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Point of Order
4.38 pm
Mr. Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan): On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. This afternoon, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food published a Fisheries Review Group document. I found two reference copies of it in the Library, but no copies for hon. Members in the Vote Office. The document is substantial, and does not easily photocopy.
It is infuriating for hon. Members with fishing constituencies, who have been waiting for this document for many months, to find that it has been published on the last day of the Session and in a manner that makes it extremely inconvenient and difficult to consult. As MAFF Ministers are on the Front Bench, may I use your good offices, Madam Deputy Speaker, to ask whether they are prepared to extend some common courtesy to hon. Members?
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Janet Fookes):
I shall cause inquiries to be made. I have no prior knowledge of the matter.
Orders of the Day
EDUCATION BILL [LORDS]
Read a Second time.
Motion made and Question put forthwith, pursuant to the Standing Order, That the Bill be not committed.--[Mr. McLoughlin.]
Question agreed to.
Read the Third time, and passed, without amendment.
Read a Second time.
Mr. John Morris (Aberavon):
Madam Deputy Speaker, may I just say one word?
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Janet Fookes):
I am sorry, but no debate is possible under the Standing Order arrangements.
Motion made and Question put forthwith, pursuant to the Standing Order, That the Bill be not committed.--[Mr. McLoughlin.]
Question agreed to.
Read the Third time, and passed, without amendment.
Read a Second time.
Motion made and Question put forthwith, pursuant to the Standing Order, That the Bill be not committed.--[Mr. McLoughlin.]
Question agreed to.
Read the Third time, and passed, without amendment.
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. McLoughlin.]
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Douglas Hogg):
This will be a short debate, and I know that many hon. Members have points that they wish to make. Therefore, I shall keep my remarks brief, and focus on the issues of most immediate importance.
I shall deal first with the selective cull. As hon. Members know, the agreement that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister secured at the Florence Council provides the framework for the step-by-step lifting of the European Union ban on exports of United Kingdom beef and beef products. Decisions on each step will be taken on the basis of scientific and objective criteria. The agreement was a great success, and provides a solid way forward. The framework also provides for the introduction by the United Kingdom of a programme for accelerating the decline of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
As I have stated frequently, the Government are committed to a policy of eradicating BSE--it is a high policy objective. We are pursuing that objective successfully. I am glad to report that the number of confirmed cases is in sharp decline. To date, there have been about 160,000 confirmed cases. The peak was in 1992, when we had about 36,500 confirmed cases. By 1995, that had fallen to about 14,000 confirmed cases. This year, leaving aside any question of a cull, we expect about 8,000 confirmed cases. That figure will fall to about 2,800 confirmed cases by 1998. As the House will see, we are steadily eradicating BSE from our national herd.
On 3 July, we issued a consultation document on our selective slaughter programme which is designed to increase the rate of decline still further. The aim of the programme is to identify, slaughter and destroy those animals that, on objective grounds, can reasonably be regarded as most likely to have been exposed to the risk of infection, and thus to develop BSE.
There has been much talk--in the House and elsewhere--about the cull of hundreds of thousands of animals and about whole-herd slaughter. Neither is true. The programme will be carefully targeted, focusing on certain individual animals born in 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92 and 1992-93. As hon. Members know, for animals born in 1989-90, the slaughter will be voluntary.
There have been many responses to our consultation document. In addition, my hon. Friends the Minister of State and the Parliamentary Secretaries to the Ministry of Agriculture, with Ministers in other Agriculture Departments, have held many meetings with farmers throughout the country to hear local views at first hand. Many views have been expressed to us on such details as what we mean by a cohort, the definition of a herd and the right to make representations against the requirement to slaughter.
All those responses are still being considered. I am determined that our final conclusions should reflect as many of the concerns as possible. It is our intention that, in carrying out this policy--which I recognise is a difficult one for many people--we should be as sensitive as we can to the individual problems of every farm.
In this respect, I should say that I am especially aware of the anxieties of dairy farmers about the possible implications for milk quota management. I am pleased to announce that, last night, I was able to secure an important concession from Commissioner Fischler at the Agriculture Council. Subject to certain conditions, United Kingdom farmers who are affected by our programme will be able to lease out surplus milk quota after the end of the calendar year. That should provide welcome flexibility for those concerned.
Taking into account all the relevant considerations, I have concluded that, although it is right that the House should now have the opportunity to debate the programme, it would not be right for me to sign the orders. I did, however, think that it would help hon. Members if they could read copies of the present drafts of the orders, which are now available in the Vote Office. Before signing them, Ministers will take into account the responses to our consultation paper, the views expressed in the House, and any other relevant material.
Sir Donald Thompson (Calder Valley):
I appreciate that my right hon. and learned Friend made a long statement earlier and that he is discussing the important matter of mass slaughter, but, before we get to that mass slaughter, we must deal with the fact that all sorts of farmers throughout this country are facing delays in getting their cattle slaughtered in ones and twos.
They seem to hint that, were they to deal with dealers rather than directly with slaughterhouses, there would be some accelerated progress. My right hon. and learned Friend will have read that I have said the same thing in the House before. Will he encourage his civil servants and his Ministers to ensure that we get the tidying-up process before we enter into the great programme that he is proposing?
Mr. Hogg:
I am conscious of the concerns that have been expressed--for example, by my hon. Friend. I am glad that the slaughter policy under the 30-month rule is proceeding effectively--in many ways, thanks to my hon. Friend the Minister of State. We have slaughtered around 280,000 beasts thus far under the 30-month rule. It is difficult to be wholly certain when we will eliminate the backlog, but I hope that that will happen around the middle of October. I certainly understand that it would be desirable either to complete, or at least nearly to complete, the backlog before embarking on the selective cull.
Mr. George Foulkes (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley):
As the Minister rightly says, the accelerated slaughter scheme is not welcomed by the producers, who are entering into it reluctantly--it is causing them stress and disturbance. Beef producers in Scotland have made it clear to me that they are willing to go along with the scheme, albeit reluctantly, on the clear understanding that the beef ban will be lifted. The Minister has constantly said that the framework is there for lifting the ban.
I have looked carefully, but I cannot find any guarantee or clear indication that the ban will be lifted if we go ahead with the scheme. Will the Minister spell out how it was made clear in the agreement reached in the Council of Ministers that, if the scheme goes ahead, the ban will be lifted?
Mr. Hogg:
The framework agreement works as follows: the British Government must fulfil certain obligations, most notably, putting in place the legislation on the selective cull, but also putting in place the requirements regarding the recall of feed and measures involving the identification and traceability of beasts. I shall come to those points later.
4.41 pm
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