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16 Jan 2003 : Column 739W—continued
Liability Legislation
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what position Her Majesty's Government took at the last Agriculture Council in Luxembourg on proposals for specific liability legislation for GMOs; and if she will make a statement. [86173]
Mr. Meacher: The Agriculture Council has not discussed specific proposals for GMO liability legislation. The Environment Council is at an early stage in its consideration of a draft environmental liability Directive that covers various activities including the release of GMOs.
Nitrate Vulnerable Zones
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farms fall in nitrate vulnerable zones. [90727]
Mr. Morley: The total number of major farm holdings located in a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) in England is around 71,500. This figure is based upon Agricultural Census data 2000.
River Management
Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans there are to divert water from the River Frome into the River Stour; if the consequences of flood risk will be taken account of in such plans; and if she will make a statement. [90463]
Mr. Morley: Neither the Government nor the Environment Agency are aware of any plans to divert water from the Dorset Frome to the River Stour. While a number of such schemes involving other rivers have been considered in the past there are no plans relating to the Frome and Stour.
If such a scheme were to be proposed then the Environment Agency would consider all the impacts of the scheme on flooding and the environment.
Slaughter Premiums
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the implications for Government policy on the payment of slaughter premium of the arbitration decision in the case of Feakins v Defra. [89013]
Margaret Beckett [holding answer 7 January 2003]: There are no implications. The arbitration award included no payment of slaughter premium. The Government have made it clear that slaughter premium
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is not payable in respect of FMD culled cattle because the scheme criteria were not met, and that no adjustment is needed to compensation based on market value.
Statutory Instruments
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many Statutory Instruments subject to negative procedure made by her Department (a) came into force and (b) were considered by a delegated legislation committee in each of the last three sessions. [88026]
Alun Michael: Defra was created in June 2001. During the 2001–02 Session, 141 Statutory Instruments subject to negative resolution procedure came into force. Of these, 12 were considered by a delegated legislation committee.
Tallow
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which companies her Department has contracts with for the incineration of tallow produced under the over-thirty-months scheme; and when those contracts were (a) agreed and (b) signed. [90844]
Alun Michael: 9 companies have been awarded contracts for the incineration of tallow arisings produced under the Over Thirty Month Scheme. The companies and dates of contracts awarded are as follows:
| Company | Date |
|---|---|
| Gilberts Animal Feed (now John Pointon & Sons) | 17 December 1996 |
| Prosper De Mulder | 6 February 1997 |
| J. G. Pears | 12 February 1997 |
| Dundas Brothers | 9 May 1997 |
| Lisburn Proteins | 5 July 1997 |
| Canterbury Mills | 5 January 1998 |
| William Forrest & Son | 5 January 1998 |
| Dundas Chemical Company | 5 December 2000 |
| Ulster Farm by Products | 25 November 2002 |
WORK AND PENSIONS
Stakeholder Pensions
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 26 November 2002, Official Report, column 212W, which companies were registered as stakeholder pension providers on 6 April 2001; and whether any of these have stopped offering stakeholder pensions direct to individuals since then. [88221]
Mr. McCartney [pursuant to his answers, 7 January 2003, Official Report, c. 172–74W and 13 January 2003, Official Report, c. 366–68W]: The information available is in the table.
(10) Information from The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority's (Opra) register of stakeholder pension schemes.
(11) While registered stakeholder pension providers are required to inform Opra of any restrictions they impose on membership to their scheme, they do not have to inform the Authority of any changes to their marketing or publicity strategies.
(12) 'De-registered' effectively means leaving the stakeholder pensions market altogether.
(13) 'Stopped' means the provider does not accept business from individuals, but does offer stakeholder pensions to group clients.
(14) The Friends Provident Stakeholder Pensions Scheme closed to both new group and individual business in January 2002, while remaining open to accept contributions from existing members. However, Friends Provident's other stakeholder pension scheme, Friends Provident Pensions Limited Stakeholder Pension Scheme, continues to sell stakeholder pensions to both groups and individuals.
Note:
James Hay Trustees Ltd is not included in the table above because it did not register until after 6 April 2001 (registered March 2002 and de-registered August 2002).
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