| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Gwent Health Authority
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Gwent health authority concerning the authority's report into the appointment by internal advertisement of a senior manager already in receipt of an NHS redundancy payment in January; and if he will make a statement; [36476]
- (2) what consultations he has had with his independent observer on the Gwent health authority non-executive director's study group into the appointment by internal advertisement of a senior manager already in receipt of an NHS redundancy payment in January; and if he will make a statement. [36477]
Mr. Hague: None. My Department has been kept informed of developments by the health authority, and I will receive a copy of the report. The authority will let me know what action it intends to take following its meeting on 12 July.
EstateCare Group
Mr. Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made on the transfer to the private sector of the EstateCare Group of the Welsh Health Common Services Authority. [36811]
Mr. Hague: Following extensive negotiations, the design and project management functions of the EstateCare Group have been sold to a new company, EstateCare Group Ltd., formed by Capita plc and a team of senior managers from the existing EstateCare Group.
The purchase price of £175,000 offered good value for money and the sale ensures the best possible prospects for the majority of EstateCare's staff and continuity of service for NHS trusts in Wales.
Local Government Reorganisation
Mr. Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he is taking to ensure that the new unitary authorities in Wales operate to the standards in accordance with the principles of the citizens charter. [36812]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: Officials have written to all chief executives of local authorities in Wales to encourage them to produce their own local charters. These charters will need to include public services for people who live and work in rural communities, in accordance with the White paper "A Working Countryside for Wales". The letter is being circulated widely in Wales, and I am arranging for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Beef Ban
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what steps he has taken to (a) consult law officers and (b) obtain counsel's opinion on the claim of the EC that it has the power to ban British beef exports to markets outside the EU; [24880]
9 Jul 1996 : Column: 161
- (2) what assessment he has made of the liability of the EC for (a) actions at law and (b) payment of compensation from their imposition of a ban on the export of British beef. [24882]
Mrs. Browning: This Government have challenged the ban on the export of British beef--as set out in Commission decision 96/239/EC--in the European Court of Justice. A decision on this issue will take some time, so a petition for interim relief from the ban has also been entered. The Government will be seeking costs but not damages from the court.
In the meantime, the United Kingdom is striving to work with our European colleagues to lift the ban by implementing the framework programme as described to the House on 24 June 1996, Official Report, columns 21-22.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations were made to the countries which had a ban on the import of United Kingdom beef before 20 March; and what indications were given in each case of the action that would be necessary to secure the lifting of the ban. [30358]
Mrs. Browning:
I very much regret that the hon. Member has had to wait so long for a reply.
Thirty seven countries had imposed a ban on the import of United Kingdom beef prior to 20 March. Details of the specific reasons given for the introduction of these bans, and of the representations made by the UK Government to each individual country, could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, vigorous lobbying to persuade the authorities concerned to lift the ban has taken place in all cases.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the cost, in terms of beef product export sales, of bans on British beef introduced by non-EU countries in each of the last seven years. [29617]
Mrs. Browning
[holding answer 16 May 1996]: Any estimate of the value of beef export sales which might have been achieved had the bans imposed by a number of non-EU countries not been imposed would be highly speculative. The value of UK bovine products exports to non-EU countries would have been significantly higher than the £62.6 million they were worth last year.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will itemise all import restrictions imposed by Argentina on the importation of beef meat and beef meat products from the United Kingdom. [29620]
Mrs. Browning
[holding answer 16 May 1996]: I very much regret that the hon. Member has had to wait so long for a reply.
My officials were advised by the British embassy, Buenos Aires, in August 1991 that the Argentine authorities had imposed a temporary ban on the import of all meat and meat products derived from bovines, ovines and caprines from the UK. This ban has continued despite vigorous lobbing to persuade the Argentine authorities to lift the restrictions.
9 Jul 1996 : Column: 162
Mr. Austin Mitchell:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce legislation to make it unlawful for fast food companies not to offer their customers a choice between British and imported beef. [31763]
Mrs. Browning:
The Government, in consultation with the beef industry and the Meat and Livestock Commission, continue to do all that they can to persuade such establishments to restore British beef to their menus. However, the Government have no powers to prescribe purchasing decisions.
Mr. Devlin:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assistance he intends to give retail butchers whose turnover has reduced as a result of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [34277]
Mrs. Browning:
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister to the hon. Member for Gloucester (Mr. French) on 17 June 1996, Official Report, columns 378-80.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received in respect of cranial and opercular deformities in genetically engineered salmon; and if he will make a statement. [35871]
Mr. Baldry:
We have received no representations on these subjects.
Mr. Heppell:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 23 April, Official Report, column 139, when the invoices for livestock export certification undertaken by his Department's staff between 13 and 16 February were issued; and when the amounts invoiced were received. [35755]
Mrs. Browning:
The invoices for livestock export certification undertaken by MAFF staff were issued on 17 April 1996. Of the 12 invoices issued five have so far been paid in full. Those payments were received on 29 April, 9 May, 20 May, 29 May and 26 June 1996.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the outcome of the international technical conference on plant genetic resources held in Leipzig; and if he will place in the Library copies of United Kingdom submissions to the conference, with the global plan of action agreed at the conference. [35930]
Mr. Boswell:
The fourth international technical conference on plant genetic resources of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations took place in Leipzig from 17 to 23 June 1996. The conference unanimously adopted a global plan of action for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of plant genetic
9 Jul 1996 : Column: 163
resources for food and agriculture, and a Leipzig declaration on conservation and sustainable utilisation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.
The United Kingdom delegation participated fully in the negotiations, but the United Kingdom made no formal submission to the conference.
Final copies of the adopted text of the global plan and of the declaration have not yet been made available by the FAO, but I shall arrange for copies of the final negotiating drafts, as adopted, to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr. Pickthall:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how the payment rate to abattoirs for slaughter of £107.50 per beast was arrived at. [35774]
Mr. Baldry:
A provisional fee of £87.50 per animal presented for slaughter under the over 30-month scheme was agreed by the Intervention Board executive agency in consultation with representatives from the slaughtering industry. There was no established rate for this work when the scheme was set up and the provisional fee, which covers slaughtering, butchering, staining and preparation for dispatch to a rendering plant or cold store, took into account uncertainty about costs on a disrupted market and the fact that income would not be derived from the offals. This provisional fee is guaranteed only for slaughterings up to and including 16 June. A substantive rate will be determined following an "open books" examination of slaughterers' costs by an independent third party which will report its findings shortly.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |