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20 Nov 2002 : Column 162W—continued

Insurance Schemes (Livestock Farmers)

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent

20 Nov 2002 : Column 163W

discussions she has had on extending insurance schemes to livestock farmers with respect to infectious diseases. [81153]

Mr. Morley: The Defra animal disease insurance working group, which includes representatives of the insurance and farming industries, completed a series of meetings in May. Defra officials are now working on detailed proposals for a consultation exercise next year.

Local Heritage Initiatives

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent by her Department and agencies on local heritage initiatives in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02; and (c) 2002–03 to date; and if she will break down the spending by (i) category and (ii) region in each year. [81142]

Alun Michael: Available information on this will be included in the letter which I am about to write to the hon. Member following his parliamentary question 79728 tabled on 1 November. I will place a copy of my letter in the House of Commons Library.

Ministerial Transport

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many vehicles (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have access to, broken down by vehicle type; what the annual operating costs were in each of the last three financial years; how much it costs to convert a car so that it is suitable for a Government Minister; and if she will make a statement. [82023]

Alun Michael: The Secretary of State has access to one car, a Vauxhall Omega, and the Ministers in Defra have access to one car each—two Ford Mondeos and two Vauxhall Vectras.

Defra has not yet had a full financial year. However from June 2001 (when the Department was created) to the end of March 2002, spend on the five ministerial cars was in the region of #309,000. So far this financial year the Department has spent #207,000 for the five ministerial cars.

The Department has not paid to have any of the cars converted for use by a Government Minister.

Ministerial and Staff Cars

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cars are (a) owned and (b) leased by DEFRA for Ministers and staff to use. [81015]

Alun Michael: The Department leases six cars from the Government Car service and owns 349 vehicles (including vans) for Defra Ministers and staff to use.

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the 2002–03 budget is for cars and car travel by (a) Ministers and (b) staff of Defra. [81016]

Alun Michael: The standard annual cost of the five Defra Ministerial cars is in the order of #283,000 for 2002–03.

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So far this year Defra has only purchased one car at a cost of approximately #10,700. There is not a yearly set budget for the purchase of Defra cars or for car travel more generally. We do not hold centralised records of car travel in the Department.

Organic Farming Schemes

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) farmers and (b) farms are involved in the organic farming schemes, broken down by region. [81148]

Mr. Meacher: Information is held by beneficiary. The number of beneficiaries under the Organic Farming Scheme and the Organic Aid Scheme by region is as follows:

Region	Total
East Midlands	178
Eastern	160
London	1
North East	51
North West	149
South East	285
South West	873
West Midlands	256
Yorks/Humber	120
Grand total	2,073

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding schemes are available for organic farming; and how much is available in each scheme. [81149]

Mr. Meacher: Support for farmers converting to organic farming is currently available under the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) which is part of the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP).

Subject to the agreement of the European Commission, as set out in the Action Plan to Develop Organic Food and Farming in England, from 2003 we intend to extend aid to farmers who have completed conversion. The budgets for the OFS from this year to the end of the life of the ERDP is as follows.

Year	# million
2002	20
2003	22
2004	22
2005	23
2006	23

We also provide other support, for example through the Department's research and development programme, which includes a large component dealing with research on organic farming, and through the provision of free advice to prospective organic farmers by the Organic Conversion Information Service (OCIS). Spending on organic R&D is expected to be just over #2 million and expenditure on OCIS around #350,000 in the current financial year.

20 Nov 2002 : Column 165W

Pets

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of pets' passports and electronic tagging of pets coming into the UK. [80582]

Mr. Morley: Since the Pet Travel Scheme began on 28 February 2000 we have continually assessed its operation. When necessary, we have provided additional clarification and guidance to overcome difficulties or confusion, in particular where this resulted in animals failing to comply with the scheme's requirements. I am pleased to say that as a result of this and our continuing evaluation of our PETS publicity, the number of animals that do not pass PETS checks has fallen significantly since the scheme began.

The Advisory Group on Quarantine, whose report was the basis for the introduction of the scheme, considered carefully the necessary means of identifying pets. It decided that electronic identification was the best way forward. This system has worked well and under the proposal for a harmonised system of pet movement in the community, may, in the future, be adopted as the sole means of identification.

Quarantine

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many exceptions to the six month quarantine rule have been made for animals coming into the UK in each of the last 10 years; [80580]

(2) what the grounds are for exemptions of the six month quarantine rule for animals entering the UK. [80581]

Mr. Morley: Exemptions from quarantine were not granted before 1999. With the impending introduction of the Pet Travel Scheme the Government was prepared to grant exemption from quarantine in exceptional situations. To qualify for consideration for exemption we require that the applicant, or his or her child, must have a life-threatening illness, which makes it a strong possibility that they will not survive for more than six months. Evidence of the life-threatening illness is subject to independent medical scrutiny. Exceptionally, we have also granted exemption on national security grounds.

The following table shows the number of cases, in England, which have been exempted from the six months quarantine requirement in the last four years. The figures from 2000 exclude those animals which comply with the requirements of the Pet Travel Scheme.

Year	Number of cases in which exemption from quarantine was granted
1999	4
2000	5
2001	3
2002(19)	1

⁽¹⁹⁾To 20 November

Rural Housing

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was

20 Nov 2002 : Column 166W

spent by her Department and agencies on rural housing enablers in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02, (c) 2002–03 to date; and if she will break down the spending by (i) category and (ii) region in each year. [81141]

Alun Michael: Total spend on the Rural Housing Enabler Programme by the Countryside Agency on behalf of DEFRA in 2000–01 to 2002–03 by region is as shown in the table. A breakdown of the type of activity undertaken is not available centrally.

#000

Region	2000–01(20)	2001–02	2002–03(21)
North West	15,785	31,920	42,340
East Midlands	31,571	78,279	72,126
East of England	47,357	65,154	92,127
North East	15,785	16,639	23,167
South West	15,786	49,060	208,794
South East	31,572	23,500	106,412
West Midlands	15,786	51,495	20,976
Yorkshire and the Humber	47,358	46,481	68,640
Total	221,000	362,528	634,582

⁽²⁰⁾Figures are based on number of projects in each region and mean cost. Total actual spend for 2000–01 was #221,000

⁽²¹⁾Forecast

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