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Waste Disposal

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many letters her Department has received from residents of the Buckingham constituency (a) in favour of and (b) opposed to (1) landfill sites in the last year; [30040]

(2) waste incineration in the last year. [30045]

Mr. Morley: Correspondence received from members of the public is not recorded by parliamentary constituency. However, a trawl of the Department's records has not revealed any letters relating to landfill sites received from a Buckingham address in the last twelve months.

Common Agricultural Policy

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of (a) progress with CAP reform ahead of the mid-term review and (b) political and public opinion within EU member states vis-à-vis CAP reform; and if she will make a statement. [29990]

Mr. Morley: The successful outcome of the Doha trade discussions and the statement on agriculture and the recent reforms agreed to the sheepmeat regime represent important steps towards CAP reform.

We are engaged in informal discussions with the Commission and bilaterally with member states on the possible modalities of changes to the Common Agricultural Policy in the lead up to the mid-term review. It is clear that there are a range of views and equally clear that some key member states have elections in the coming months which may well have an important bearing on the positions taken by those member states in future negotiations.

Meat Imports

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received on (a) the prevention of illegal imports of meat and food and (b) investment in animal disease research; and if she will make a statement. [30712]

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Mr. Morley: We have received a number of representations on the prevention of illegal imports of meat and food from a wide variety of sources, including Members of Parliament, the farming industry and the public. We have introduced a number of new measures aimed at combating illegal imports and will be taking into account the views expressed as we consider what further measures may be appropriate.

DEFRA receives many approaches about investment in research of all kinds and this information is available to the public via documents and the website. The funding per annum on the Animal Health and Welfare research programme is approximately £37.4 million. This is being kept under review in the light of the FMD outbreak and any inquiry recommendations.

Dairy Products

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has made to the EU Commission to obtain a further increase in export refunds in respect of dairy products. [30419]

Mr. Morley: We have continued to remind the Commission of the importance of international trade in dairy products, particularly for Northern Irish producers, and the currently depressed state of the market. As a result, export refunds for skimmed milk powder, whole milk powder and butter were raised again at the Milk Management Committee on 24 January.

Modulation Scheme

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to introduce new sources of funding for the modulation scheme; and if she will make a statement. [31161]

Mr. Morley: The Policy Commission on the future of farming and food made ambitious recommendations for a significant increase in the rate of modulation as a vehicle to transfer further CAP moneys out of production subsidies to deliver broader land management and environmental outputs. The Government accept we should now consider this option very carefully indeed. We will also look to secure agreement in the CAP mid term reviews to broaden the scope of what funds generated by modulation can be spent on. Subject to discussions with the devolved Administrations and with European Commission, securing that increased flexibility on modulation will be the Government's objective.

Sustainable Agriculture

Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her Department's policy for the development of sustainable agriculture within the United Kingdom; if she will list the elements comprising the policy; and on what time scale she expects changes to be enacted within the agricultural industry. [31457]

Mr. Morley: The independent Policy Commission, which was asked to advise Government on how we can create a sustainable, competitive and diverse farming and

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food sector in England, delivered its report yesterday. Their ideas will make a substantial contribution towards a new Government strategy for sustainable, modern and adaptable farming, which we intend to launch in the summer.

While responsibility for European and international aspects of policy rests with the UK Government, agriculture policy in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is devolved. The devolved Administrations have their own strategies for the development of their farming industries in their countries.

Copies of the Report have been placed in the House Libraries and the Vote Office.

Oilseed

Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the European Commission's decision to cut oilseed support commensurate with Agenda 2000; and if she will make a statement on her Department's policy on the levels of protein imported in the European Union. [31519]

Mr. Morley: The progressive alignment of EU area payment rates for oilseeds with those for cereals is provided for in Council Regulation 1251/99, which implements the decisions on CAP reform taken by the European Council in March 1999, as part of the Agenda 2000 agreement.

Article 10.2 of the regulation requires the European Commission to submit a report to the Council by 30 June 2002 on the development of the oilseeds market in the light of those decisions. This assessment will therefore form part of the mid-term review of Agenda 2000 later this year.

In addition, in response to a request from the Agriculture Council in December 2000, the European Commission has already produced a report on the options for increasing EU plant protein production following the Council's decision to ban meat and bone meal (MBM) from animal rations. The report notes that there is a plentiful supply of plant proteins on the world market and that EU is already the world's largest importer of oilmeals. In the light of this, it concludes that the most cost effective and least trade distorting solution is to look to the world market to make-up the gap left by the MBM ban, rather than to subsidise additional EU plant protein production. The Government agree with the Commission's analysis and fully supports the conclusions reached.

Hunting

Mr. Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the registered figures are for each hunt outing this year in respect of (a) riders and (b) followers under the post foot and mouth reporting rules. [31858]

Alun Michael: The information is not available. However, a list of the hunts that have satisfied Divisional Veterinary Managers that they can comply with disease control permit conditions is listed on the DEFRA website on www.defra/gov.uk/footandmouth/rural/hunting/permits.asp.

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HEALTH

Stroke Research

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for financing research into strokes in the next three financial years; and if he will make a statement. [14197]

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what priority will be accorded to his Department's policy research and the NHS Research and Development Programme to deal with strokes; and if he will make a statement. [14028]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 14 November 2001]: The National Service Framework (NSF) for older people, published in March 2001, outlines a programme of action for the national health service to reduce the incidence of stroke in the population and to ensure that those who have had a stroke have prompt access to integrated care services. A programme of research to underpin the implementation of the NSF is currently being planned by the Department. Funders forums have been established in cardiovascular disease research and in older people's research; research into stroke is likely to be of interest to both.

The Department's main national programmes of research which includes the NHS research and development programmes and the policy research programme, are currently funding a number of research projects into stroke. These include many projects with forward commitments over the next three years. Details of projects are available on the national research register at www.doh.gov.uk/research/nrr.htm.

The NHS research and development programme on service delivery and organisation has recently funded a five-year project on "Continuity of care in stroke and its relation to outcomes". A call for proposals has recently been advertised for the NHS research and development programme on the new and emerging applications of technology, which includes stroke as one of the priority areas. Funding will be dependent on the quality of proposals.

In addition to funding specific projects, the Department also provides and will continue to provide support for research commissioned by charities and the research councils that takes place in the NHS. Much of this will include research on strokes.

The main Government agency for research into the causes of and treatments for disease is the Medical Research Council (MRC) which receives its funding via the Department of Trade and Industry. The MRC operates in response mode, and it is therefore difficult to predict expenditure over the coming years. However the MRC spent £3.4 million on stroke research in 2000–01 and does not anticipate a major change to this level of support.

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