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Foot and Mouth

Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will place in the Library the documentation and advice given in respect of tax treatment of grants given under the Foot and Mouth Recovery Fund. [77539]

Alun Michael: It is for the Inland Revenue and local tax offices to advise on the tax treatment of income, including Business Recovery Fund grants.

Livestock Movements

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to require the computers at the RPA and the BCMS to be made compatible; and if she will make a statement. [79318]

Alun Michael: The new computer system being developed for bovine schemes under the RPA Change Programme will provide interfaces to current systems such as the BCMS database.

A major investment in IT improvements is also being made at the BCMS. The system will be moved onto a more secure platform and a facility will be developed to provide for the issue of Xstatements" to producers showing details of the animals recorded on their holdings.

Public Paths

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many roads used as public paths have yet to have their usage reviewed by the relevant surveying authority in accordance with the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. [79380]

Alun Michael: A highway authority survey carried out in 1999 found that 4,166 roads used as a public path have been reclassified in accordance with section 54 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, with 3,305 still to be reviewed.

Recruitment (Over-50s)

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of new recruits to her Department in the past two years were aged 50 and over. [79312]

Alun Michael: Information is available from the date of the creation of the new Department (Defra) on 9 June 2001.

The percentage of new recruits to core-Defra, between 9 June 2001 and 31

March 2002, who were aged 50 or over, is 7.2 per cent.

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Religious Slaughter

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to improve the welfare of animals slaughtered by religious methods; and if she will make a statement. [78466]

Mr. Morley: There are already detailed requirements governing the religious slaughter of animals and birds laid down in Schedule 12 of the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 (as amended). Although we are currently in the process of making some further amendments to the regulations, none of these changes are to Schedule 12. However we are in the process of producing draft Codes of Practice on the slaughter of animals and poultry, including religious slaughter, with the aim of improving the welfare of animals and birds at slaughter. In addition, the Farm Animal Welfare Council (the Government's advisory body on farmed animal welfare matters) is currently preparing a report on the welfare of farmed livestock (red meat animals) at slaughter, including livestock slaughtered by religious methods.

Research and Development

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent by her Department and its predecessors on research and development in each of the last 15 years broken down by category. [78591]

Alun Michael: Breaking down the figure spent on research and development programmes, by category, for DEFRA, former MAFF, DETR and DOE for each of the last 15 years could be achieved only at disproportionate cost. A full picture of the current DEFRA research programme, including details of all projects, can be found on the DEFRA website http://www.defra.gov.uk/research.

Sea Angling

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list those who have expressed interest in her proposal for research into the economic contribution of sea angling. [77263]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 30 October 2002]: Defra holds in confidence details of the institutions expressing an interest because the information is commercially sensitive and its disclosure might create difficulties for the remainder of the tender exercise. It would therefore be inappropriate to give details of the institutions. The identity of the researcher who is selected will be made public once the contract has been let.

Third Countries Fisheries Agreements

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list those third countries with which the EU has concluded mutual fisheries agreements; and how much Community money has been granted to each state. [77250]

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Mr. Morley: There are currently 20 fisheries agreements in force between the European Community and third countries. These can be classified into three main types:

Reciprocal-where community fishermen obtain rights to fish in the waters of a third country and in return fishermen from the third country have rights to fish in EU waters;

Classical-where the European Union pays for access for EU vessels to fish in the waters of a third country and where skippers pay for licences and in some cases for the amount of fish caught; and

Mixed-a mixture of both the reciprocal and classical.

The table shows the third countries with which the EU has fisheries agreements, the type of agreement and the sum paid by the EU where applicable.

euro

Third Country Agreements
Country	Agreement type	Annual cost 2002
Angola	classical	15,500,000
Cape Verde	classical	680,000
Comores	classical	350,250
Faroe	reciprocal	—
Gabon	classical	1,262,500
Greenland	mixed	42,820,000
Guinea Bissau	classical	10,000,000
Republic of Guinea	classical	2,960,000
Iceland	reciprocal	—
Ivory Coast	classical	957,500
Lithuania	mixed	—
Madagascar	classical	825,000
Mauritania	classical	86,000,000
Mauritius	classical	825,000
Norway	reciprocal	—
Poland	reciprocal	—
Russia	reciprocal	—
Sao Tomé e Principe	classical	925,000
Senegal	classical	16,000,000
Seychelles	classical	3,480,000

Vital Villages Initiative

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the budget is for 2002–03 of the vital villages initiative; and what the future projections for this figure are. [79062]

Alun Michael: The budget for vital villages for 2002–03 is #10.41million, which is split as follows:

Parish plans: #1.35 million

Community service grants: #4.82 million

Parish transport grants: #4.24 million

Future projections will emerge from the current corporate planning process following the outcome of the 2002 Spending Review.

Water (Unpowered Craft Access)

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what further progress she has made on increasing access to water for non-powered craft; and if she will make a statement. [79076]

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Alun Michael: Our research report, Water-Based Sport and Recreation: the facts was published in December 2001. This is a wide-ranging report which touches on the responsibilities of several Government Departments and agencies and we have been working with them in deciding how best to take this forward.

While none of the issues are new or straightforward to resolve, I am committed to finding solutions wherever possible.

As a first step I have asked the Countryside Agency (in partnership with other agencies) to pilot some demonstration projects to develop best practice for access agreements on key stretches of water.

Water Framework Directive

Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how she will ensure that transposition of the Water Framework Directive in England and Wales will contribute to the mitigation of floods and droughts. [76384]

Mr. Morley: The Directive is concerned with achieving water quality objectives (article 4). While it does not set objectives for flood and drought mitigation, the overall effect of the actions to protect and improve water quality required by the Directive will contribute to mitigating the effects of floods and droughts (article 1(e)).

Draft regulations to transpose the Directive, including articles 1 and 4 will be included in a consultation paper to be published next year.

In addition, my Department will be working closely with the Environment Agency and others to ensure appropriate links are made between river basin management and flood risk management planning.

Water Policy

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will be publishing the water policy document for England. [79448]

Mr. Morley: The document entitled "Directing the Flow—priorities for future water policy" will be published on 5 November. It is intended to be a high-level policy document and strengthens the integration of water policy with other policy areas. The document takes the first steps towards setting out our strategic aims and summarising our proposed future priorities and direction for the water environment, water resources and water management. It aims to take a long-term view, looking at the next 20 years and beyond and setting the context within which specific actions will need to be taken. Copies of the document will be deposited in the House Libraries and will also be available on DEFRA's internet site (www.defra.gov.uk/environment/water/index.htm).

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