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Taxi Fares
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much his Department spent in meeting the costs of taxi cab fares in the 1995-96 financial year. [36018]
Mr. Boswell: It is not possible currently to identify how much the Ministry spent in meeting the cost of taxi cab fares in the 1995-96 financial year. The cost of extracting the information from the financial records would be disproportionate.
Seeds
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reasons (a) Uncle Fred's pea, (b) the Welsh onion, (c) the Mortgage Lifter runner bean and (d) the Ormskirk late green Savoy cabbage are omitted from the list of species which are allowed to be commercially bought or sold as seeds; and if he will make a statement. [36226]
Mr. Boswell: The Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982, as amended, which implement EC directives, require a variety on the UK national list or EC common catalogue to have a maintainer responsible for maintaining it true to its original description. A variety of Savoy cabbage named Ormskirk was removed from the UK national list in 1989 because no one wished to maintain it. My Department has no record of the varieties Uncle Fred's pea and the Mortgage Lifter runner bean being entered as candidates for the UK national list under those names. Marketing of varieties of the species Welsh onion is not controlled by the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982, as amended, and may therefore take place without these varieties being listed.
Mr. Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) why (a) the May Blossom cauliflower, (b) the Prizewinner swede, (c) the Black Kidney potato, (d) the everlasting green kale, (e) the Black Sugarsweet turnip, (f) the blight resistant Virginia spinach, (g) the Tommy Toe tomato and (h) the Giant Tree tomato are omitted from the list of species which are allowed to be commercially bought or sold as seeds; and if he will make a statement; [37450]
- (2) for what reasons Ely white celery is omitted from the list of species which are allowed to be commercially bought or sold as seeds; and if he will make a statement.[37359]
Mr. Boswell: The Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982, as amended, which implement EC directives, require a variety on the UK national list or EC common catalogue to have a maintainer responsible for maintaining it true to its original description. A variety of cauliflower named May Blossom was removed from the UK national list in 1984 because no one wished to maintain it; a variety of swede named Prizewinner was removed from the UK national list in 1975 and a celery named Ely white was removed in 1985 for the same
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reason. My Department has no record of the varieties Black Kidney potato, everlasting green kale, Black Sugarsweet turnip, blight resistant Virginia spinach, Tommy Toe tomato or Giant Tree tomato as being entered as candidates for the UK national list under these names.
Cattle Slaughter Scheme
Dr. Strang: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cattle were slaughtered in the United Kingdom under the 30-months scheme in the weeks beginning (a) 3 June and (b) 10 June.
Mr. Boswell: The number of cattle slaughtered under the scheme in these weeks was (a) 26,149 and (b) 28,271.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all those questions submitted by the hon. Member that his Department has not answered, together with the number of days elapsed since the date for which they were originally set down to answer; and if he will make a statement. [37361]
Mrs. Browning: According to the Department's records, none of the hon. Member's questions is overdue for reply.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 27 march, Official Report, column 640, about parliamentary questions, what method would be used by his Department in collating the information requested. [37522]
Mr. Boswell: The examination of more than 17,000 files dating back to 1987-88.
Water Re-use
Mr. Steen: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will undertake a study to determine the safety and effectiveness of the extended water reuse system compared to conventional farming methods. [37475]
Mr. Baldry: I am not aware of any significant commercial advantage or public health benefit from extending beyond one month the period during which seawater may be reused in the purification of shellfish. We therefore have no plans to undertake studies to determine the safety and effectiveness of reusing seawater for extended periods, although we remain ready to evaluate any evidence of safety and effectiveness that independent researchers produce.
Oyster Farms
Mr. Steen: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many (a) licensed and (b) unlicensed oyster farms exist in the United Kingdom; and how many oysters are produced in each category per annum. [37476]
Mr. Baldry: Oysters may be harvested from wild fisheries or cultivated on farms. All oyster farms must be registered for shellfish disease control purposes. There are 153 registered oyster farms in the UK. UK production of
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farmed oysters sold for the table amounts to some 950 tonnes per annum. Around 538 tonnes of oysters were landed from wild fisheries in 1994.
Fraud
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what inquiries to detect fraud by cross-checking his Department's payroll with details of those claiming benefit he has undertaken; when these exercises took place; and how many staff were (a) suspended, (b) dismissed and (c) prosecuted as a result.[37704]
Mr. Boswell: The Department responds to inquiries made by the Benefits Agency where there are reasonable grounds for suspicion that an individual may be involved in benefit fraud.
The Department has no record of any member of staff being suspended, dismissed or prosecuted as a result of such inquiries.
ADAS
Mr. French: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what targets have been set for ADAS in 1996-97. [38584]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: The Secretary of State for Wales and I have set ADAS the following targets for 1996-97:
to recover 100 per cent. of its costs for advisory services through charges to commercial customers;
to comply with budgetary controls resulting from the Public Expenditure Survey and the Supply Estimates;
to reduce the total cost per hour in contact delivery in real terms by 3 per cent;
to maintain average debtor days at or better than 53 days;
to meet 90 per cent. of research and development project milestones;
to continue to achieve customer satisfaction as measured by customer surveys.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what guarantees have been sought by his EU counterparts during the negotiations on matters relating to BSE to ensure that all beef carcase exports comply with BSE control regulations and are BSE-free following any raising of the EU ban on beef meat trading; [32323]
- (2) what guarantees have been sought by his EU counterparts during the negotiations on matters relating to BSE that all live beef exports will comply with BSE control regulations and will be BSE-free following any raising of the European Union ban on beef meat trading.[32322]
Mrs. Browning [holding answer 17 June 1996]: Other member states agreed a framework for lifting the EU beef export ban unanimously at the Florence European Council. This included a commitment that the ban would be lifted:
only and exclusively on the basis of public health and objective scientific criteria and of the judgement of the Commission.
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