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Departmental Staff
Mr. Willis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people were employed by his Department in each of the years from 1993-94 to 1998-99; if he will break down the total into the categories (a) male, (b) female, (c) registered disability and (d) ethnic minority; and if his Department has an equal opportunities policy. [88684]
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Mr. Wicks
[pursuant to the reply, 30 June 1999, c.225]: The original answer failed to explain that information on people with a disability and people from an ethnic minority background is not held in the form requested before April 1996. The following table shows the breakdown of available DfEE staff figures from 1993-94 to 1998-99:
| (a) | (b) | (c) | (d) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total employed | Male | Female | Registered disability | Ethnic minority | |
| 1 April 1993 | 8,978 | 3,950 | 5,028 | (18)-- | (18)-- |
| 1 April 1994 | 6,561 | 2,887 | 3,674 | (18)-- | (18)-- |
| 1 April 1995 | 5,683 | 2,500 | 3,183 | (18)-- | (18)-- |
| 1 April 1996 | 5,212 | 2,345 | 2,867 | 240 | 324 |
| 1 April 1997 | 4,795 | 2,206 | 2,589 | 226 | 312 |
| 1 April 1998 | 3,956 | 1,838 | 2,118 | 191 | 310 |
| 1 April 1999 | 4,094 | 1,874 | 2,220 | 247 | 347 |
(18) Information on people with a disability and people from an ethnic minority background is not held in the form requested before April 1996.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Millennium Compliance
Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement of progress on the millennium readiness of his Department's computer systems, and those for which it is responsible in the provision of public services; if contingency plans are in place; and what slippage has occurred since the July Quarterly report to the House. [93571]
Mr. Morley: Details of the Ministry's progress in tackling the millennium bug are set out in our quarterly monitoring returns. These are available in the Libraries of the House and are published on the Internet. The results of the October monthly review of progress of Departments and agencies are due to be announced shortly by the President of the Council.
Work on ensuring that all of the Ministry's internal systems are millennium ready has been completed, for both critical and non-critical systems. Testing will be ongoing to ensure that compliance is maintained. As indicated in the July quarterly Report to the House, work on IT and telecoms systems was completed earlier in the year. Work on embedded systems was not completed until September, in part because of the take-on of new buildings/systems.
Business continuity planning (including contingency planning) and development of MAFF's MOR will be completed this month. As part of our MOR we will be ensuring that contact is maintained with key players in the food industry throughout the millennium period.
With regard to the provision of related public services, millennium preparations in non-Departmental and other associated Public Bodies are being monitored and satisfactory progress is being maintained. Independent assessments of the preparedness of the food and groceries and flood defence sectors were reported to the July
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National Infrastructure Forum. Emerging results for the food and groceries sector indicated blue for internal compliance and amber for business continuity planning, using Action 2000's colour coding system. The flood defence sector was assessed as 95 per cent. blue and 5 per cent. amber. The latest results of the independent assessments of these sectors (including continency planning) will be announced at the next National Infrastructure Forum on 21 October.
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what dates special advisers from his Department have visited the United States of America on official business since 1 May 1997; which of his special advisers took part in each visit; and if he will list the meetings which these special advisers held with members and officials of the United States Government during each visit, specifying the date and location of each meeting and the names of the United States members and officials at each meeting. [93987]
Mr. Nick Brown:
No special advisers from my Department have visited the United States of America on official business since 1 May 1997.
Mr. Evans:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he intends next to visit the Ribble Valley. [93661]
Mr. Nick Brown:
I hope to visit the North-West Region this year to meet farmers and others, and would like to include a visit to the Ribble Valley in my itinerary. I will let the hon. Member know when a firm date has been established.
Mr. Gill:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 20 July 1999, Official Report, column 495, if he will list the average size and weight of the (a) undersized and (b) oversized fish corresponding to his answer on percentages by weight for cod, haddock and whiting. [94341]
Mr. Morley:
The average sizes and weights of the three species sampled as part of the 1997 CEFAS North Sea discard study are detailed in the following table.
| Species | Average of | Discards below MLS | Discards above MLS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cod | Length (cms) | 30.0 | 36.0 |
| MLS=35 cms | Weight (g) | 277 | 455 |
| Haddock | Length (cms) | 26.6 | 21.2 |
| MLS=30 cms | Weight (g) | 175 | 279 |
| Whiting | Length (cms) | 24.2 | 29.1 |
| MLS=27 cms | Weight (g) | 114 | 202 |
The actual estimates of the proportions of discarded fish, by number that were undersized, were cod 82 per cent., haddock 57 per cent. and whiting 67 per cent.
