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Agriculture Council

Mr. Browne: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the outcome of his negotiations at the March Council Meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers in respect of export refunds for the UK spirit industry. [121971]

Ms Quin: The EU Agriculture Council on 20 March agreed on conclusions to guide the Commission in its strategy for accommodating budgetary and WTO pressures in the fixing of export refunds for processed products. My right hon. Friend the Minister emphasised to the Council the importance of export refunds to the cereals-based spirit drinks industry, notably Scotch

17 May 2000 : Column: 177W

whisky. He urged the Commission to recognise this concern in its implementation of export refund reductions. A statement to this effect was recorded in the minutes of the Council.

Discussions with the Commission on the implementation of the strategy are continuing at official level. Our aim is to achieve the best outcome possible for all sectors affected, including the spirits sector.

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Civil Servants (Relocation)

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which relocation companies his Department has used when relocating civil servants since May 1997. [122296]

Mr. Morley: My Department has used the following companies:

17 May 2000 : Column: 177W

Move	Firm
1. Move of officials between our Whitehall offices, Nobel House on Millbank, and St. Christopher House in Southwark.	Planned in house with removals by Rockshields Ltd.
2. Move of officials from Tolworth and St. Christopher House to 1A Page Street, London SW1	Planned in house with removals by Bishops Move Ltd.
3. Move from offices at Alphington Road, Exeter to new offices at Clyst St. Mary	Planned by Vickery Holman with removals by Pickfords Business Services Ltd.
4. Move from offices at Wistaton, Crewe to Electra Way, Crewe	Planned by Edmund Kirby with removals by Bishops Move Ltd.
5. Move of Central Science Laboratory at Slough to Sand Hutton, near York	Planned by Robert Shanks and Associates with removals by Burton and Smith Moving Ltd.

17 May 2000 : Column: 177W

Imported Carcases

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the number of imported carcases over the last two years; and what are his projections for next year.[121764]

Ms Quin: Although import statistics are not collected in this form, it is unlikely that much pigmeat imported into the UK over the last two years was in the form of pig carcases. In 1998 the UK imported 188,000 tonnes of pork and 231,000 tonnes of bacon and ham. The equivalent figures for 1999 were 212,000 tonnes and 227,000 tonnes.

Estimates of future imports are not available.

Animal Slaughtering

Mr. Baker: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the incidence of animals being illegally slaughtered without pre-stunning in abattoirs. [121957]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 15 May 2000]: Slaughter in an abattoir without prior stunning is not illegal if it is carried out by a religious method and in accordance with the requirements set for religious slaughter. The Government would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, but are committed to maintaining this exemption from the requirement to stun, in recognition of the wish of certain communities to slaughter animals in accordance with their religious beliefs. That does not mean that we do not seek to apply improved welfare standards and we do meet representatives of religious organisations to discuss their issues.

Departmental Vehicles

Mr. Pearson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many (a) cars and (b) commercial vehicles operated by his Department were manufactured (i) in the UK, (ii) in the EU and (iii) elsewhere. [122265]

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Mr. Morley: Country of manufacture is not routinely provided by suppliers and so the information is not readily available. Although it is possible to obtain the information from main dealers it would mean having to extract the chassis number of each vehicle in the Departmental fleet to enable the dealership to trace its country of origin. With some 550 official vehicles in use throughout the Department and Agencies, this could be done only by incurring disproportionate cost.

Zimbabwe (Import Licences)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent representations were made to the European Commission concerning permitted maximums in import licences for agricultural products from Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement. [120852]

Ms Quin: No representations have been made by the Government. Any other representations are a matter for the European Commission.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Criminal Defence Service

Angela Smith: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he will introduce the Criminal Defence Service. [122927]

Mr. Lock: The Lord Chancellor has agreed to a request from the Legal Services Commission to postpone the introduction of the Criminal Defence Service from 2 October 2000 to 2 April 2001. This will allow additional time for preparation by the professions and for the implementation of the new arrangements by criminal defence lawyers. The Legal Services Commission is notifying the professions by letter accordingly. This delay will have no substantial effects on the reform programme, including the development of the salaried defender service.

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Consultation papers on the establishment of the salaried defender service and on the choice of representative will be published shortly.

Departmental Vehicles

Mr. Pearson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many (a) cars and (b) commercial vehicles operated by the Lord Chancellor's Department were manufactured (i) in the UK, (ii) in the EU and (iii) elsewhere. [122248]

Mr. Lock: The Lord Chancellor's Department operates a total of 636 cars of which (i) 251 were manufactured in the UK, (ii) 373 in the EU, and (iii) elsewhere.

Eleven commercial vehicles are operated by the Department. Of these 10 were manufactured within the UK. The place of manufacture of the other commercial vehicle, in use by the Northern Ireland Court Service, is unknown and does not therefore appear in the table.

The breakdown of vehicles operated by the Lord Chancellor's Department is shown in the table.

Department	UK	EU	Elsewhere
Cars
Lord Chancellors Department	14	0	0
Court Service	232	341	11
Public Trustee Office	0	0	0
Land Registry	5	32	1
Public Records Office	0	0	0
Northern Ireland Court Service	0	0	0
Commercial
Lord Chancellors Department	0	0	0
Court Service	1	0	0
Public Trustee Office	0	0	0
Land Registry	9	0	0
Public Records Office	0	0	0

Trials (Health Problems)

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many people who have been (a) brought to trial and (b) involved in a trial as an accused person have in the past 20 years been excused from trial due to (i) physical and (ii) mental ill-health. [122079]

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, figures are available, from 1986 onwards, for defendants who have been found unfit to plead at the Crown court. They do not, however, take into account the nature of the defendant's illness.

Year	Found unfit to plead
1986	30
1987	30
1988	36
1989	93
1990	49
1991	36
1992	51
1993	(5)--
1994	(5)--
1995	32
1996	19
1997	38
1998	35
1999	34

(5) Reliable information unavailable due to the introduction of the Crown court IT system.

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WALES

Comprehensive Spending Review

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what meetings he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer in relation to this year's Comprehensive Spending Review. [121740]

Mr. Paul Murphy: I meet the Chancellor regularly and discuss a range of issues, including the Government's Spending Review which is currently under way.

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has made on behalf of the National Assembly for Wales in relation to this year's Comprehensive Spending Review. [121739]

Mr. Paul Murphy: I represent the interests of Wales in the Government's Spending Review that is currently under way. This is a very significant part of my job, and I can assure you that I attach a great deal of importance to it. I can guarantee that the Assembly's views will be fully taken into account when the final decisions are made.

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