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Independent Television Commission
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if members of the Independent Television Commission are appointed on a regional basis. [64582]
Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply.
Members of the Independent Television Commission are appointed in accordance with the provisions of the 1990 Broadcasting Act. Schedule 1 to that Act provides that three of the members of the Commission, other than the chairman and deputy chairman, shall be persons who appear to the Secretary of State to be suited to make the interests of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively, their special care.
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Pets
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to introduce licensing for (a) cats and (b) dogs that breed. [54695]
Mr. Morley: Under the Breeding of Dogs Act 1973 as amended by the Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1999 anyone who is in the business of breeding and selling dogs will require a licence from the local authority. There are no plans to extend this legislation to cats.
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on how many occasions between 31 March 2001 and 31 March 2002 (a) departmental and (b) non-departmental special advisers have travelled abroad in an official capacity; what places were visited; and how much each visit cost. [58721]
Mr. Morley: DEFRA was created on 7 June 2001, and since then up to 31 March 2002, our special advisers travelled abroad in an official capacity, including accompanying the Secretary of State on nine occasions, at an average cost of £1,788 per trip. The countries visited were Belgium x 2, France, Luxembourg, Morocco, USA, Poland, India and South Africa.
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All travel by special advisers is undertaken fully in accordance with the guidelines set out in the "Ministerial Code" and the "Civil Service Management Code".
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when and where she advertised the positions for special adviser in her Department. [63644]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 24 June 2002]: The Government's position on advertising special adviser posts remains as set out in the Government's response to the report of the Public Administration Select Committee on special advisers published in December 2001.
Computers
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many computers were replaced in her Department in each of the past three years; how the replaced units were disposed of and by which companies; and at what cost. [60756]
Mr. Morley: DEFRA, created on 8 June 2001, has recently completed the roll out to all staff of a replacement office system started for the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1999. During this roll out, the following numbers of desktop computers were replaced for staff in the core Department.
| June | MAFF | DEFRA |
|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 119 | — |
| 2000–01 | 1,650 | — |
| 2001–02 | — | 2,878 |
Where appropriate, existing computers have been re-used elsewhere in the Department, including to enable flexible working arrangements for staff, but surplus redundant equipment has been disposed of as follows:
In 1999–2000, the Ministry had a considerable backlog of 1,265 computers for disposal and arranged for ICL (now Fujitsu) to carry out a one-off exercise to clear this before the roll out of the new office system, at a cost of £46,000 plus VAT.
In 2000–01, 1,172 and in 2001–02 3,361 computers were disposed of by Northern Realisations Limited, Bolton, Lancashire at no cost to the Department, but a gain to the Exchequer of £35,000. The contractual arrangement provides for units to be sold on at auction, passed to schools or charities or scrapped according to the terms of all the relevant legislation and regulations.
Banned Pesticides/Plant Treatments
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps are being taken to ensure that traces of (a) pesticides and (b) other plant treatments which are banned in the United Kingdom are not found on fresh imported produce. [60835]
Mr. Morley: There are a large number of substances which are not approved as pesticides in the UK but may be used in other countries. Differences in approvals between countries can arise because different approval conditions are applied or because commercial approvals
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are not sought in all countries. The fact that a compound is not approved in the UK does not mean that residues of that compound in imported produce are unsafe.
The Government conduct a wide-ranging annual surveillance programme for pesticide residues in food including imported food. Some 4,000 samples are analysed annually and the programme generates results for over 100,000 pesticide/commodity food combinations. All the results are published on a website: www.pesticides.gov.uk/ committees/PRC/prc.htm.
The surveillance programme includes monitoring for some of the compounds among the 21 banned throughout the EU.
Departmental Expenditure Limit
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much and what proportion of the departmental expenditure limit for 2002–03 will be accounted for by staff costs; what the figures were for 2001–02; and if she will make a statement. [61025]
Mr. Morley: Reliable figures for 2002–03 are not yet available as staff costs and total expenditure are dependent on the outcome of pay negotiations, which are currently under way.
For 2001–02 the pay bill cost is estimated as £495 million which represents 18 per cent. of the departmental expenditure limit.
National Scrapie Plan
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) when she intends to bring forward legislation to place the national scrapie plan on a statutory basis; [61536]
- (2) by what date she intends to make compliance with the national scrapie plan compulsory. [61537]
Mr. Morley: In addition to provisions relating to foot and mouth disease, the Animal Health Bill provides for enabling powers to make for the genotyping of sheep compulsory. This would accelerate the development of a national flock which is resistant to TSEs. These powers would provide a legal-enabling basis for making it compulsory to comply with, and participate in, the national scrapie plan. As part of the original consultation it was made clear that these measures would be compulsory at some stage. We will continue to discuss timescales with the sheep industry and we are progressing with the scheme on a voluntary basis.
