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Animal Welfare

Mr. Baker: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make the transport of circus animals subject to the Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997; and if he will make a statement. [122699]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 18 May 2000]: The Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997 applies to the transport of all animals, including circus animals.

GM Crops

Mr. Breed: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what assessment he has made of the effect of the charge for making a submission on the number of organisations making representations as part of the consultation regarding the addition of Chardon LL maize to the national seed list; [122773]

Ms Quin: There is a statutory requirement to pay a fee for making written representations (£30) or requesting a hearing (£60) about the proposal to add Chardon LL to the National List. A substantial number of representations (227) and requests for a hearing (68) have been received which will ensure that Ministers receive a wide range of views and evidence about the proposed decision.

The requirement for these statutory fees is set out in the Seeds (National List of Varieties) Regulations 1982 (as amended) and the level of fees is set in the Seeds (National List of Varieties) (Fees) Regulations 1994 (as amended). These fees were introduced many years ago, prior to the advent of genetically modified plant varieties, to help meet the cost of running the National List representations and hearings system. The representations fee was increased to its current level of £30 from £25 in 1999, and the hearings fee was increased to its current level of £60 from £55 in 1999, in line with general increases in National List fees. They apply equally to GM or conventionally bred varieties.

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The National List system does not itself address the safety aspects of GM traits. This is dealt with under quite separate legislation. No GM plant variety may be proposed for addition to the National List until the appropriate GM consents have been obtained and no charge is made to anyone objecting to the DETR or the FSA about the approval of GM crops or foods.

Green Transport Plans

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the key buildings for which his Department (a) submitted and (b) did not submit green transport plans by March. [122562]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 18 May 2000]: In line with the target set in the Integrated Transport White Paper for the introduction of green transport plans for key Government buildings, by 31 March we had completed all 16 of our plans covering the following key buildings:



Agri-monetary System

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has made in the EU on the replacement of the agri-monetary system with arrangements that protect British farmers from the effects of a strong pound or weak euro on the value of agricultural subsidies. [122989]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 22 May 2000]: In December 1998 I successfully negotiated the new agri- monetary system, which is simpler and more transparent than the previous arrangements.

By the end of 2000 we expect to have paid around £418 million in agri-monetary compensation under the new system, with a further £44 million to be paid by the end of next year. This is in addition to the £133 million paid in compensation under the pre-euro system, leading to total expenditure since 1997 on agri-monetary compensation of around £595 million.

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Land Values

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what changes took place in the value of agricultural land between (a) 1989 and 1995 and (b) 1996 and 1999. [123474]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 May 2000]: Data on sale prices of agricultural land in England are published on the MAFF website, at http://www.maff.gov.uk/esg/ statnot/alp.htm. There is a break in the series in 1993 and hence figures before and after that year are not strictly comparable. However, the published series show an increase of 5 per cent. between 1989 and 1995 and an increase of 2 per cent. between 1996 and 1998 (provisional), which is the latest full year for which data are currently available. A spreadsheet giving all the annual figures between 1944 and 1998 is available on the website.

Figures for Wales are published by the National Assembly for Wales.

Hunts (Feedstuffs)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will establish an inquiry into the feeding of specified risk material to the hounds of the Exmoor Foxhounds. [123471]

Ms Quin [holding answer 23 May 2000]: No, because these matters are dealt with by the local authorities who have responsibility for enforcing Specified Risk Material Order 1997.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases there have been of hunts being (a) prosecuted, (b) given a verbal warning and (c) given a written warning over feeding specified risk material to packs of hounds in each of the last three years. [123472]

Ms Quin [holding answer 23 May 2000]: The feeding of SRM to hounds is classified as a Category 1 failure of the SRM controls. Out of 9802 visits to hunt kennels and knackers yards during the past three years, 43 Category 1 failures were noted. It is not possible to determine how many of these relate to feeding SRM to hounds except at disproportionate cost.

All such failures would be notified in writing, unless the enforcement authority expressly requested that this is not done. Prosecution is a matter for the appropriate local authority.

Farming (Diversification)

Mr. Ruane: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures he is taking to promote diversification within farming. [123463]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 May 2000]: The England Rural Development Plan describes how Government intend to use the European Community co-funded measures in the Rural Development Regulation to support farmers wishing to diversify within farming. Of the £1.6 billion seven-year programme, £152 million will fund a new Rural Enterprise Scheme to encourage diversification; £44 million will fund a new Processing and Marketing Grant Scheme to encourage innovation and

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achieve added value for primary products and £22 million will go towards providing targeted training to support these and other schemes in the Plan.

In addition, under the Action Plan for Farming, MAFF will be producing a new advisory booklet on farm diversification and farmers who need planning approval for Rural Enterprise Scheme applications will receive free specialist advice.

The arrangements for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are set out in the rural development plans and Single Programming Documents for those countries.

Laptops

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many laptop computers used by Ministers, officials and special advisers in his Department have been (a) lost and (b) stolen since May 1997. [123730]

Mr. Morley: The Ministry's records show that the numbers of laptop computers used by Ministers, officials and special advisers in this Department that have been (a) lost and (b) stolen since May 1997 are as follows:

MAFF laptops1997-981998-991999-2000Total
Lost1001
Stolen92617
Total102618

The data have been extracted from the Ministry's annual return to the Treasury of actual and suspected frauds. The return for 1999-2000 is currently being finalised so the figure for that year is subject to change.

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