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Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the cost was to her Department of answering written parliamentary questions in 2001; and how that cost was calculated; [49111]
- (2) how many staff were involved in each of the last three years in preparing draft answers to written parliamentary questions. [49153]
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Mr. Morley: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my right hon. friend the Leader of the House on 17 April 2002, Official Report, column 929W.
Sunset Clauses
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which Bills introduced by her Department in the last five years have contained sunset clauses; and what plans she has for the future use of such clauses. [49627]
Meat Imports
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans the Government have to change the legislation permitting visitors to the United Kingdom to bring their own meat for personal consumption. [50451]
Mr. Morley: UK import rules permit personal imports from third countries of no more than 1 kg of meat for personal consumption. This meat must be heat treated in a hermetically sealed container (e.g. a tin). This is somewhat more restrictive than EU rules. We have raised with the European Commission the need to tighten up EU rules on personal imports and we understand the commission are preparing proposals for further discussion.
Rural Payments Agency
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if computer systems in the Rural Payments agency are capable of handling payments in euros; and if she will make a statement. [50458]
Margaret Beckett: The Rural Payments agency is operating a system for paying traders in euro where requested. This system covers schemes outlined in a statement by the Minister in 1998, for example export refunds, internal market schemes and intervention. Due to the complexities of the legacy computer systems direct aid payments to farmers are not yet covered.
The Rural Payments agency (RPA) has included euro capability in the design for its new business system. The needs of the RPA's customers will be central to the development work which we plan on completing by the end of 2004.
Communities
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has for the future assessment of community vibrancy according to parish. [50616]
Alun Michael: We announced in the Rural White Paper that we were asking the Countryside agency to bring together, and report on in their State of the Countryside report, a set of headline indicators including one on Community vibrancy, under the theme A Vibrant Countryside. This was to measure "percentage of parishes in four categories (vibrant, active, barely active, sleeping) assessed on numbers of meeting places, voluntary and
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cultural activities, contested parish elections". The purpose of the indicator is to measure on a national basis the trend over time.
The indicator which was first reported on in April 2001 in the State of the Countryside report is still under development and we recognise that there are a number of short-comings in the data from which it has been compiled. For instance, the indicator does not reveal the extent to which smaller settlements and parishes are able to take up community activities in neighbouring parishes. Furthermore, communities in all sizes of parish may exhibit community vibrancy in other ways than those assessed through the Rural Services Survey.
The Countryside agency intends to look at the whole issue again, through consultation on the methodology, rather than amending individual classifications. This will include working with DEFRA and the National Association of Local Councils. The revised approach will be piloted with a number of communities or their representative bodies.
Differing views over individual classifications is inevitable but the Countryside agency would prefer to address these in a review of the indicator rather than on a case-by-case basis. In particular, the naming convention of the groups may be re-considered to more accurately reflect the underlying information.
Refrigerator Disposal
Mr. Page: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Government expect to announce their intentions regarding the reimbursement of the additional expenditure incurred over refrigerator disposal. [50867R]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 18 April 2002]: An initial statement on funding for local authorities was made on 4 December 2001. The £6 million announced then was to cover costs in 2001–02. A Government announcement on further local authority funding will be made shortly.
Foot and Mouth
Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the reliability rate of the computer model used during the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak to predict the spread of the virus; what percentage of error was expected from the model; if her Department has commissioned a new computer programme for predicting disease spread; and if she will make a statement. [51457]
Mr. Morley: The "Interspread" model was used extensively and on a daily basis in the 2001 foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. It proved to be of great value to epidemiologists as an aid to understanding the epidemic and providing advice on control. The simulation proved to be accurate in determining the ultimate size of the epidemic.
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Two other models were developed during the course of the epidemic by research groups at Imperial college and Edinburgh and Cambridge universities. Results from all models were broadly consistent.
DEFRA is considering what future work it needs to commission into modelling of disease outbreaks and control measures and will be discussing its requirements with the relevant part of the research community next month.
