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GM Farm-scale Trials
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the payments made to farmers hosting the genetically modified farm-scale trials; and whether the payments include (a) a fee for managing the farm-scale trial crop, (b) compensation for loss of income from the land growing the farm-scale crop and (c) a fee for taking part in the farm scale trial. [99541]
Mr. Meacher:
The Department has no involvement in any payments made to farmers for taking part in the farm-scale evaluations of GM crops, nor is it party to any such arrangements. All fields and crops are provided by the industry group SCIMAC (supply chain initiative on modified agricultural crops).
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Joan Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the method and date of destruction and disposal used for the harvested crops from the 1999 genetically modified farm-scale trial of fodder maize at Little Park Farm, Beech Hill Road, Mortimer, Berkshire. [99540]
Mr. Meacher:
The genetically modified farm-scale trial of fodder maize at Little Park Farm, Beech Hill Road, Mortimer, Berkshire was harvested in early October 1999. The harvested crop was then mechanically chopped and ploughed back into the ground.
Joan Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the criteria used by the Farm-Scale Trials Scientific Steering Committee for the selection of farms to take part in the farm-scale trials. [99542]
Mr. Meacher:
The criteria for selecting farms to take part in the farm-scale evaluations are still under discussion by the research contractors and the Scientific Steering Committee. The issue was discussed at the first and second meetings of the Scientific Steering Committee and the Committee's opinions are recorded in the minutes which have been published.
The intention is to compare the GM crops with the non-GM equivalent crops grown and managed using a range of current agricultural practices and distributed throughout the normal geographic range for that particular crop.
Joan Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish a list of the crop varieties, including the respective companies which developed them, so far proposed by SCIMAC for the inclusion in the genetically modified crop farm-scale trials. [99538]
Mr. Meacher:
The crops provided by SCIMAC for the farm-scale evaluations are fodder maize and oil seed rape, which are genetically modified to be tolerant to glufosinate ammonium. AgrEvo UK Limited have developed these crops.
The trait has been bred into varieties of maize and oil seed rape (both spring-sown and autumn-sown) suitable for growing in the UK. The intention is that only one variety of fodder maize, and one variety each of spring-sown and autumn-sown oil seed rape, will be used in the farm-scale evaluations as the results will be generic in nature.
Joan Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish a copy of the protocols for the management of the GM farm-scale trials for each crop and each variety planted. [99544]
Mr. Meacher:
All GM crops in the farm-scale evaluations will be grown in accordance with the SCIMAC (supply chain initiative on modified agricultural crops) guidelines, the industry code for good practice. These guidelines have been published. A copy has been placed in the House Library.
The approval for the herbicide sets out the protocol for its use. This has been seen and approved by the scientific steering committee, but is not fully published yet. It is intended that this information be published as soon as possible.
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Joan Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on which dates the crops in the 1999 genetically modified crop farm-scale trials were sown and harvested involving fodder maize at Walnut Tree Farm, Lyng, Norfolk, crops at (a) Home Farm, Spittle-in-the-Street, Glentham, Lincolnshire, (b) Little Park Farm, Beech Hill Road, Mortimer, Reading, Berkshire, and (c) Rothampsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, and spring oilseed rape at Advanta Seed, Booth Graffoe, Lincoln, and Model Farm, Shirburn, Watlington, Oxfordshire. [99539]
Mr. Meacher:
The fodder maize crop at Walnut Tree Farm, Lyng, Norfolk was sown on 7 May 1999 and harvested in early October. The fodder maize crop at Home Farm, Spittle-in-the-Street, Glentham, Lincolnshire was sown on 18 May 1999 and harvested in early October. The fodder maize crop at Little Park Farm, Beech Hill Road, Mortimer, Reading, Berkshire was sown on 10 May 1999 and harvested in early October. The fodder maize crop at Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire was sown on 12 May 1999 and harvested on 22 September.
The spring oil seed rape crop at Advanta Seed, Boothby Graffoe, Lincoln was sown on 28 April 1999 and harvested on 1 September 1999. The spring oil seed rape crop at Model Farm, Shirburn, Watlington, Oxfordshire was sown on 29 April 1999 and harvested on 2 September 1999.
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what new proposals have been submitted to his Department by the company seeking to develop the Central Railways project; and if he will make a statement. [99630]
Mr. Hill:
We are aware that Central Railway plc has been consulting about its proposal for a freight and passenger railway between Liverpool and Lille, via London. Ministers have received copies of the company's consultation documents but have not taken a view on the scheme.
If Central Railway plc is to proceed with the scheme it will have to apply for an Order under the Transport and Works Acts 1992. We understand that the company hopes to submit an application next year. The company's previous application in 1996 was rejected by Parliament. As was the case last time, the company will be obliged to consult on any applications and affected parties will have the right to put forward their views.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he received a report on the Louth District Coroners Court hearing into the death of coastguard John Harrison; and what action he has undertaken. [99621]
Mr. Hill:
No report into the death of Coastguard John Harrison from Louth District Coroners Court has been received by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The Louth District Coroners Court office has confirmed that no report has been issued.
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Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on what date the Maritime and Coastguard Agency achieved its Charter Mark. [99612]
Mr. Hill:
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has not applied for a Charter Mark yet, in view of the changes the agency has undergone since its formation. The MCA is committed to a high level of customer service and has 15 Service Standards which cover the business activities of the whole agency.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on how many occasions in the last 12 months the automatic data retrieval system has failed to function at (a) Oban, (b) Shetland and (c) Pentland Coastguard stations. [99615]
Mr. Hill:
The Action Data System (ADAS) has failed twice in the last 12 months at these stations--once at Pentland and once at Oban. At Oban the failure was caused by an engineer shutting off the power, followed by a temporary failure of the auxiliary electricity supply. On both occasions, the system was restarted within an hour.
Other minor problems have been experienced which have affected printers or individual terminals, but none of these has resulted in a failure of the whole system.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will instigate an inquiry into charges of bullying and intimidation of coastguard officers by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Management. [99613]
Mr. Hill:
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has a well established grievance procedure for handling complaints from its staff. Both cases of bullying and intimidation reported under the procedure during 1999 have been investigated using this procedure which has been agreed with Trade Unions.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what experiments have been carried out to establish the response times necessary to respond physically to emergency calls at present covered by Oban Coastguard. [99617]
Mr. Hill:
No experiments have been carried out to establish Coastguard response times as these are covered by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) Service Standards. The target response time for a Coastguard presence at the reported scene of an incident in the area covered by the Oban Coastguard District is 30 minutes. This is a national target response time which is reported to the MCA Headquarters monthly, and reviewed locally by Coastguard management, through regular operational readiness inspections. The expectation is that this target will be met 95 per cent. of the time, since some remote locations can cause teams to take up to an hour to arrive.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if the digital computer system for the new Maritime and Coastguard Agency communications system is operational. [99614]
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Mr. Hill:
The Action Data System, as modified for compliance for the year 2000 (ADAS 2000), is used to record data about incidents dealt with by HMCG. This system was operational at all Coastguard Stations by September 1999. The new Integrated Coastguard Communication System (ICCS) will replace the existing equipment which is nearing the end of its life. Operational roll out will start in May 2000, and finish three years later.
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