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Correspondence
Mr. Olner: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the hon. Member for Nuneaton will receive a reply to his letter dated 17 April regarding issues raised by his constituent, Mr. M. Hewitt. [30355]
Mrs. Browning: I replied to the hon. Member's letter on 16 May.
"Rural England" White Paper
Sir David Steel: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made on the Government's review of rural training provision referred to on page 54 of the Government's "Rural England" White Paper. [30674]
Mr. Boswell: The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is responsible for reviewing the support for training provided through ATB-Landbase referred to in the "Rural England" White Paper.
4 Jun 1996 : Column: 434
The Ministry has placed a further contract with ATB-Landbase. The contract, worth nearly £2 million, runs to 31 March 1997 and covers strategic industry training organisation, ITO, and lead body activities for the agricultural and commercial horticulture industries, together with funding to maintain a quality-assured training instructor register. The contract also includes funding for projects embracing training promotion and the development of local initiatives. In the longer term, we believe that our funding should be channelled through a competition process to ensure that support meets the industry's training support requirements at a reasonable cost. In deciding how to take matters forward, we shall be taking into consideration the Department for Education and Employment's recent proposals for the ITO network.
Private Investigators
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what use his Department has made of private detective agencies or investigators during 1995-96 and 1994-95, which agencies have been employed; for what purposes; and at what cost to his Department. [30571]
Mr. Boswell: The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has made no use of private detective agencies or investigators during 1995-96 and 1994-95.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list (a) the number of (i) male and (ii) female employees, (b) the number of officials employed at each of the principal grades and the number and percentage of women employed at each of these grades and (c) the number of staff employed at administrative grades and the number and percentage of these staff who are women in his Department on 1 April. [30554]
Mr. Boswell: The information requested for permanent non-industrial staff in my Department including executive agencies on 1 April 1996 is as follows:
- (a) Total male staff 5,776; total female staff 4,460.
| Grade | Total officials | Women employed | Percentage women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 25 |
| 3 | 20 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 102 | 12 | 12 |
| 6 | 185 | 22 | 12 |
| 7 | 831 | 168 | 20 |
| SEO | 1,083 | 267 | 25 |
| HEO | 1,589 | 462 | 29 |
| EO | 2,360 | 896 | 38 |
| Grade | Total officials | Women employed | Percentage women |
|---|---|---|---|
| AO | 2,472 | 1,607 | 65 |
| AA | 1,550 | 998 | 64 |
4 Jun 1996 : Column: 435
Animal Feed
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the effects of the routine use of antibiotics in farm animal feed; and if he will make a statement. [30725]
Mrs. Browning: The use of additives in animal feedingstuffs is subject to directive 70/524/EEC, as amended. No feed additive is permitted unless, at the level permitted in feedingstuffs, it does not adversely affect human or animal health or the environment. The EC Commission is advised on these matters by the independent Scientific Committee on Animal Nutrition--SCAN--and each approval is subject to agreement by the Standing Committee for Feedingstuffs.
In the UK, the possible development of antibiotic resistance in humans and animals from the use of antibiotics in animals is kept under review by the independent, scientific Veterinary Products Committee. The VPC has consistently followed the principles established in 1969 by the report of the joint committee on the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry and veterinary medicine--the Swann report. The VPC's policy has been that new antimicrobials should not necessarily be precluded from therapeutic use in animals but that their prophylactic use should be discouraged.
Against this background, the committee continues to consider each case on its merits. The committee reviewed its policy last year and confirmed that it did not require amendment. In doing so, it recognised that many antibiotics are effective against both human and animal disease and a number licensed in human medicine are also authorised for therapeutic use in animals. Their use in human medicine, however, far outweighs any animal use.
Mr. Win Griffiths:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the animal feed products into which his Department has conducted research in respect of the spread of BSE; what measures have been undertaken as a result of this research; and what measures he has undertaken to monitor their effectiveness. [29578]
Mrs. Browning
[holding answer 21 May 1996]: Epidemiological investigations identified meat and bone meal of ruminant origin as the vehicle of transmission of BSE. Evidence from transmission experiments suggests that meal derived from central nervous tissue presented the greatest risk, although other tissues defined as specified bovine material--SBM--could not be excluded. Experiments recently published tested the effectiveness of the rendering processes within the EU in inactivating the BSE agent. These showed that some rendering systems in use in the 1980s did not inactivate the BSE agent fully.
As a result of our understanding of BSE, largely resulting from various research programmes, a number of control measures were introduced:
4 Jun 1996 : Column: 436
Mr. Austin Mitchell:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many fishing vessels that were ejected from the register in 1988 are eligible to reapply and how many are not; what gross registered tonnage these vessels represent; and what kilowatts of power they have; [30579]
Mr. Baldry:
Fishing vessels refused registration under the nationality provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 can be admitted to the British register only if they meet the current registration eligibility requirements. In order to be eligible owners must be:
4 Jun 1996 : Column: 437
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order 1988 prohibited the feeding of ruminant protein to ruminant animals on 18 July 1988.
An enzyme linked immunoassay--ELISA--test has been developed to identify the presence of mammalian protein in animal feed. This has been used to monitor compliance with the ruminant feed ban.
The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (No2) Order 1990 extended the ban on the use of specified bovine offals to any animal feed.
The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order 1991 consolidated existing BSE legislation and introduced new provisions to prevent the use of meat and bone meal produced from SBOs as a fertiliser.
In June 1994 a procedure of on farm sampling of animal feed from premises visited as a result of reported BSE suspect cases was introduced.
The Spongiform Miscellaneous Encephalopathy (Amendments) Order 1994 extended the ruminant protein feed ban to include all mammalian protein in ruminant feedingstuffs.
Validation of all rendering plants handling animal waste by the end of 1994, in accordance with Commission decision 94/382 on the approval of alternative heat treatment systems for processing animal waste of ruminant origin. The requirements of the decision were included in the Specified Bovine Offal Order 1995.
The Specified Bovine Offal Order 1995 strengthened the controls in rendering plants handling SBOs by requiring them to operate dedicated rendering lines for the processing of SBO.
The random sampling of animal feed in feed mills commenced in February 1996 in accordance with Commission Decision 95/287.
The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Amendment) Order 1996 extended the mammalian protein feed ban to the feeding of mammalian protein to all farm animals, including horses and farmed fish.
The Fertilisers (Mammalian Meat and Bone Meal) Regulations 1996 prohibit the use of meat and bonemeal as, or in, fertiliser used on agricultural land. It is only permitted for use in private gardens, and within greenhouses and glass or plastic structures.
(2) under what circumstances fishing vessels ejected from the register in 1988 may be reinstated; and if, following reinstatement, they are eligible for licences to fish for United Kingdom quotas. [30580]
(a) British citizens or persons who are nationals of a member state other than the United Kingdom and are established, within the meaning of article 52 of the EEC treaty, in the United Kingdom;
(b) bodies corporate incorporated in a member state with a place of business in the United Kingdom;
(c) European economic interest groupings, which are groupings formed in pursuance of article 1 of Council regulation (EEC) No. 2137/85 and registered in the United Kingdom;
Reinstated vessels are granted licences only if they held one prior to deregistration and it has not been used to licence another vessel in the meantime. If the licence has been used in this way, owners of reinstated vessels can obtain licences to fish only by transfer from other licensed vessels. Tonnage and engine power figures for vessels refused registration in 1989 are not readily available.
(d) a local authority in the United Kingdom.
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