Mari Geni
Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the hon. Member for Scunthorpe's, answer of 18 March 2002, Official Report, column 130, on the Mari Geni, under which sector of the United Kingdom fleet the Mari Geni was registered; and what was the total amount of (a) tonnage and (b) kilowatts the sector has been reduced by due to the decommissioning of the Mari Geni. [51445]
Mr. Morley: The Mari Geni was registered under the "Demersal trawls, seines and nephrops" segment. The vessel had a gross tonnage of 315 and a kilowatt power of 709.
Fish Quotas
Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 20 March 2002, Official Report, column 375, on fish quotas, if she will make a statement on the relationship between the Shetland Island Council and (a) the Shetland Development Trust and (b) the Shetland Leasing and Purchasing Company; and how much money was expended by SLAP for the purchase of fish in the years (i) 1998 (ii) 1999 (iii) 2000 and (iv) 2001. [51443]
Mr. Morley: The relationship between the Shetland Island Council, the Shetland Development Trust and Shetland Leasing and Property Ltd. (SLAP) was explained in the Official Journal of the European Communities for 12 February, (Official Journal, 12 February 2002, c. 38–39). As stated in my answer of 20 March 2002, Official Report, column 375, SLAP spent £2 million on quota purchase in 1998: there was no expenditure on quota purchase by SLAP in 1999, 2000 or 2001.
Advisory Panels (Political Affiliation)
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the political affiliations are of each member of each existing advisory panel that she appoints. [51720]
Mr. Morley: Ministerial appointments to DEFRA's advisory committees, which are non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), fall within the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments and are covered by the OCPA Code of Practice. Applicants are not required to declare their political affiliation and appointment is on merit.
For other bodies such as the Rural Affairs Forum for England, we did not request nor are we aware of members' political affiliations.
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Departmental Consultations
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what consultations (a) her Department is conducting and (b) have been conducted by her Department since May 2001. [51416]
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Margaret Beckett [holding answer 19 April 2002]: (a) The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is currently conducting 22 consultations. These consultations are listed in reverse chronological order of deadline date:
| Consultation | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Consultation on Stage II Petrol Vapour Recovery | 9 July 2002 |
| Review of seed certification in England: draft seeds regulations and registration, licensing and enforcement regulation | 8 July 2002 |
| Consultation on draft code of recommendations for the welfare of cattle | 28 June 2002 |
| Economic evaluation of the Apple and Pear Research Council | 27 June 2002 |
| Consultation on UK Ratification of the 1998 Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Heavy Metals | 11 June 2002 |
| Consultation on proposed Agricultural Development Scheme | 31 May 2002 |
| Consultation on Public Rights of Way: Rules for procedures for Inquiries and Hearings held under The Highways Act 1980, Wildlife And Countryside Act 1981 and Town and Country Planning Act 1990 | 31 May 2002 |
| Consultation on proposals for amendment to the Potato Industry Development Council Order 1997 (as amended) | 29 May 2002 |
| Review of agri-environmental schemes in England | 27 May 2002 |
| Consultation on Food And Environment Protection Act 1985 (Part II): Charges for Licences to Deposit Materials At Sea and Approval Of Oil Spill Treatment Products | 25 May 2002 |
| Consultation on proposals for an EU Directive on environmental liability | 24 May 2002 |
| Consultation on flood and coastal defence funding review | 17 May 2002 |
| Consultation on Fees for Seed Certification 2002–03 | 13 May 2002 |
| Consultation on fees for National Listing and Plant Breeders' Rights | 13 May 2002 |
| Consultation on developing a draft strategy for antimicrobial resistance in animals (VMD consultation) | 7 May 2002 |
| Consultation on detailed rules for determining the mesh size of fishing nets | 6 May 2002 |
| Consultation on an Animal Welfare Bill | 30 April 2002 |
| Consultation on the environmental impact of growing sugar beet | 24 April 2002 |
| Consultation on the Environment Agency's Objectives and Contribution to Sustainable Development | 18 April 2002 |
| Consultation on proposals for Regulations on Dedication of Access Land under Section 16 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 | 15 April 2002 |
| Consultation on the Hills Task Force Report | See Papers |
| Consultation on the Deregulation of Livestock Quotas: Review of Overgrazing Controls in England | Suspended |
(b) Since May 2001, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has conducted and closed the following 44 consultations, which are listed, also in reverse chronological order:
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Further information on all of the consultations can be obtained from the DEFRA website www.defra.gov.uk
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