A motion was passed in another place on 26 March 2002 that postpones further consideration on the Animal Health Bill in its entirety until the Government have published their response to the consultation on implementation of powers in the Bill, and published the findings of the Royal Society inquiry into foot and mouth disease and the National Audit Office value for money evaluation. These two studies are due to report this summer.
Committee Mandates
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate
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of the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [61693]
Mr. Morley: The Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare (SCAHAW) is an advisory committee established under Council Decision 97/579/EC of 28 August 1997.
The committee has six scheduled plenary meetings a year. In addition there are also six scheduled sub- committee meetings dealing with animal health and animal welfare. The 16 members of the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare do not represent their countries; rather they attend as individual experts.
The committee has no legislative function; it provides authoritative scientific advice to the Commission. This advice is published.
The members' travel expenses and travel costs are reimbursed by the European Commission.
The sub-committee on animal health deals with scientific and technical questions concerning all aspects of animal health, hygiene, animal diseases and therapies, including zones of non-food origin and zootechnics. The sub-committee on animal welfare deals with scientific and technical questions concerning the protection of animals, notably in regard to animal husbandry, herd management, transport, slaughter and experimentation.
Information relating to the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare can be found on the following websites: http://europa.eu.int//comm/food/fs/sc; http://europa.eu.int//comm/food/fs/sc/scah/index—en.html
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the EU Implementation Committee for Spirit Drinks is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; when it is next due to meet; what the United Kingdom representation on it is; whether experts nominated by the Scottish Executive (a) have been and (b) are members of it; and if she will make a statement. [62921]
Mr. Morley: The Spirit Drinks Implementation Committee (SDIC) is mandated by council regulation 1576/89 and is responsible for the implementation of the general rules on the definition, description and presentation of spirit drinks as laid down in that regulation. It considers draft Commission legislation and gives its formal opinion on Commission proposals.
SDIC has met twice during the last 12 months. It is next due to meet on 17 July 2002. One DEFRA official is expected to attend the meeting.
UK representation varies according to the agenda for each meeting and may include members of the Scottish Executive (and other devolved administrations) where there are items of sufficient interest. Members of the Scottish Executive did not attend the two SDIC meetings held over the past 12 months.
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Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the EU Committee on Geographical Indications and Protected Designations of Origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; when it is next due to meet; what the United Kingdom representation on it is; whether experts nominated by the Scottish Executive (a) have been and (b) are members of it; and if she will make a statement. [62916]
Mr. Morley: The Regulatory Committee on geographical indications and protected designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs has met three times over the last 12 months. The date and time of the next meeting is unknown at this stage. Its mandate is laid down in Article 15 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2081/92. Its activities include helping the Commission to decide on the registration of protected food names and to draw up Commission regulations relating to the operation of the scheme.
UK representation varies according to the agenda for each meeting and may include members of the Scottish Executive and other devolved Administrations where there are items of sufficient interest. If Scottish Executive colleagues do not attend, they work closely with DEFRA officials to ensure that Scottish interests are fully taken into account.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the EU Joint Meetings of Management and Regulatory Committees in the field of agriculture is; how many times such meetings have taken place over the last 12 months; when it is next due to meet; what the United Kingdom representation on it is; whether experts nominated by the Scottish Executive (a) have been and (b) are members of it; and if she will make a statement. [62922]
Mr. Morley: There are many management and regulatory committees in the field of agriculture whose mandates stem from individual pieces of Council legislation relevant to those sectors. Details of the past and next meetings of these committees and any involvement of the Scottish Executive could be assembled only at disproportionate cost.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandates of (a) the EU Committee on conservation, characterisation, collection and utilisation of genetic resources in agriculture is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; when it is next due to meet; what the United Kingdom representation on it is; whether experts nominated by the Scottish Executive (a) have been and (b) are members of it; and if she will make a statement. [62924]
Mr. Morley: The purpose of the Committee on the conservation, characterisation, collection and utilisation of genetic resources in agriculture is to advise the Commission on draft measures made under Council Regulation 1467/94 on:
- (a) assisting the co-ordination, at Community level, of certain national measures for the conservation, characterisation, collection and utilisation of genetic resources in agriculture to permit the rational organisation of the means employed within the Community and the efficient utilisation of the results and to achieve an approach in line with the aims of the Common Agricultural Policy.
