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Ozone
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the levels of ozone in rural areas in (a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998, (d) 1999, (e) 2000 and (f) 2001. [16538]
Alun Michael: Average number of days per site in rural areas on which pollution levels were above national air quality standards.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 41 |
| 1997 | 42 |
| 1998 | 29 |
| 1999 | 48 |
| 2000 | 25 |
| 2001 | (18)— |
(18) Information not currently available
Source:
Quality of Life Counts headline indicators
Rural Crime
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of people in rural areas claimed to feel safe from crime in (a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998, (d) 1999, (e) 2000 and (f) 2001. [16541]
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Alun Michael: The figures show that more people in rural areas feel safe from crime. The proportion (percentage) of adults in rural areas surveyed in the British Crime Survey not worried about crime by type.
| 1996 | 2000 | 2001 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary | 85 | 87 | 90 |
| Mugging | 87 | 89 | 91 |
| Physical attack | 95 | 88 | 91 |
| Rape | 75 | 86 | 89 |
| Insults or pestering | n/a | 94 | 95 |
| Theft of a car(19) | 82 | 86 | 89 |
| Theft from a car(19) | 85 | 89 | 90 |
(19) Vehicle owners only
Note:
Figures are not available for 1997, 1998 and 1999
Agriculture
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people were employed in agriculture in the United Kingdom in (a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998, (d) 1999, (e) 2000, and (f) 2001; and what proportion were (a) full-time, (b) part- time and (c) seasonal. [16536]
Alun Michael: The latest information available for the United Kingdom is from the June 2000 Agricultural Census. Results for 2001 will be available later this year. The labour questions were changed in 1998 in England and Wales to allow more detailed information on full/part time and paid/unpaid labour to be collected. The available information is shown in the table:
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total workers | 245.7 | 242.9 | 245.2 | 229.6 | 204.4 |
| Salaried managers(20) | 7.8 | 7.8 | 12.1 | 13.8 | 11.1 |
| Full-time | n/a | n/a | 9.9 | 10.9 | 9.3 |
| Part-time | n/a | n/a | 2.3 | 3.0 | 1.9 |
| Regular workers | 156.4 | 154.2 | 154.6 | 143.8 | 128.9 |
| Full-time | 101.8 | 100.1 | 100.5 | 94.1 | 83.8 |
| Part-time | 54.6 | 54.1 | 54.1 | 49.7 | 45.2 |
| Casual/gang | 81.5 | 80.9 | 78.4 | 72.0 | 64.4 |
(20) From 1998 all farmers managing holdings for limited companies were asked to classify themselves as salaried managers.
Notes:
1. In 1998 fundamental changes were introduced to the labour questions in England and Wales. It appears that this change may have led to the recording of additional labour not previously included in the census returns. The change in questions has also led to a redistribution of labour between the various categories, most notably for salaried managers. Caution is therefore advised when comparing the 1997 and 1998 results.
2. Figures exclude school children but include trainees employed under an official youth training scheme and paid at Agricultural Wages Board rates or above.
3. Includes minor holdings.
4. Totals may not agree with components due to rounding.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the (a) subsidies paid to agriculture, (b) environmental costs of agriculture and (c) contribution of agriculture to GDP in each of the last five years; and what estimate she has made of the projected contribution of agriculture to GDP in each of the next five years expressed as a percentage of total GDP. [12292]
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Mr. Morley [holding answer 2 November 2001]: Total public expenditure on agriculture in the financial year 2000–01 is estimated to have been £3,182 million 1
Estimates of the total value of the impact of agriculture on the environment are not currently produced by my Department.
Two recent academic studies have made estimates of the environmental costs of agriculture:
- Pretty, J., Brett, C., Gee, D., Hine, R., Mason, C., Morison, J., Raven, H., Rayment, M. and van der Bijl, G. (2000), an assessment of the external costs of UK agriculture, "Agricultural Systems", forthcoming.
- Hartridge, O., Pearce, D., "Is UK Agriculture Sustainable? Environmentally Adjusted Economic Accounts for UK Agriculture". Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environmental: University College, London.
Agriculture's share of national gross value added at basic prices (formerly GDP) in each of the last five years is given in the following table.
| Agriculture's share of national gross value added | |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 1.5 |
| 1997 | 1.2 |
| 1998 | 1.0 |
| 1999 | 0.9 |
| 2000 | 0.8 |
Estimates of the projected contribution of agriculture to GDP in future years are not produced by my Department.
The decline since 1996 is partly due to the rise in sterling against the Euro (which has affected agriculture more than many other sectors) weak world commodity markets and the effects of BSE. However, it also reflects a long term downward trend which results from underlying trends in demand—because as standards of living rise, consumers spend a smaller share of their family budget on food—and also from underlying trends in technology—which mean that prices for agricultural commodities have tended to rise less quickly than general inflation. These trends can be expected to continue, to some degree, in the future.
- 1 Source:
- Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2000 Table 9.1
Rural Bus Services
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of rural bus services ran over the weekend in (a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998, (d) 1999, (e) 2000 and (f) 2001. [16540]
Alun Michael: The following information is available from the Countryside Agency's rural services survey:
| 1997 | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| A 6 days a week bus service | 35 | 31 |
| A 7 days a week bus service | 25 | 36 |
| 6/7 day service | 60 | 67 |
Note:
Data not available for 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2001
22 Nov 2001 : Column: 430W
| 2000 | |
|---|---|
| A 6 days a week bus service | 27 |
| A 7 days a week bus service | 24 |
| 6/7 day service | 51 |
Note:
Data not available for 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001
Source:
RDC and Countryside Agency
The data come from the rural services survey series which is undertaken triennially. For 2000 data were collected on both a parish basis (historical administrative boundaries) and settlement basis (areas where people live) where the sample size increased from around 6,000 to 14,000.
Agrimonetary Compensation
Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funds are available from the (a) EU and (b) UK Government to compensate agriculture in Britain for losses caused by the weakness of the euro; and how much has been paid, by categories, in each of the last three periods for which figures are available. [15403]
Mr. Morley: Payments of agrimonetary compensation are partially funded by the EU budget and partly from the UK Exchequer. The following table lists the amounts of compensation that became available from 1999 to 2001. Payments are shown against the year in which the compensation became available although payments are made in up to three annual instalments. It was compulsory for member states to pay the EU element of the compensation which became available in 1999. All subsequent compensation payments are optional.
| Compensation | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Available from the EU | 396 | 226 | 183 | 805 |
| Available from the UK | 132 | 226 | 183 | 541 |
| Total available | 529 | 451 | 366 | 1,346 |
| Paid by the EU | 396 | 127 | 56 | 578 |
| Paid by the UK | 0 | 19 | 56 | 74 |
| Total Paid | 396 | 145 | 111 | 652 |
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