1
South Western
|Cornwall (including Isles of Scilly)|11,171 |43,878 |55,048 |3 |12 |16 |4 |16 |20
|Devon |71,394 |63,743 |135,137 |11 |9 |20 |14 |12 |26
|Somerset |31,419 |2,038 |33,457 |9 |1 |10 |11 |1 |12
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
|113,983 |109,659 |223,642 |7 |7 |14 |9 |9 |18
England |1,019,999 |349,604 |1,369,500 |8 |3 |11 |11 |4 |15
Less than 0.5 per cent.
(a)Area on main holdings with land in the SDA or DA excluding common rough grazing
(b)Including inland water
Sources: Agricultural Census, Municipal yearbook
Trade Statistics
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many calves were exported to other member states in each year since 1985.
Mr. Soames : The numbers of calves from the United Kingdom that have been exported to other member states of the EC since 1985 can be found in the annual volumes of the "Overseas Trade Statistics for the United Kingdom", copies of which are in the House of Commons Library. Details of their classification within standard industrial waste classification 00 can be found in the "Guide to the Classification for Overseas Trade Statistics", which is also in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many live farm animals were exported abroad in each year since 1985 ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Soames : The numbers of live animals from the United Kingdom that have been exported abroad since 1985 can be found in the annual volumes of the "Overseas Trade Statistics for the United Kingdom", copies of which are in the House of Commons Library. Details of their classification within SITC 00 can be found in the "Guide to the classification for Overseas Trade Statistics", which is also in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the tonnage of (a) lamb and (b) beef was imported into Britain from other member states in each year since 1985.
Mr. Soames : The tonnage of lamb and beef imported into the United Kingdom from other member states of the EC since 1985 can be found in the annual volumes of the "Overseas Trade Statistics for the United Kingdom", copies of which are in the House of Commons Library. Details of their classification within SITC 00 can be found in the "Guide to the classification for Overseas Trade Statistics", which is also in the House of Commons Library.
DEFENCE
Private Security Firms
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many private security firms have been employed by his Department for each of the last 10 years ; what has been the annual value of the contracts ; and if he will estimate how many guards have been employed for each of those years.
Mr. Hanley : The number of private security firms employed by my Department over the last 10 years and the annual value of contracts are as follows :
|Number of firms|Annual value of
|contracts (£)
----------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |7 |350,000
1985-86 |9 |600,000
1986-87 |11 |1,100,000
1987-88 |10 |1,350,000
1988-89 |21 |1,900,000
1989-90 |17 |4,841,000
1990-91 |16 |4,760,000
1991-92 |16 |4,532,000
1992-93 |14 |5,136,000
1993-94 |15 |6,535,000
The number of guards used by a private firm in meeting its contractual requirement is a matter of judgment for the firm itself. Central records are not held by my Department of the number of private guards employed.
Sailing Ships
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the expenditure by his Department on the construction of sailingn ships in each of the past 10 years ; if he will give details of the names of such ships, their current use and what proportion of the cost of such ships was met by his Department.
Mr. Hanley [holding answer 18 March 1994] : The MOD has procured 41 sail training craft for the services from public funds over the past 10 years. Sail training craft are procured for a number of training uses for service men and women including sea sense training, resource and initiative training, leadership training and adventurous sail training.
Expenditure on these craft in each of the past 10 years is as follows :
Financial year |£ --------------------------------------------- 1984-85 |54,000 1985-86 |Nil 1986-87 |Nil 1987-88 |135,519 1988-89 |Nil 1989-90 |77,156 1990-91 |1,202,225 1991-92 |608,129 1992-93 |533,754 1993-94 |155,911
The names of the craft and their current deployment are as follows :
Amaryllis of Dart--Army Sailing Association
Amaryllis of Dartmouth--Britannia Royal Naval College
Amoria--HMS Hornet Gosport
Callista--HMS Hornet Gosport
Cornish Air--Royal Naval Air Station, Culdrose
Disinia--HMS Hornet, Gosport
Ebsis--HMS Hornet, Gosport
Fimbra--HMS Hornet, Gosport
Foxbat--HMS Sultan, Gosport
Foxbrush--HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
Foxchase--HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
Foxcub--HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
Foxdale--HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
Foxfield--HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
Foxfire--HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
Foxglove--HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
Foxhole--HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
Foxhound--HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
Foxhunt--HMS Sultan, Gosport
Foxlane, HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
Foxmark--HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
Foxtor--HMS Raleigh, Plymouth
Gauntlet of Plymouth--Royal Naval Engineering College, Manadon
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