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- (b) the development and implementation of programmes of measures for the conservation, characterisation, collection and utilisation of genetic resources in agriculture at Community level to support or supplement action taken in the member states; and
- (c) other relevant questions.
Regulation 1467/94 established a programme for the conservation, characterisation, collection and utilisation of genetic resources in agriculture for a period of five years. The Commission has made proposals for a successor regulation, which is currently under consideration.
The Committee has met once in the last 12 months. It was attended by officials from my Department. No decision has been made regarding the date of any future meeting. UK representation varies according to the agenda for each meeting and may include members of the Scottish Executive and other devolved Administrations where they consider that there are items of sufficient interest.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandates of (a) the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund Committee and (b) the working party on irregularities are; how many times they have met over the last 12 months; when they are next due to meet; what the UK representation on them is; whether experts nominated by the Scottish Executive (i) have been and (ii) are members of them; and if she will make a statement. [62923]
Mr. Morley: The European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund Committee was set up under Council Regulation 17/64 EEC on the conditions for granting aid from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. Provisions which currently define the role of the Committee, confer powers on the Commission and establish rules for consultation and adoption of legislation are contained in Articles 11 to 15 of Council Regulation 1258/99 on the financing of the common agricultural policy.
The Committee has both voting and non-voting functions. The procedures for adoption of legislation by the Committee are set out in Article 13 of Regulation 1258/99. This is a management committee procedure (variant IIa). The voting procedure is applied to regulations made under Articles 4 and 5 of Regulation 1258/99 (essentially concerned with accreditation of paying agencies and submission of annual CAP accounts). In addition, a number of other regulations require the EAGGF Committee to express an opinion via Article 13 procedures, in particular on measures adopted under the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS), some horizontal regulations, eg on calculating the costs of financing intervention measures, and certain commodity regime provisions which involve the grant of aid from EAGGF funds (in the latter case the sectoral management committee normally sit as a joint management committee with the EAGGF Committee).
The EAGGF Committee may also be consulted in circumstances set down in Article 14 of Regulation 1258/99. This provides for the Fund Committee to be consulted:
- in cases where provision is made for it to be consulted;
for the assessment of the Fund's credits to be entered in the Commission's estimate for the coming financial year and, if necessary, on additional estimates;
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on draft proposals from the Commission to the Council concerning the application of Regulation 1258/99 and on draft reports on the Fund to be submitted to the Council.
The Committee has met 13 times over the past 12 months. The next meeting is on 18 July. The UK representation on the Committee is led by DEFRA, and the UK Co-ordinating Body usually also attend. Additional UK representation varies according to the agenda for each meeting and may include members of the Scottish Executive and other devolved Administrations where there are items of sufficient interest. Members of the Scottish Executive have attended two meetings over the past 12 months.
The Irregularities and Mutual Assistance Working Group is a technical sub-group of COCOLAF (Advisory Committee for the Co-ordination of Fraud Prevention). This working group looks at issues arising from irregularities within EAGGF guarantee section schemes. This working group is chaired by OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office), which operates under an independent director-general.
This working group met once in the last 12 months, in April 2002. It is due to meet again after the summer break.
The UK representation on the working group is led by DEFRA, however the total representation depends on the agenda. A briefing meeting, organised by DEFRA, is usually held before the working group to discuss agenda items and decide on representation. The Rural Payments Agency (responsible for submitting irregularities on behalf of all UK paying agencies) are invited to attend as well as Treasury, Customs and Excise etc., and various other Departments who may have an interest in an agenda item. No expert nominated by the Scottish Executive attended the meeting last year.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the EU committee on organic production of agricultural products is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; when it is next due to meet; what the United Kingdom representation on it is; whether experts nominated by the Scottish Executive (a) have been and (b) are members of it; and if she will make a statement. [62912]
Mr. Morley: The mandate of the Regulatory Committee on Organic Farming is set out in Article 14 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91. Standard rules of procedure were adopted by the Commission on 31 January 2001 in accordance with Council Regulation 1999/468/EC.
The Regulatory Committee on Organic Farming met four times in the last 12 months and is due to meet next on 9 June. The UK is represented by officials from DEFRA but officials from the devolved Administrations are kept fully informed of the progress of the committee's
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work. In the last 12 months DEFRA officials also attended a further 24 out of the 26 meetings held of the committee's associated working groups.
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