| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Maternal Transmissions
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of how many more animals will be included in the cull as a result of the addition of maternal transmissions. [64646]
Mr. Rooker:
The selective cull, which removes cattle which have been exposed to BSE through contaminated feed, has been operating since January 1997. Since maternal transmission was confirmed as a possibility, a further cull has been initiated to slaughter offspring born after 1 August 1996 to confirmed BSE cases. This has operated on a voluntary basis since August 1998 and became compulsory on 4 January 1999. It has been estimated that, at most, 10,000 animals might need to be slaughtered under the arrangements. Inevitably, this estimate rests on assumptions about the future course of
11 Jan 1999 : Column: 127
the epidemic and the number of offspring found to be already dead. The final number may well be considerably less.
Before beef exports can resume under the Date Based Export Scheme, the UK must slaughter all living offspring born between 1 August 1996 and the date of the EC Decision on the DBES (25 November 1998) to confirmed BSE cases. This is likely to be at least 3,500 animals.
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to reduce the disincentives to tenants from moving from Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 tenancies to farm business tenancies under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995. [64731]
Mr. Rooker:
There are no plans to re-visit the agricultural holdings legislation. The Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 offers considerable flexibility for parties to negotiate farm business tenancies that best suit their respective interests.
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many tenancies have been negotiated, in each year, since the coming into force of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995. [64727]
Mr. Rooker:
Precise information is not available. The Annual Survey of Tenanted Land is a sample survey and does not allow a definitive overall number of tenancies to be given. However, the results of a policy evaluation, conducted by the University of Plymouth in 1996 and published in January 1998, indicated that some 5,000 new tenancies had been created in the first year since the Act came into force.
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what impact the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 has had on encouraging new entrants into the agricultural industry. [64729]
Mr. Rooker:
A policy evaluation was conducted by the University of Plymouth in 1996 and its findings published in January 1998. This showed that some 5,000 tenancies were created in the first year of the Act, covering about 200,000 hectares of land. A copy of the report was placed in the House Library.
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will amend the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 to allow landlords and tenants to agree that the provisions of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 will apply to the agricultural holding. [64732]
Mr. Rooker:
There are no plans to amend the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995. The flexibility available under the Act enables parties to tailor their tenancy agreements according to their respective needs. If they wish to do so, many features of a tenancy under the 1986 Act could be included.
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he intends to review the operation of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995. [64728]
Mr. Rooker:
An independent policy evaluation was carried out in 1996 by the University of Plymouth. A copy of the report was placed in the Library of the House in January 1998. There are no immediate plans to carry out a further review.
11 Jan 1999 : Column: 128
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what impact the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 has had on tenancy progressions on tenanted estates. [64730]
Mr. Rooker:
Any policy of progression by tenants within individual estates is a matter for landlords. The Ministry has not conducted any specific survey into this matter, and has no plans to do so.
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many notifiable cases of BSE there have been per month in the last two years. [64644]
Mr. Rooker:
Numbers of cattle notified as BSE suspects to Agriculture Departments in Great Britain during 1997 and 1998 are given by month in the following table. It should be noted that not all these cattle have subsequently been confirmed as having BSE.
| Month of restriction | Number of suspect cases |
|---|---|
| 1997 | |
| January | 538 |
| February | 501 |
| March | 521 |
| April | 523 |
| May | 447 |
| June | 432 |
| July | 450 |
| August | 454 |
| September | 412 |
| October | 460 |
| November | 427 |
| December | 442 |
| 1998 | |
| January | 459 |
| February | 403 |
| March | 436 |
| April | 384 |
| May | 325 |
| June | 334 |
| July | 343 |
| August | 307 |
| September | 322 |
| October | 372 |
| November | 314 |
| December | 288 |
Note:
Data as at 4 January 1998
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many prosecutions of farmers for breaches in BSE controls there have been; and if he will list the specific breaches. [64645]
Mr. Rooker: Since 1996, there have been 5 successful prosecutions of farmers for breaches of BSE controls brought by MAFF and the Intervention Board Executive Agency. In addition, we have been informed of a further 17 prosecutions undertaken by Local Authorities and by the Scottish Procurator Fiscal.
Offences include failure to keep proper records, incorrect tagging, failure to record cattle movements, false declarations relating to the BSE status of holdings, altering the date of birth of calves on movement and identification documents, forgery of cattle birth documents, failure to stain sheep heads and specified
11 Jan 1999 : Column: 129
bovine material, selling meat contrary to the Fresh Meat (Beef Controls) (Nos. 2) Regulations 1996 and the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995, illegible cattle eartags, deception and false accounting under the Over 30 Month Scheme and various offences under the Animal by Products Order 1992, the Cattle Passports Order 1996 and the Trade Descriptions Act 1968.
Details of legal action on breaches of BSE controls are published each month in the BSE Enforcement Bulletin, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his letter to the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon of 30 November 1998
11 Jan 1999 : Column: 130
listing details of ministerial flights, if the average cost of flights taken refers to the average cost per passenger. [64734]
Mr. Nick Brown:
The average cost refers to the average cost per trip and not average cost per passenger.
Mr. Nigel Jones:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the research on the use of electric plates to purify air in hen houses; and what plans he has to introduce a similar system in the United Kingdom. [64844]
Mr. Rooker:
The Ministry is aware of the research, most of which has been carried out in the United States over the last 15 years. The electric plate technique has some limitations and is not widely used in the UK. Other methods for controlling dust, such as misting systems, are beginning to be introduced into the UK broiler industry.