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Prisons (Drugs)
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been successfully prosecuted in each of the last six years for smuggling illegal drugs into prisons; and if he will make a statement. [28232]
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 8 May 1996]: The location of an offence committed under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is not recorded centrally.
Ministerial Group on Juveniles
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Ministerial group on juveniles met; and what (a) reports and (b) initiatives have been published as a result of the meeting. [28239]
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 8 May 1996]: The ministerial group on juveniles met on 18 January and 13 March. A press notice published after the group's inaugural meeting announced a programme of work, which is now being taken forward, to strengthen measures for intervening effectively with those children who are most at risk of offending. This work will include the publication of practical guidance to help local agencies ensure a co-ordinated approach to identifying and dealing with these children.
Child Abuse (North Wales)
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what consultations he has had with the chief constable of North Wales concerning compensation payments to alleged victims of child abuse at North Wales children's homes in circumstances where no proceedings have been taken against those allegedly guilty of the abuse; [27624]
- (2) how many alleged victims of child abuse in North Wales children's homes have been paid compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board; and how many such payments involved victims allegedly abused by persons against whom no police proceedings have taken place. [27627]
Mr. Maclean [holding answers 8 May 1996]: I have not had any consultations with the chief constable of the North Wales police on this matter.
I understand that to date the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board has made 27 awards of compensation and refused 14 applications. The number of
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payments made where no prosecution resulted is not readily available. However, the standard of proof required under the compensation scheme is that obtaining in the civil courts, namely "the balance of probabilities", not the stricter standard of "beyond reasonable doubt" required in the criminal courts. It is accordingly within the board's discretion to make awards in cases where no prosecution is brought.
Beef Exports
10. Mr. William Ross: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of United Kingdom beef exports is represented by beef exported from Northern Ireland. [27466]
Mr. Baldry: Beef exports from Northern Ireland accounted for approximately 28 per cent. of total UK beef exports in 1995.
14. Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress he has made in promoting the full resumption of the international beef trade; and if he will make a statement. [27471]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement I made on 1 May, Official Report, columns 1147-48.
15. Mr. Dykes: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on developments in European Union beef markets. [27472]
Mr. Baldry: EU beef markets are, to say the least, extremely turbulent at the present time.
18. Mr. Duncan: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made on the implications of the EU ban for the future of the beef industry. [27476]
Mr. Baldry: The United Kingdom's long and distinguished history as a trading nation has benefited considerably in recent years from a significant export trade in beef and beef products. The cessation of that trade directly threatens thousands of British jobs, severe financial hardship for those involved and possibly irreparable damage to the structure and profitability of the British beef industry.
19. Mr. Lidington: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent representations he has made to his German counterpart about the European Community ban on British beef. [27477]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: I have been in contact with my German counterpart, Joachim Borchert, on numerous occasions over the last few weeks during which time I have consistently and forcefully impressed upon him the fact that the export ban is unjustified and should be lifted forthwith.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the penalties for a breach of the EC ban on the export of British beef and beef products by a British exporter, and about how such penalties would be enforced. [27350]
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Mrs. Browning: It would be an offence under the Products of Animal Origin (Import and Export) Regulations 1992 (SI 1992 No 3298), as amended, to export or to consign for export to another member state, British beef or beef products without the necessary export health certification. These export certificates have been withdrawn by the Government following the EC ban. A copy of the regulations is available in the Library of the House. The penalties applying are set out in regulation 28. Enforcement of the regulations is shared between the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the local authority concerned. In practice local authorities generally take prosecutions under the regulations. Under regulation 3 the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and in some circumstances the Secretaries of State for Scotland, for Wales and for Health, have powers to act where a local authority has failed to enforce.
All export certificates required by third countries to accompany consignments of British beef and beef products have also been withdrawn. Operational staff at all Customs export stations have been informed of the terms of the EC ban and have been instructed to refuse to release for export to third countries any goods covered by the ban. Customs' legal powers in respect of properly declared goods of the descriptions covered by the Commission decision extend no further than refusing permission to export. Failure to present goods for such export, however, is an offence under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979.
In the case of wilful breach of Customs controls, for example by misdescription of banned beef and beef products, powers in the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 provide for the prosecution of offenders and in some circumstances the forfeiture of goods. The commissioners of Customs and Excise will consider prosecution of such offences in individual cases using the criteria that they apply in all prosecutions.
11. Mr. Stevenson:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met consumers' representatives to discuss measures to control bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [27467]
17. Mr. Turner:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met with consumers' representatives to discuss measures to control bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [27475]
Mr. Hogg:
Yesterday afternoon.
22. Mr. Etherington:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met farmers' representatives to discuss bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [27480]
Mrs. Browning:
My ministerial colleagues and I are in frequent contact with farmers' representatives. We are always willing to discuss the current difficulties and to listen to their views.
26. Mr. Kevin Hughes:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice he has given to knackers' yards and the rendering industry in relation to implementation of new BSE regulations. [27484]
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Mrs. Browning:
The rendering industry and knackers' yards have been kept fully informed of the requirements of the new BSE regulations as they affect these sectors.
Mr. Tyler:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will initiate a comprehensive inquiry into the cause of the duration of the problems in respect of BSE. [27473]
Mr. Douglas Hogg:
The ruminant feed ban introduced in 1988 has been instrumental in reducing the number of confirmed cases by 75 per cent. since the peak in 1993. It is clear that the ban was not completely watertight and it has been progressively tightened, most recently to prevent mammalian meat and bone meal being fed to any farm animals. But the benefits of the more recent measures will take some time to see, as the disease has a long incubation period.
Mr. Wigley:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the effect of the culling proposals agreed at the Council of Ministers at Luxembourg on 29 and 30 April on the incidence of BSE in Untied Kingdom beef and dairy herds. [28305]
Mrs. Browning:
No agreement was reached at the Agriculture Council on 29 and 30 April on culling cattle. The impact of the proposals we put forward cannot be estimated with precision but could in theory reduce the number of cases in 1996 by up to a third and should in practice achieve a reduction of between 15 and 30 per cent.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department has carried out into BSE in each of the last 10 years; and how much of this research has been to identify the BSE infective agent. [24420]
Mrs. Browning:
Details of BSE research funded by MAFF since 1991-92 will be placed in the Library today. The projects which involve work to identify the BSE infective agent are listed separately.
Research records prior to 1991 are not held on computer; to provide the information for the period requested could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Gapes:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the number of suspected BSE cases per year since 1988 as a percentage of the national herd in that year. [24240]
Mrs. Browning:
The number of suspected BSE cases per year since 1988 as a percentage of the national herd in that year are detailed in the following table:
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 1988 | 0.066 |
| 1989 | 0.220 |
| 1990 | 0.442 |
| 1991 | 0.770 |
| 1992 | 1.140 |
| 1993 | 1.112 |
| 1994 | 0.751 |
| 1995 | 0.445 |
Mr. Key: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what scientific evidence the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee decided that
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masseter and temporal muscles in cattle heads over six months of age should be treated as specified bovine offal; and if he will make a statement. [24215]
Mrs. Browning: The Government sought advice from the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee on this point. The committee recommended that the removal of bovine head meat from bovine heads should be prohibited because they were concerned at the possibility of such meat being contaminated with brain material following stunning and pithing, rather than because of concerns about the safety of meat itself.
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