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Krebs Trial Areas
14. Mrs. Organ: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the progress of the survey in the Krebs trial areas in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. [80357]
Mr. Rooker: Surveying has been completed. The area to be proactively culled will be randomly chosen very soon, and we shall be ready to cull after the end of the closed season.
Food Safety (EU)
16. Mr. David Davis:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about food safety regulations in other parts of the EU. [80359]
22 Apr 1999 : Column: 673
Mr. Rooker:
Food safety is an area of EU competence. Most food law is harmonised across the EU and rules equivalent to those in place in the UK apply in other Member States. The Government see this as the best way to promote common food safety standards across the EU.
18. Mr. Syms:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about Government health studies into genetically modified foods. [80361]
Mr. Rooker:
All genetically modified (GM) foods are subject to a full and rigorous safety assessment before they are approved for sale. To underpin this process, the Department has a research programme with a current budget of £1 million per annum.
21. Mr. Grieve:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the environmental implications of genetically modified food. [80364]
Mr. Rooker:
The environmental implications of genetically modified foods are considered in accordance with the provisions of the EC Directive for the Deliberate Release into the Environment of Genetically Modified Organisms (90/220/EEC).
Mrs. Anne Campbell:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what safeguards are in place to ensure that consumers have adequate information on genetically modified foods. [80350]
Mr. Rooker:
EC Regulation 1139/98, which came into force on 1 September 1998, requires all foods containing genetically modified (GM) ingredients produced from GM soya and maize to be labelled. This sets a precedent for the labelling of all future GM novel foods.
19. Mr. Blunt:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about scope for cross-pollination of genetically modified crops. [80362]
Mr. Morley:
We believe the best way to avoid problems arising from cross-pollination is for extra care to be taken when these crops are grown on the farm. We are encouraging the industry to draw up voluntary guidelines including separation distances between GM and other crops. Non-compliance with the separation distances would lead to withholding of GM seed by the supplier.
20. Mr. Brady:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the regulatory costs incurred by lowland farmers in England. [80363]
Mr. Morley:
Costs incurred by individual farms will vary. Our aim is to keep regulatory costs to the minimum necessary to safeguard public, plant and animal health, the environment and the public funds.
22 Apr 1999 : Column: 674
22. Mrs. Humble:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last held discussions with representatives of the fishing industry. [80365]
Mr. Morley:
I last met the major representative bodies in the fishing industry on 24 March, prior to the 30 March Fisheries Council in Brussels.
23. Ms Lawrence:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures have been taken to combat TB in cattle. [80366]
Mr. Rooker:
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) on 4 March 1999, Official Report, column 911.
24. Mr. Robathan:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has recently received from dairy farms regarding the position of Milk Marque. [80367]
Mr. Morley:
My right hon. Friend the Minister receives regular representations from dairy farmers about a range of issues affecting dairy farming, including the position of Milk Marque.
Mrs. Dean:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the regulations governing the disposal of meat and bone meal. [80360]
Mr. Rooker:
The disposal of waste MBM is controlled under Part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to ensure protection of the environment and human health. The Environment Agency is responsible for the enforcement of these controls and we are confident of their effectiveness.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the effect on horticulture of the decline in the numbers of bumblebees. [80617]
Mr. Rooker:
No formal assessment has been made but I have no evidence to suggest that growers face any difficulties. As my hon. Friend will know, bumblebees are widely used for the pollination of protected crops, particularly glasshouse tomatoes.
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what equal opportunities impact assessment under the Government guidelines set out in Policy Appraisal for Equal Treatment has been made of the Access to Justice Bill; if he will publish the assessment; and if he will make a statement. [81555]
22 Apr 1999 : Column: 675
Mr. Hoon:
The Government guidelines were issued only after the reform proposals had been settled and the White Paper published. To undertake a single impact assessment of the Access to Justice Bill as a whole would be impracticable because the Bill establishes broad frameworks within which detailed policies will be developed and implemented. We believe a more practicable way forward is to conduct assessments, where appropriate, as individual policies are developed and implemented. This will not only provide more focused assessments, but ensure they occur nearer in time to implementation.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list for this year's appointments to Queen's Counsel (a) the average and (b) the highest number of unsuccessful previous applications made by applicants. [81481]
Mr. Hoon:
The average number of unsuccessful previous applications made by applicants for Queen's Counsel in 1999 was 3.7. The highest number of unsuccessful previous applications by an applicant for Queen's Counsel in 1999 was 26.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department for this year's appointments to Queen's Counsel (a) what was the total number of applications, (b) what was the number of successful applicants and (c) of (a) and (b), how many were (i) women, (ii) from ethnic minorities, (iii) below the age of 38 years, (iv) over the age of 50 years and (v) solicitors. [81482]
Mr. Hoon:
For this year's silk round the figures were as follows:
Mr. Hoon:
The highest and average figure given as the gross fee income (i) by successful applicants for Queen's Counsel, (ii) by unsuccessful applicants for Queen's Counsel and (iii) by all applicants for Queen's counsel for this year's silk round were as follows:
Total number of applications: 553
Number of successful applicants: 69
Number of successful female silk applicants: 9
Number of successful ethnic minority applicants: 5
Number of successful applicants below the age of 38: 1
Number of successful applicants above the age of 50: 3
Number of successful solicitor applicants: 1.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list for this year's appointments to Queen's Counsel (a) the highest figure and (b) the average figure given as the gross fee income (i) by successful applicants for Queen's Counsel, (ii) by unsuccessful applicants for Queen's Counsel and (iii) by all applicants for Queen's Counsel. [81483]
| £ | ||
|---|---|---|
| Highest | Average | |
| Successful | 550,000 | 224,304 |
| Unsuccessful | 790,000 | 165,897 |
| All | 790,000 | 173,184 |
22 Apr 1999 : Column: 676
Rights of Audience
Mr. John M. Taylor: To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement about future rights of audience in the higher courts of (a) members of the Crown Prosecution Service, (b) the proposed Community Legal Service and (c) the proposed Criminal Defence Service. [81571]
Mr. Hoon: The Government will seek to amend the Access to Justice Bill to ensure that full rights of audience in the higher courts are exercisable by lawyers employed by the Crown Prosecution Service, the Community Legal Service and the Criminal Defence Service, subject to individual lawyers satisfying the qualification requirements and rules of conduct of the appropriate authorised body. The Government will seek to reinstate clauses defeated in the House of Lords which provided rights of audience in the higher courts for employed advocates, and enabled the Legal Services Commission to provide criminal defence services through its own employees. They will also seek to amend Clause 33 to provide rights of audience to employees of bodies established and maintained by the Legal Services Commission.
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