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Fallen Stock

Mr. Gray: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the number of carcases that were destroyed by (a) professional knackermen and (b) hunt incinerators in (i) 1997-98 and (ii) 1998-99. [117957]

Ms Quin [holding answer 6 April 2000]: Records are not collected of the number of animal carcases destroyed by knackermen or hunt kennels and no estimates were made of the numbers destroyed during 1997-98 or 1998-99.

Mr. Gray: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last issued advice to farmers on methods of disposal of fallen stock. [117960]

Ms Quin [holding answer 6 April 2000]: Advice on the disposal of fallen stock was last given to farmers when the Water Code was revised and re-issued in October 1998. A summary of the Water, Air and Soil Codes, which included this advice was circulated with IACS information to 80,000 farmers in February 1999.

Organic Farming

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the United Kingdom's balance of trade with regard to organic produce in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [118298]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 7 April 2000]: No such figures are available. Organic products are not separately identified in Customs and Excise trade data.

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of how many farmers will request support for conversion under the organic farming scheme before April 2001. [118300]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 7 April 2000]: None. The Organic Farming Scheme is closed to new applications while a review is underway.

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people are employed in the organic farming sector. [118297]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 7 April 2000]: We estimate the number of registered organic farmers and growers in the UK at the end of January to be 2,500. In addition to primary producers, we estimate that just over 1,000 operators are registered for processing and/or importing organic products.

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research he has carried out into improving the efficiency of organic farming in the last three years; and what was the cost of the research. [118299]

10 Apr 2000 : Column: 57W

Mr. Morley [holding answer 7 April 2000]: The three main objectives of the MAFF Organic research programme and the spend on these objectives for the last three years are as follows:

			£000
	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000
Constraints on production	801	1,320	1,828
Costs of the conversion period	34	53	49
Environmental impact	73	108	150
Total	908	1,481	(10)2,027

(10) Estimate

NORTHERN IRELAND

Housing Rents

Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list for each council area in Northern Ireland the number of dwellings with (a) controlled and (b) registered rents. [116359]

Mr. George Howarth: As there is no requirement on landlords to register controlled rents, this information does not exist.

The number of registered rents is given in the table.

Council area	Total number of dwellings with registered rents
Antrim	44
Ards	346
Armagh	43
Ballymena	58
Ballymoney	33
Banbridge	34
Belfast	3,499
Carrickfergus	92
Castlereagh	133
Coleraine	77
Cookstown	41
Craigavon	452
Down	55
Dungannon and South Tyrone	69
Fermanagh	46
Larne	133
Limavady	24
Lisburn	244
Derry City	55
Magherafelt	36
Moyle	10
Newry and Mourne	102
Newtownabbey	617
North Down	204
Omagh	35
Strabane	43
Total	6,525

Heritage Lottery Funding

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications for Heritage Lottery funding were made and how many projects approved in

10 Apr 2000 : Column: 58W

each of the last three years; if sufficient funding was available to match applications; and if he will make a statement. [116516]

Mr. George Howarth: Details of applications received and approved in the last three years are as follows:

	Applications received	Applications approved
1997-98	57	26
1998-99	109	59
1999-00	(11)157	60

(11) 34 applications are still live

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) takes a flexible approach to Partnership Funding. Applications made through the Mains Grant or Revenue programmes can receive up to 90 per cent. HLF funding for projects up to £100,000 and 75 per cent. for projects over that amount. Through these programmes in Northern Ireland the Heritage Lottery Fund is not aware of any projects which have received HLF awards failing because of applicants' inability to secure partnership funding.

Student Awards

Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many awards were made available, and at what cost, to Northern Ireland students undertaking courses at residential institutions for adult education in Great Britain in each of the last 10 years. [117581]

Mr. Ingram: The number of awards is as follows:

Financial year	Number of awards
1990-91	8
1991-92	8
1992-93	8
1993-94	8
1994-95	12
1995-96	12
1996-97	12
1997-98	12
1998-99	12

The actual expenditure in 1998-99 was £46,104, when only 11 of the awards made available were taken up. Figures beyond this year are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Education Budget

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what (a) amount and (b) percentage of money from the education budget was devoted to transport in (i) 1991, (ii) 1995 and (iii) 1999. [117342]

Mr. George Howarth: The information is as follows:

Financial year	Transport costs £ million	Percentage of education budget
1991-92	27.5	2.45
1995-96	38.1	2.84
1996-99	46.2	3.15

Audited figures for 1999-2000 are not yet available.

10 Apr 2000 : Column: 59W

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what (a) amount and (b) percentage of funding was retained by his Department from the education budget in (i) 1991, (ii) 1995 and (iii) 1999. [117341]

Mr. George Howarth: The information requested is as follows:

Financial year	Amount retained (£ million)	Percentage retained
1991-92	15.2	1.36
1995-96	16.3	1.22
1998-99	19.5	1.33

Audited figures for 1999-2000 are not available.

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total amount allocated to the education budget for Northern Ireland in 1991. [117339]

Mr. George Howarth: The total for the 1991-92 financial year was £1,121 million.

Works of Art

Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on (a) the upkeep and (b) the purchase of works of art in his Department for each financial year since 1992. [117479]

Mr. Ingram: The Department of Finance and Personnel for Northern Ireland is responsible for the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) Art Collection which is independent from the Government Art Collection.

Expenditure on the NICS art collection since 1992 is as follows:

		£
	Upkeep	Purchase of works of art
1992-93	346	39,000
1993-94	290	30,000
1994-95	285	27,000
1995-96	270	39,000
1996-97	655	31,000
1997-98	215	23,000
1998-99	958	30,000
1999-2000	1,594	59,000

I would also refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Arts on 4 April 2000, Official Report, columns 393-94W.

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