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Business Ambassadors
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how the Ambassadors for British Business are held accountable for their duties. [95308]
Mr. Battle:
The Ambassadors for British Business are asked to make a portion of their time available to the Ambassador for British Business scheme when travelling overseas on company business. This is entirely voluntary
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and the Ambassadors for British Business receive no remuneration. There are no fixed duties and no obligation to undertake engagements.
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bury, North (Mr. Chaytor), of 26 July 1999, Official Report, column 143, what was the previous United Kingdom commitment to Minurso (a) in manpower and (b) financially; and at what level the decision not to recommit was made. [95417]
Mr. Hain:
From September 1991 until September 1993, the UK contributed 15 military observers, including the Chief of Staff to Minurso. The cost of this deployment was approximately £1,148,080.
Since the establishment of the mission, the UK has been liable for its share of UN assessed contributions. In the financial year 1998-99, the UK paid £2,359,371 in assessed contributions for Minurso.
The Government fully support the UN's efforts to bring peace to the region. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Mr. Hoon) made clear in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, North (Mr. Chaytor) on 26 July 1999, we are unable to consider re-committing manpower to Minurso at this time due to heavy commitments elsewhere.
Mr. Blizzard:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what key performance targets Ministers have set the Intervention Board for 1999-2000. [96526]
Mr. Nick Brown:
In agreement with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Minister for Rural Affairs, Scotland and the Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development, Wales, I have set the following targets for 1999-2000:
| Target | |
|---|---|
| Percentage of claims processed within deadlines | 99.0% |
| Percentage of claims process correctly | 98.5% |
| Cumulative running cost efficiency gains | 2.5% |
| Improvement in index of productivity | 4.0% |
| Ratio of disallowance to EAGGF funds handled | 0.40% |
| New value for money savings in procurement of goods and services | 7.0% |
| Yield: cost ratio of anti-fraud activities | 3.0:1.0 |
| Percentage of invoices paid within deadlines | 98.5% |
Abattoirs
Mr. Gill:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is (a) the range and (b) the average hourly rate of charge for official veterinary surgeons employed in abattoirs. [R] [90384]
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Ms Quin:
The current hourly rates for Official Veterinary Surgeons employed in abattoirs range from £25.01 to £106.18 and the average hourly rate is currently £40.76. This range reflects the results of the tendering exercise undertaken in 1997.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list his Department's spending on official publications since May 1997. [93680]
Mr. Morley:
Central expenditure on the production and printing of official publications, since May 1997 totals £1.5 million. Information about publications bought for official use and those produced for internal use only is not held centrally.
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the titles of the in-house publications and newsletters which were produced for the staff of his Department, excluding non-departmental public bodies and agencies, in the last five years, specifying the dates on which each title was first produced, the frequency with which each title is produced and the current secrecy classification of each title. [93854]
Mr. Morley:
In house publication and newsletters produced for the staff in MAFF on a regular basis are as follows:
Ms Keeble:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what account is being taken of the needs of the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries in relation to the reform of the EU sugar regime. [94135]
Ms Quin:
My Department has consulted the full range of UK sugar interests, including the ACP London Group, for views on the forthcoming reform of the EU sugar regime. Responses to this exercise will help the Government formulate their line in time for next year's negotiations. Meanwhile we would strongly encourage the
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ACP to make their views known in Brussels to enable the Commission to take them into account as it draws up its reform proposals.
Ms Keeble:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to make a submission to the European Commission on the EU sugar regime; and if he will make a statement. [94136]
Ms Quin:
The EU sugar regime is due for review next year. We have consulted UK sugar interests on their views in preparation for the forthcoming negotiations. At this stage we have no plans to make a submission to the European Commission. We expect them to come forward with proposals for sugar reform early in the new year.
Mr. Nigel Jones:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if it is the Government's intention to remove all badgers in the proactive areas of the badger culling trials. [93740]
Ms Quin:
The Government neither intend nor expect to remove all badgers in the proactive areas of the badger culling trial. Given the operational constraints deliberately imposed on welfare grounds--principally restricting the method of capture to cage trapping, and limiting the capture period--the Independent Scientific Group established that around 80 per cent. of the badgers in an area could be captured. In other words, one fifth of the badger population would be expected to remain in place. The statistical experts in the Scientific Group have designed the trial specifically to take account of such factors, and are satisfied that the results it yields will be robust.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many of his Department's staff have been dedicated to export promotion in each of the past five financial years; what were his Department's budgets for export promotion for each of the past five financial years; and if he will make a statement; [94607]
Ms Quin:
Over the past five financial years my department has directly deployed 35 staff on dedicated export promotion related activity. The overall budget for each of these years (including the MAFF contribution to Food From Britain) was:
The MAFF Bulletin; the Department's staff magazine having been published monthly from April 1957 to August 1999. It has now been replaced by a new monthly magazine called "Landscape".
Infrastructure Support and Information Services (ISIS); a newsletter produced by the Departments Information and Technology Division and has been published on a bi-monthly basis for the last four years.
LIT (Library, Information and Translations) UPDATE; a quarterly newsletter produced by the Departments Library and Translation Service. It was first published four years ago.
Building and Estates Management (BEMD) Newsletters. Published periodically since June 1996.
IIP (Investors in People) Newsletter. A monthly newsletter first published in December 1998.
"FINRAB"; a newsletter from the Finance Planning and Resources Group commenced publication in August 1999 on a monthly basis.
Offices Notices; these inform staff about operational matters and have been published in a weekly journal since April 1985. Prior to that date notices were circulated individually.
Not included are numerous other publications produced on a one off basis.
(2) what further measures he proposes to take to promote food and agricultural exports; and if he will make a statement. [94608]
| Year | £ million |
|---|---|
| 1994-95 | 6 |
| 1995-96 | 7.1 |
| 1996-97 | 6.7 |
| 1997-98 | 6.3 |
| 1998-99 | 6.9 |
The Ministry will continue to play its full role in government export promotion activities in conjunction with the overall aims and strategies of British Trade International. This will be undertaken both by staff within
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the Ministry and by other bodies such as Food From Britain, Meat and Livestock Commission, and Home Grown Cereals Authority.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what volume of imports from the United States, for the latest year for which figures are available, came in the form of (a) raw potatoes, (b) processed potatoes, including powder and (c) potatoes present in finished products destined for human consumption. [94466]
Ms Quin
[holding answer 19 October 1999]: Imports of processed potatoes from the United States are given in the following table. There were no recorded imports of raw potatoes and imports of potatoes present in finished products are not separately identifiable.
| Processed potatoes (9) | |
|---|---|
| Thousand tonnes | 6.1 |
| Raw equivalent (thousand tonnes) | 9.6 |
(9) Includes prepared, frozen, canned, crisped and dehydrated.
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