| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Natural Predators
Mr. Michael J. Foster: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the effect of natural predators on the levels of damage to agriculture caused by (a) rabbits, (b) voles, (c) rats and (d) mice; and if he will list the predators concerned in each case. [65097]
Mr. Morley: No assessment has been made of the effect of natural predators on the levels of damage caused to agriculture by pests. Rabbits and rodents cause considerable economic loss and any level of natural predation is likely to be beneficial.
Regional Flood Defence Committees
Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the grants awarded by his Department to the South West Regional Flood Defence Committee in each year from 1993-94 to 1998-99 by (a) amount and (b) percentage change over the previous year. [65096]
Mr. Morley: Grant is awarded to the Environment Agency by means of Grant Earning Ceilings (GECs) which represent the total of approved flood defence capital expenditure in respect of which grant can be claimed. GECs reflect commitments on ongoing schemes and a national assessment of the priority and urgency of new schemes. Therefore year on year comparisons should be treated with caution. It is also the case that the Environment Agency's South West Regional Flood Defence Committee (RFDC) has not taken up the original award fully in all years.
| Year | Original GEC (£ million) | Percentage change | Final outturn (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993-94 | 5.8 | +4 | 3.9 |
| 1994-95 | 5.6 | -3 | 3.2 |
| 1995-96 | 5.0 | -11 | 4.3 |
| 1996-97 | 4.5 | -10 | 5.1 |
| 1997-98 | 3.0 | -33 | 2.9 |
| 1998-99 | 2.2 | -27 | (11)-- |
(11) Not available
Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much he plans to award each of the regional flood defence committees in 1999-2000. [65095]
Mr. Morley:
I have announced the award of 1999-2000 Grant Earning Ceilings (GECs) to the Environment Agency's Regional and Local Flood Defence Committees as follows for their core capital programmes. In addition further funding for flood warning improvements is being provided to the Agency on a national basis.
18 Jan 1999 : Column: 385
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| RFDC area/district | 1999-2000 GEC |
| Anglia | |
| Essex | 2.6 |
| Great Ouse | 0.8 |
| Lincolnshire | 6.0 |
| Norfolk/Suffolk | 8.8 |
| Welland/Nene | 0.9 |
| North West | 5.1 |
| Northumbria | 0.0 |
| Severn Trent | 4.7 |
| South West | 2.2 |
| Southern | |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 0.4 |
| Kent | 1.4 |
| Sussex | 2.8 |
| Thames | 19.2 |
| Wessex | |
| Avon/Dorset | 0.9 |
| Bristol/Avon | 0.0 |
| Somerset | 2.6 |
| Yorkshire | 7.6 |
Environment Agency (Flood Defence Work)
Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what legislative authority the Environment Agency has to market-test or contract-out its flood defence emergency and routine maintenance functions. [65094]
Mr. Morley: Under Section 37(1)(a) of the Environment Act 1995, the Environment Agency may do anything which, in its opinion, is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, carrying out its functions. This would include the market testing or contracting out of its flood defence emergency and routine maintenance functions.
Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what instructions (a) the Minister and (b) the Environment Agency has issued on the question of market testing or contracting out aspects of its flood defence work. [65093]
Mr. Morley: The Government have not issued specific instructions to the Environment Agency about the market testing of its flood defence work. Rather, the Agency is consistently encouraged to continue to deliver improvements in efficiency, and market testing and contracting out feature among the measures that the Agency may wish to use to achieve its efficiency objectives.
The Agency's Financial Memorandum generally requires that all contracts for whatever function are designed to secure value for money and should be let on a competitive basis unless the Agency is satisfied there are good reasons to the contrary.
18 Jan 1999 : Column: 386
Also, for flood defence capital works to be eligible for MAFF grant, the Agency is generally required to tender on a competitive basis as set out in the MAFF Grant Memorandum.
The Agency has issued internal instructions to implement the requirements of the Financial Memorandum and the MAFF Grant Memorandum.
Mr. Colvin:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to discuss with his counterparts in other European Union member states the establishment of a pesticide policy across the Community. [65415]
Mr. Rooker:
My right hon. Friend the Minister takes the lead as respects agricultural pesticides; the lead on other pesticides (and biocides) lies with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
Directive 91/414/EEC already provides a common basis for the regulation of agricultural pesticides across the Community. Until it is fully operative, the Directive permits the various national arrangements to continue. This transition, from national to harmonised regulation, has proved more lengthy than originally envisaged but the great majority of rules are in place for chemical pesticides and significant progress has been made regarding those for biological pesticides.
The European Commission has finally recognised that progress needs to be more rapid and last October produced a working paper proposing ways of achieving this. UK Ministers and officials will play a full part in discussions of the Commission's proposals and will seek to advance practical measures to make the Directive fully effective. However, we shall continue to maintain our first priority--the protection of people and the environment.
Dr. Gibson:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the expected timetable for the UK regulatory authorities to consider the report being produced by the European Commission on the environmental and health effects of the insecticide Lindane; and if the report will be published. [66015]
Mr. Rooker:
The Austrian authorities submitted an initial evaluation of Lindane to the European Commission last month, as part of the EU's routine review programme for plant protection products. The process of peer review and decision-making by the Community is likely to take until the first half of the year 2000 but could be expedited if issues of human or environmental safety arise. The first phase, scientific peer review, is scheduled to run between March and October. The UK regulatory authorities will participate in this work and will therefore be considering the Austrian report ahead of the meetings.
If action is called for by the Austrian evaluation, the Government will not hesitate to take steps or to press the Commission to do so. After a decision has been taken by the Commission, the report from the decision making process will be made publicly available.
18 Jan 1999 : Column: 387
Dr. Gibson:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what guidance he has given to the departmental Ad Hoc Export Advisory Committee on Vitamins and Mineral Supplements in the light of research commissioned by his Department on vitamin B. [65757]
Mr. Rooker:
The Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals will consider all relevant scientific information on the safety of vitamins and minerals, including any which may be available from research commissioned by this Department.
Dr. Gibson:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the criteria he will operate to allow unrestricted sale of dietary supplements. [65758]
Mr. Rooker:
Dietary supplements which are classed as foods are subject to the requirements of the food law. Provided that they comply with those requirements they may be freely sold.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the amounts of pesticides used in grain stores in the UK. [66014]
Mr. Rooker:
The Ministry has collected pesticides usage data covering the agricultural and horticultural sectors since the 1960s and reports analysing all these data have been published. Information on grain stores is gathered every four years; the next survey will be this year for storage in 1998-99 of the 1998 harvest.
Comparison in usage data between the last surveys in 1994-95 and previous ones is difficult because of changes in grain store practice, survey methodologies and quantities of grain surveyed. However indications are that use in commercial stores has gone down substantially--the weight of pesticide per tonne of grain was only a third of the 1985-86 level--while use in farm stores appears to have increased--the weight of pesticide per tonne of grain was up by about a fifth on 1990-91 figures. The changes result from stricter hygiene requirements of grain buyers and improved administrative arrangements avoiding unnecessary treatments. There has been a move away from the practice of admixing pesticides with the grain towards treating the store's walls and floors to ensure no pests are left between emptying and re-filling.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department has funded into the engineering design of grain stores to enable grain to be safely stored without the use of added chemicals. [66012]
Mr. Rooker:
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) has a strategic research programme on grain storage which includes a project on the development of modified atmosphere application systems for use within grain stores, as an alternative to control by pesticides. The MAFF work underpins more applied research funded by the levy body, the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA).
18 Jan 1999 : Column: 388
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |