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Rhizomania

Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to prevent the spread of Rhizomania in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [82662]

Mr. Rooker: The Government apply statutory controls to minimise the spread of rhizomania, including a prohibition on the growing of beet on any fields where the disease has been found. Controls are applied to certain types of products brought into the UK, such as seed potatoes, to minimise the risk of further introductions of the disease. These arrangements are applied in accordance with the United Kingdom's status as a 'protected zone' for rhizomania under the EC plant health regime. The Government will be seeking an EC decision to continue the protected zone, which under existing legislation is due to expire on 1 November 1999.

4 May 1999 : Column: 309

Farmers (Kent)

Mr. Rowe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farmers farm in Kent; and how many farmed there in 1990. [82553]

Mr. Rooker: The numbers of principal farmers, spouses, other farmers, partners and directors working on agricultural holdings in Kent in 1998 are given in the table.

1998	Number
All principal farmers, spouses, other farmers, partners and directors (full time)	2,621
All principal farmers, spouses, other farmers, partners and directors (part time)	2,845
Total	5,466
(Salaried managers)	(453)

Note:

Does not include farmers on minor holdings

Source:

Agricultural and Horticultural Census--June 1998

Details of new questions are quoted in the Labour results statistics notice of 26 February 1999.

Fundamental changes were introduced to the labour questions in 1998, and the results may not be fully comparable with earlier years. The June 1990 census records that there were 5,894 principal farmers, farmers' spouses, other partners and directors and spouses with 396 salaried managers. Further information on labour figures in Kent are provided in the Digest of Agricultural Statistics.

Bovine Somatotropin

Mr. Lepper: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what trials of the synthetic genetically engineered dairy hormone bovine somatotropin are being conducted in the UK; and if any of the milk from these trials is entering the general milk supply. [82707]

Mr. Rooker: The use of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) is subject to an EU moratorium which allows for a period for further practical tests. No such tests are being conducted in the UK. The moratorium is to be reviewed before the end of 1999.

Organophosphates

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the implications which the revocation of approval of Diazinon and other organophosphate substances by the Pesticides Safety Directorate, on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides, has for the continued use of (a) all OP sheepdips and (b) other OP products. [82778]

Mr. Rooker: The Government are reviewing all approvals of organophosphate and carbamate compounds used in pesticides approved by the Pesticides Safety Directorate and the Health and Safety Executive under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. The company concerned has chosen not to provide the data necessary to support two products containing diazinon.

4 May 1999 : Column: 310

Approvals for these products have therefore been withdrawn. Companies that have indicated that they will support other organophosphate pesticides now have five months to submit complete data packages for the review.

A similar review of veterinary medicines, including those with an organophosphorus compound as an active ingredient was conducted in the early 1990s and companies produced full data packages for sheep dips and other veterinary medicines, the active ingredient of which is diazinon. In cases where the data packages satisfied the statutory requirements, products continued to be authorised. In addition, the Veterinary Products Committee (VPC) conducted reviews of the safety of OP sheep dips in 1993 and 1997.

The VPC is currently reviewing OP-based veterinary medicines other than sheep dips and the withdrawal of the two diazinon pesticides will be drawn to the Committee's attention.

School Milk

Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of nursery (a) schools and (b) classes are taking up the subsidy for school milk. [82773]

Mr. Rooker: This information is not held centrally.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish the latest figures for herd breakdown due to bovine TB. [82775]

Mr. Rooker: The latest available information for 1998 is as shown. There are a small number of laboratory test results still pending and the figures may increase slightly once these results are available.

Region	Confirmed incidents
GB Total	736
West Region(2)	581
Wales	93
Rest of England	59
Scotland	3

(2) West region includes the counties in SW England plus Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire

Organic Farming

Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the growth in organic production in the UK in each of the last two years. [82774]

Mr. Morley: Information available to my Department suggests the following growth in the area of land farmed organically (fully converted or in conversion):

	Hectares
April 1997	50,772
April 1998	54,834
April 1999	274,519

Source:

UK Register of Organic Food Standards and UK Organic Sector Bodies

4 May 1999 : Column: 311

HOME DEPARTMENT

Hedgerows

Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Government policy in respect of police investigations of offences under the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 (a) in general and (b) in cases where the offence may have been committed by public bodies, indicating how many investigations have occurred to date. [82563]

Mr. Boateng: Under the Hedgerows Regulations 1997, offences in respect of hedgerows may be prosecuted by the police (through the Crown Prosecution Service) local authorities or indeed any private person. Whilst the police may investigate these offences, normal practice is for local planning authorities to take responsibility for such matters.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Lancet Inquiry

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 13 April 1999, Official Report, column 11, on the Lancet Inquiry, if he will provide a breakdown of the costs of the Cleveland officers; under which budget those costs are accounted for; and if the costs of each of the 18 police officers from Cleveland referred to in his answer of 20 April 1999, Official Report, column 484, are included in those figures. [82564]

Mr. Boateng: The breakdown of the costs to the Lancet inquiry of the Cleveland officers, including travel and subsistence, is as follows:

	£000
Salaries including National Insurance and allowances	412
Overtime	280
Travel and subsistence	63

All costs are initially charged to a holding account and recharged to a revenue account at the end of the financial year, in accordance with the force's normal accounting policies. The costs include the overtime and other expenses, but not the salaries, of 11 officers of the force's organised crime group who are tasked and funded to undertake major criminal investigations, which has included work on the Lancet inquiry.

Cleveland Police

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date the former Deputy Chief Constable of Cleveland Police Force was required to empty his office. [82538]

Mr. Boateng: The former Deputy Chief Constable of Cleveland Police retired from the police service on 7 March. He vacated his office on 18 February in order to take outstanding leave before the date of his retirement.

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Police Complaints Authority is overseeing the carrying out of the Redwood Inquiry into the Cleveland Police Force. [82537]

4 May 1999 : Column: 312

Mr. Boateng: This is an ongoing investigation and, for operational reasons, it would not be appropriate at this stage to make any further comment.

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the names of individuals who made the accusations against Detective Superintendent Ray Mallen of Cleveland Police Force which gave rise to the inquiry into his (a) role with the media and (b) expenses; and if he will make a statement. [82539]

Mr. Boateng: The inquiry into expenses arose from concerns about the circumstances during which a complaint was made by a member of the public following an incident which occurred in Leicester in May 1997, although the complaint itself did not relate to expenses. Matters arising from some statements made during the course of media interviews have been the subject of internal inquiries by the force and did not arise from a complaint by an individual.

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