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Entrust

Ms Ruddock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff are employed by Entrust and in what positions; and how many further staff appointments will be made and in what positions. [3332]

Mr. Oppenheim: Currently, Entrust employs only an acting chief executive. He will shortly be taking on a secretary. Further staff appointments will be made on the basis of need.

Ms Ruddock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many organisations have enrolled with Entrust as appropriate bodies to receive funding from landfill operators through the landfill tax credits system under the environmental trust scheme to the latest available date.[3331]

Mr. Oppenheim: No bodies have yet enrolled. Application forms will be issued shortly to those that have expressed an interest in enrolment.

Ms Ruddock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the further directors appointed to the environmental bodies regulatory body Entrust, in addition to the appointments announced on 16 October 1996. [3329]

Mr. Oppenheim: In addition to the appointments announced on 16 October, two further people have accepted invitations to join the board of Entrust: Mr. Neil Caldwell, of the Prince's Trust and the Welsh Language Board, and Mr. Donald Reid, a Scottish solicitor.

Ms Ruddock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many organisations have made representations regarding enrolment with Entrust as appropriate bodies to receive funding from landfill operators through the landfill tax credits system under the environmental trust scheme to the latest available date. [3330]

Mr. Oppenheim: As of Monday 4 November, Entrust had received 216 inquiries, of which approximately 85 per cent. were from organisations interested in enrolling.

Births

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many live births there were in each of the last 15 years in Great Britain. [2951]

Mrs. Angela Knight: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Frank Field, dated 12 November 1996:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question asking for the number of live births that occurred in Great Britain in each of the last fifteen years.

12 Nov 1996 : Column: 178

The figures requested are shown in the table below.
Live births in Great Britain

Year	Live births
1981	703,546
1982	692,127
1983	694,212
1984	701,924
1985	723,093
1986	726,830
1987	747,752
1988	759,789
1989	751,205
1990	772,113
1991	766,241
1992	755,445
1993	736,755
1994	726,382
1995	708,189

Civil Service Relocations

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he takes to monitor the impact of civil service relocations on individual localities. [1306]

Mrs. Angela Knight [holding answer 11 November 1996]: Central considerations for relocation are cost savings, employment and economic benefits.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Cetaceans (Protection)

Mr. Hardy: To ask the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the number of harbour porpoises which died as a consequence of the use of monofilament nets in British waters in the last three years; and what international agreements the United Kingdom has agreed to, to ensure the protection of this and other smaller cetacean species. [2340]

Mr. Baldry: No reliable estimate for harbour porpoise deaths in British waters caused by monofilament nets is available. To help address this question, the Ministry is sponsoring the sea mammals research unit to develop a robust cetacean by-catch reporting scheme. SMRU is also a leading partner in an EC-funded project which will document levels of cetacean by-catch in the North sea and evaluate the likely effectiveness of a number of different management approaches aimed at reducing these by-catches.

The UK is party to or subject to several international instruments which include measures to protect small cetaceans. They include the EC habitats directive, Council directive 92/43/EEC; the agreement on the conservation of small cetaceans of the Baltic and North seas, ASCOBANS; the convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats, the Bern convention; the convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals, the Bonn convention; and the convention on international trade in endangered species, CITES.

12 Nov 1996 : Column: 179

Varroa Jacobsoni

Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which areas of the country are currently assessed as being infected with varroa jacobsoni. [3597]

Mr. Boswell: The areas currently within the statutory infected area include all of Wales and England up to but not including the following counties: Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cumbria, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear. During the recent search, outbreaks have also been discovered in Cumbria and Greater Manchester, but no decision has yet been taken on any changes to the extent of the SIA.

Mr. Banks: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to offer subsides to beekeepers to assist with the diagnosis and control of varroa mites on bees. [3594]

Mr. Boswell: The Ministry already provides a free testing and diagnosis service for varroa. The cost of treatment is borne by beekeepers.

Mr. Banks: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases of varroasis have been reported to his Department in each year since April 1992. [3595]

Mr. Boswell: The annual numbers of varroa positive apiaries reported to the Ministry since April 1992 are as follows:

Year	Number of cases
1992	305
1993	600
1994	610
1995	988
Up to and including September 1996	811

Cumulative total 3,314.

BSE

Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list the expenditure committed to support the agricultural industry as a result of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis, and the proportion of such expenditure which derives form the European Union; [3394]

(2) if he will list, by sector, the expenditure committed as a result of the BSE crisis, separately identifying that paid to (a) abattoirs, (b) the rendering industry, (c) collection centres and (d) farmers direct; [3395]

(3) if he will list (a) the methods by which compensation has been directed to farmers as a result of the BSE crisis, (b) the level of expenditure under these headings and (c) the amount of each expenditure item that is recoverable from the European Union. [3396]

Mr. Boswell: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 24 July, Official Report, column 533. Subsequent to that reply, additional expenditure has been agreed as follows:

12 Nov 1996 : Column: 180

Approximately £160 million from EU funds for direct support to UK beef producers. Over £100 million has already been disbursed through supplementary payments to the beef special premium and suckler cow premium schemes and through the beef marketing payments scheme.
Some £89 million from national funds for direct support to UK beef producers. £60 million of this sum has ben earmarked for distribution to eligible cattle producers under the 1997 hill livestock compensatory allowances scheme.
£16.6 million for extra cold storage capacity to help reduce the backlog of animals awaiting slaughter under the over-30 month scheme.

A detailed breakdown of the latest BSE expenditure forecasts will be given in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's forthcoming Budget statement.

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the impact of the BSE crisis on prices paid to farmers for beef cattle. [2451]

Mr. Boswell: Market prices for finished beef cattle in England and Wales have fallen by 15 per cent. to 20 per cent. since the middle of March. There have been greater price reductions for some store cattle and calves. These developments are likely to be attributable to a number of factors, some of them of a seasonal nature. It is not possible separately to identify the impact of BSE. Intervention purchases and measures announced by the Government have had the effect of limiting the extent of price reductions in the beef market and the impact on producers.

Deregulation

Mr. Steen: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what regulations his Department proposes to repeal by the end of 1996; if he proposes to conduct a compliance cost assessment on each regulation repealed; and what is the estimated cost of undertaking a compliance cost assessment to determine the advantages and disadvantages of such a repeal. [3781]

Mr. Boswell: This Ministry has already repealed or simplified a large number of regulations this year. Further measures are planned for next year. Since the effect of repealing or simplifying regulations reduces rather than increases compliance costs, CCAs are not produced. The cost of undertaking a CCA varies from case to case but is generally modest. Because part of the cost falls on the businesses consulted, a full CCA is inappropriate for measures designed to reduce business burdens.

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