By weight, the percentages were cod 73 per cent., haddock 46 per cent. and whiting 53 per cent.
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Live Animal Exports
Mr. Prosser: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if Local Veterinary Inspectors carry out pre-export inspections during the hours of darkness. [93039]
Mr. Morley: Information on the time of day when inspections are undertaken is not kept centrally. However, we are aware that many inspections are carried out in buildings under artificial light, irrespective of the time of day when they are undertaken. It is the Local Veterinary Inspector's responsibility as the certifying officer to ensure that the conditions during his inspection are such that he is able to carry out his certifying officer responsibilities properly.
Mr. Prosser: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements he makes to ensure that his staff at Dover dockside are able to make proper inspections when livestock vehicles are loaded on to the ship during the hours of darkness. [93038]
Mr. Morley: State Veterinary Service staff stationed at Dover are equipped to carry out the necessary inspection of vehicles carrying livestock for export, whatever the time of that inspection.
Mr. Prosser: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to discourage regular sailings of the vessel which carries live farm animals from Dover to the continent at night; and if he will make a statement. [93040]
Mr. Morley: None. The timing of sailings of any vessel, whether it carries live animals or not, is a matter for the operators of the vessel and their customers, provided that the relevant regulations are obeyed.
Mr. Prosser:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of the sailings of the vessel carrying live farm animals from Dover to the continent began during the hours of darkness in the last year for which figures are available. [93037]
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Mr. Morley:
In the period 1 October 1998-- 30 September 1999, out of a total of 195 sailings of vessels carrying live farm animals 103 (52.8 per cent.) began between 8.00 pm and 6.00 am the following morning.
Mr. Prosser:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many (a) live sheep and (b) live pigs have been exported for (i) slaughter, (ii) further fattening and (iii) breeding to date in 1999; and how many of each was exported to each individual country of destination. [93036]
Mr. Morley:
The tables show the number of live sheep and live pigs exported from the United Kingdom during the period 1 January 1999 to 26 July 1999.
Table 1 shows the number of animals certified for export from the UK to other member states during the period 1 January 1999 to 26 July 1999. These figures are derived from the electronic messages which European law requires exporting countries to send to importing countries to inform them of the number of animals being exported in a given consignment.
The number of pigs exported to the Republic of Ireland for slaughter may have been influenced by a fire in a pig plant in Northern Ireland which reduced slaughtering capacity in the Province.
Table 2 shows data for exports to third countries. Specifically, it shows the number of export health certificates which were prepared and sent to official veterinarians for completion during the period 1 January 1999 to 26 July 1999. In the case of exports to third countries, precise figures of how many animals were ultimately exported are not available as there is no central record kept showing exactly how many animals were certified for export to third countries. The cost of collecting this level of detail would be disproportionate.
There were no exports from Northern Ireland to third countries.
In view of the continual updating of statistics, the figures in Tables 1 and 2 remain provisional and subject to change.
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| Destination country | Sheep for breeding | Sheep for fattening | Sheep for slaughter | Pigs for breeding | Pigs for fattening | Pigs for slaughter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | -- | -- | -- | 7,275 | -- | -- |
| Denmark | -- | -- | 757 | -- | -- | -- |
| France | 30 | 70,777 | -- | 2,984 | -- | -- |
| Germany | 1 | 17,750 | -- | 26,599 | -- | -- |
| Greece | -- | -- | -- | 193 | -- | -- |
| Italy | -- | 9,632 | -- | 3,502 | -- | -- |
| Netherlands | 11 | 77,394 | -- | 10,467 | -- | -- |
| Portugal | -- | -- | 4,092 | 177 | -- | -- |
| Republic of Ireland | 31 | -- | 80 | 57 | 4,205 | 55,452 |
| Spain | -- | -- | -- | 2,081 | -- | -- |
| Total | 73 | 175,553 | 4,929 | 53,335 | 4,205 | 55,452 |
Source:
GB figures were obtained from the Ministry's CENTAUR/Animo computer system. Department of Agriculture Northern Ireland figures were obtained from ANIMO messages sent to other member states vis the Eurocom computer system. The figures are provisional and subject to change.
Note:
There were no exports from Northern Ireland to third countries.
Source:
The Ministry's CENTAUR computer system. This information is provisional and subject to change. The central computer system is updated periodically to remove details of withdrawn export consignments from the records but we cannot guarantee that this information is complete. Confirmation of the actual numbers of animals exported could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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