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Departmental Functions (Food)
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if all food served at his Department's official functions meets the standards of production required of domestic producers. [109781]
Mr. Wills [holding answer 11 February 2000]: My Department's caterers are required to comply with all legal requirements and relevant regulations governing the procurement and preparation of food and related activities.
Deregulation
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what orders his Department has made under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 in each year since 1994; and what plans it has to introduce such orders. [106088]
Mr. Wills [holding answer 20 January 2000]: The Department has made two orders under this Act:
The Contracting Out (Administration of the Teachers Superannuation Scheme) Order 1996 (SI 1996/178) enabled the Secretary of State to authorise another person, or that person's employees, to carry out functions regarding the teachers' superannuation scheme and the payment generally of pensions, allowances and gratuities to or in respect of teachers.
The Deregulation (Provision of School Action Plans) Order 1997 (SI 1997/1142) amended sections 17 and 21 of the School Inspections Act 1996 so as to reduce a burden on the appropriate authority for a school to take reasonably practicable steps to secure that every parent of a pupil at the school receives a copy of the authority's statement of action following an inspection of the school under that Act.
We will continue to look for opportunities to use such orders to remove legislation where we can.
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Computers (Fraud and Theft)
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many cases of computer (a) fraud, including fraudulent use of computer chips and (b) theft his Department has recorded in the last five years. [106219]
Mr. Wills [holding answer 31 January 2000]: During the last five years there have been no cases of computer fraud (including fraudulent use of computer chips) in my Department. There have been 49 cases of computer theft since my Department was formed on 5 July 1995.
CABINET OFFICE
Regulatory Impact Assessments
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) if she will make it her policy to include a general assessment of the impact on economic activity and competitiveness of the regulations in Regulatory Impact Assessments; [118619]
- (2) what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of Regulatory Impact Assessments by Government departments. [118618]
Mr. Stringer: In August 1998, the Government introduced Regulatory Impact Assessment to develop a more open system of assessing the risks, costs, benefits and economic impact of new legislative proposals. Regulatory Impact Assessment is currently being reviewed to identify any further improvements to the effectiveness of the system and guidance.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
BSE
Mr. Derek Twigg: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what monitoring for BSE in cattle the Government proposes to undertake in 2000-01. [118693]
Mr. Nick Brown: In line with advice from SEAC, the Government's Scientific Advisory Committee on BSE, the Government propose to test for BSE in 10,000 cattle aged over five years slaughtered under the Over-Thirty-Months-Scheme. This programme will start in April 2000. It will follow on from last year's similar survey of almost 4,000 cattle. The aim of this second survey will be to monitor the decline in the BSE epidemic in the UK.
This initiative will be additional to the EU-wide testing programme of casualty and fallen stock which was agreed in the Standing Veterinary Committee on 4 April with UK support. It will start in January 2001, and require the UK to examine about 7,000 cattle annually.
Departmental Properties
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what (a) number and (b) percentage of properties in his charge are empty; and what steps are being taken by his Department to reduce the number of such properties. [116919]
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Mr. Morley [holding answer 3 April 2000]: The Ministry is currently responsible for 13 empty properties, which represent 5 per cent. of its estate.
The Ministry maintains an active programme to dispose of surplus properties. With the exception of one contaminated site in a rural environment (for which remediation proposals are being prepared) all of the empty properties are in the course of disposal.
Action Plan for Farming
Mr. Luff: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reason the Action Plan for Farming, published on 30 March, contains no proposals to assist the development of the specialist cheese sector; and if he will make a statement. [117696]
Ms Quin: The Action Plan for Farming is a package of long-term structural measures and short-term financial aid for British farming. It contains proposals aimed at encouraging collaboration and improving marketing performance and competitiveness which may assist the development of the specialist cheese sector.
The Ministry is already supporting the specialist cheese sector through its sponsorship of Food For Britain (FFB) which has day-to-day responsibility for the speciality food industry; its promotion of the EU scheme for protecting food names; and its secondment of an official to the Specialist Cheesemakers Association (SCA), for 12 months, to assist on legislative, regulatory and promotional issues.
Mr. Luff: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reason the Action Plan for Farming, published on 30 March contains no proposals to reduce the impact of the climate change levy on horticulture; and if he will make a statement. [117695]
Ms Quin: Proposals to reduce the impact of the climate change levy on horticulture were announced in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget statement on 21 March. This pre-dated the publication of the Action Plan for Agriculture. The measures announced in the Budget include a discount of fifty per cent. on the levy for a period of up to five years (subject to state aid rules) the allocation of a special package of support from the £50 million energy efficiency fund set up under the levy and the extension of the list of energy investments which qualify for enhanced capital allowances to include thermal screens used in glasshouses.
Some horticultural companies should also be able to take advantage of the measure, announced in the Chancellor's pre-Budget statement last November, to exempt from the levy electricity generated from 'new' forms of renewable energy and in 'good quality' combined heat and power plants.
Payroll Systems
Mr. Luff: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assistance is available to small growers and farmers for their payroll systems under schemes operated by (a) his and (b) other Government Departments. [117689]
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Ms Quin: MAFF does not offer any assistance to small growers and farmers for their payroll system. However the Department of Trade and Industry conducted a consultation exercise in 1999 on the possible development of a payroll service for small business. As a result it was agreed that the Inland Revenue's New Enterprise Support Initiative (NESI) would be extended to provide on-going, one to one support for payroll assistance. As from 1 April 2000, the expanded NESI includes, free of charge, the following:
- a dedicated helpline;
- the offer of a visit from locally based Business Support Team;
- a detailed "health check" of the employers payroll system;
- the offer of further help including one-to-one visits and increased support where new employers are experiencing difficulties with payroll;
- cross referral to the full services of the Small Business Service, both nationally and locally.
Regulatory Reform
Mr. Cotter: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which Minister in his Department has responsibility for regulatory reform; and if he will make a statement. [117418]
Ms Quin [holding answer 4 April 2000]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 4 April 2000, Official Report, column 385W.
Live Animal Exports
Mr. Prosser: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 25 January 2000, Official Report, column 189W, on live animal exports, what were the countries of destination of the live sheep exported from the United Kingdom in 1999 for (a) slaughter and (b) further fattening; and how many were exported to each country of destination. [116647]
Ms Quin: The total number of live sheep exported from the UK during 1999 for slaughter and further fattening are shown in the following table:
| Destination country | Sheep for slaughter | Sheep for fattening |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | -- | 452 |
| Denmark | 757 | -- |
| France | -- | 353,217 |
| Germany | -- | 44,354 |
| Ireland | 420 | -- |
| Italy | -- | 143,183 |
| Netherlands | -- | 506,899 |
| Portugal | 5,647 | 16,790 |
| Spain | -- | 54,565 |
| Total | 6,824 | 1,116,202 |
Our records show that no live sheep were exported to third countries for slaughter or further fattening during 1999.
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These figures are derived from the computer system used to issue export health certificates and are subject to updating and amendment.
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