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Badgers

Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many badgers have been (a) captured and (b) destroyed in each of the last three years following (i) direct action by his Department and (ii) the issuing of licences to third parties. [5309]

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Mrs. Browning: The total number of badgers captured and destroyed in removal operations carried out by the Department following tuberculosis breakdowns in cattle in each of the last three years was as follows:

Year	1993	1994	1995(13)
Total captured	1,246	1,864	1,926
Total destroyed	1,094	1,682	1,448

(13) To date.

In the three years from 1993 to date, 10 badgers have been captured and one badger destroyed under licences issued to third parties by this Ministry.

Imported Fish

Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to ensure that fish imported for angling do not spread disease to native fish species. [5551]

Mr. Baldry: All imports of live fish into this country have to meet strict rules intended to prevent the spread of disease. All fish from elsewhere in the European Union that are susceptible to the diseases infectious haematopoietic necrosis and viral haemorrhagic septicaemia have to come from zones approved by the Commission as free of these diseases, and all other fish must either come from such zones or from enclosed waters isolated from natural watercourses; all coarse fish susceptible to the disease spring viraemia of carp have to be certified by the member state of origin as coming from a site that has been tested and found free of SVC. Similar rules apply to fish from third countries, with the exception of tropical fish that cannot survive in the natural environment in this country and goldfish and koi from countries outside the geographical range of SVC.

Over the past year, we have stepped up our efforts to ensure that these rules are observed. We have increased the number of spot checks on imported consignments of coarse fish, and have recruited an additional fish health inspector with an investigative background to concentrate full time on monitoring fish imports. As recommended by the Agriculture Select Committee's recent fifth report, a leaflet and publicity campaign "Don't Import Disease" was launched by my right hon. Friend the Minister on 12 July. This reminded all concerned of the need to follow the rules on imports; of the risks they run if they buy fish of dubious origin; of additional precautions they can take to avoid disease; and of the efforts, including prosecution, we are making to stop illegal imports.

Dioxin Hot Spots

Ms Ruddock: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the dioxin hot spots identified by his Department; and what action has been taken in respect of each site. [5463]

Mrs. Browning: Surveillance conducted by the Ministry since 1990 has found unacceptable concentrations of dioxins only in cows' milk from three farms in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire. Milk from these farms was prevented from entering the human food supply. Regular monitoring of cows' milk from this area

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continues. No other areas have been identified where concentrations of dioxins in cows' milk are above the normal background range.

Ms Ruddock: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to monitor wind-blown deposition of dioxin-contaminated particles arising from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food identified dioxin hot spots in the United Kingdom. [5682]

Mrs. Browning: The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will continue its programme of monitoring the dioxins content of cows' milk produced in the vicinity of selected industrial sites which are representative of processes that may release dioxins. This programme assures the safety of the food supply and assesses environmental contamination.

Pesticides

Mr. Mans: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what changes he plans to make to the system of approving pesticides. [6520]

Mr. Boswell: Ministers make decisions on the approval of pesticides on the basis of recommendations from the independent expert Advisory Committee on Pesticides. I have agreed with my colleagues in the other regulatory Departments that its present sub-committee on pesticides

13 Dec 1995 : Column: 690

will be replaced by a smaller, more flexible, inter-departmental secretariat to ensure that the UK can make a timely and effective input into the European regulatory system for plant protection products. The new body begins work immediately on the European front and will take over the processing of applications under the UK system during the course of next year.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Mrs. Peacock: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [6521]

Mr. Douglas Hogg: A further report on BSE in Great Britain will be available tomorrow. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library of the House at 11.00 a.m.

The report provides detailed statistics on the progress of the BSE epidemic, updated to the end of October 1995 and information about the latest EC measures for the export of beef to other member states, the new legislative controls to reinforce the measures already in place for the disposal of specified bovine offal and the announcement I made on 28 November, Official Report, columns 530- 31, in which I indicated my intention to legislate to prevent the use of bovine vertebral column in the production of mechanically recovered meat. We shall shortly be making an order to effect this change, to come into force on 15 December.

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EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Graduation Rate

15. Mr. Wolfson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the current graduation rate in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) the other European Union. [3882]

Mr. Forth: In 1992, the United Kingdom rate was over 20 per cent.--virtually double the European Union average for Bachelor's degrees of about 10 per cent. and second only to Denmark's rate of some 22 per cent. Since 1992, our graduation rate has risen further as a result of recent increases in participation.

Grant-maintained Status

16. Mr. Jacques Arnold: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a progress report on the transition to grant-maintained status by state schools. [3883]

Mrs. Gillan: There are now 1,085 grant-maintained schools and 62 more schools have embarked on the GM process.

21. Mr. Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the number of schools balloting on grant-maintained status. [3891]

Mrs. Gillan: Parents are voting now, or will be voting, in about 19 schools' ballots, and have voted in 27 more ballots since the start of the autumn term.

Schools (Standards)

17. Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what measures she is taking to boost overall standards in schools. [3884]

Mr. Robin Squire: All our education reforms, from the national curriculum to local management of schools, act to raise standards. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools has confirmed that standards are, indeed, rising.

18. Lady Olga Maitland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what action she is taking to improve standards of reading. [3886]

Mrs. Gillian Shephard: We are taking action across the board from nursery education to training and education for adults.

Higher Education (Access)

19. Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is her policy in respect of access to higher education levels determined by A-level grades. [3887]

Mr. Forth: It is for higher education institutions to determine their admissions policies and to decide on individual applications. In doing so, they rightly take into account a wide range of qualifications for entry, including GCE A-levels.

Education Spending (Cheshire)

20. Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on education spending in Cheshire. [3889]

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Mr. Robin Squire: Education spending in Cheshire is a matter for Cheshire local education authority. Cheshire's provisional education SSA for 1996-97 is £349.051 million--an increase of £17.024 million or 5.1 per cent., which is above the national average.

Arabic Teaching

22. Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make it her policy that the teaching of Arabic in schools where appropriate and practicable shall be made available to school children at the time when their imitative linguistic ability is at its zenith. [3892]

Mr. Paice: All secondary school pupils must study a modern foreign language as part of the national curriculum. Primary schools are free to teach languages but are not required to do so. Arabic is one of 19 languages which schools may teach as a national curriculum subject. It is for schools to decide whether to teach Arabic, according to their resources and parental demand.

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