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21 Jan 2003 : Column 213W—continued
Farm Values
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her latest calculation is of the change in the value of (a) farm land, (b) farm houses and (c) other farm buildings over the last 10 years. [90252]
Mr. Morley: Estimates are available only for the value of farm land and farm buildings combined. Estimates for the value of farm houses are not available
The overall value of farm "land and buildings" in the UK increased by £43 billion, or 85 per cent. (52 per cent. in real terms) between 1993 and 2000. Estimates for years prior to 1993 are not comparable.
Whilst estimates of the value of all farm land are not separately available, statistics are available on the average price of farm land sales. These show that the annual average price of agricultural land sold in England increased by £3,300 per hectare or 87 per cent. (55 per cent. in real terms) over the same period.
Farm Waste
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farm waste grants have been awarded in nitrate vulnerable zones. [90962]
Mr. Morley: Fifty eight waste grants have been awarded in nitrate vulnerable zones, since the start of the scheme tin 1996 to 31 December 2002.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average size of farm waste grants was in the last period for which figures are available. [90964]
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Mr. Morley: The average size of farm waste grant paid, since the start of the scheme in 1996 to 31 December 2002, is £6,800.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farm waste grants have been awarded in Lancashire in each of the last five years. [90726]
Mr. Morley: No applications for farm waste grants have been received in Lancashire in each of the last five years. The Farm Waste Grant Scheme only operates in designated Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs). NVZs were not designated in Lancashire until October 2002.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farm waste grants have been awarded in each of the regions; and how much each region has received. [90750]
Mr. Morley: The number of farm waste grants awarded so far and the number each region has received, since the start of the scheme in 1996 to 31 December 2002, is:
| Number awarded | Total grant awarded (£) | Applications received | Value of claims (£) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South West | 3 | 37,377 | 3 | 37,377 |
| East | 17 | 93,512 | 18 | 118,766 |
| North West | 4 | 35,230 | 6 | 44,592 |
| York and Humberside | 3 | 9,078 | 3 | 9,078 |
| East Midlands | 13 | 89,909 | 15 | 100,151 |
| South East | 11 | 76,036 | 12 | 110,036 |
| West Midlands | 7 | 53,218 | 8 | 72,129 |
Farmers (Compensation)
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department and its predecessors spent on compensatory payments to farmers, broken down by (a) type and (b) region, in each year since 1997. [91217]
Alun Michael: The amounts of compensatory payments made since 1997 are as follows:
| Scheme | Scheme year payments (in £ million) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 |
| AAPS(6) | 87.2 | 883.0 | 1,130.4 | 985.9 | 1,055.7 |
| SAPS(6) | 59.4 | 105.4 | 143.0 | 167.7 | 117.6 |
| BSPS(6) | 121.2 | 114.7 | 142.7 | 127.0 | 135.7 |
| ESP(6) | 45.1 | 56.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SPS | 33.1 | 26.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SCPS(6) | 67.9 | 775 | 106.0 | 77.9 | 78.8 |
| HLCA | Closed | Closed | 40.7 | 25.8 | 38.4 |
| HFA | 39.0 | 42.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ERDP(7) | 90.8 | 85.8 | 64.2 | 55.4 | 44.5 |
| DAIRY(8) | 54.9 | 15.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
(6) Includes Agrimonetary compensation
(7) Relates to Financial years.
(8) Relates to calendar year payments.
The information is not available broken down by regions.
HFA applications are made in one year and paid in the Spring of the following year. Therefore the figure for 2001 is for applications made in 2000.
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Fisheries (Aid)
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what discussions she has had with the Treasury regarding additional funding for aid to fishing communities since the agreement reached at the recent Fisheries Council; [91773]
- (2) what discussions she has had with the Scottish Executive in respect of aid packages to fishing communities since the agreement reached at the Fisheries Council. [91771]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 20 January 2003]: In considering the need for funding for fishing communities I am discussing the issues both with other Whitehall Departments and the devolved administrations.
Flooding
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the chairmen of flood defence committees have to declare other jobs they hold. [91170]
Mr. Morley: All Defra appointments to Regional Flood Defence Committees are made following the Code of Practice of the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA). On application for appointment, chairmen are asked to declare their present employment, other business interests, other public appointments and any other possible factors which may affect their suitability for appointment, including involvement in political activities. This information is updated regularly.
There are also requirements under paragraph 14 of Schedule 5 to the Environment Act 1995 regarding declarations of interest by members of regional and local flood defence committees.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on progress with the flood defence scheme for the Silkstream, Edgware. [91179]
Mr. Morley: Operational responsibility for flood management measures rests with the local operating authorities, normally the Environment Agency (EA) and local councils, who decide which projects to promote and their timing.
The EA is not seeking Defra grant for their proposed flood defence scheme for the Silkstream, Edgware, but do require our approval given the scale of public funding involved. Defra is considering the EA's proposed scheme against the normal technical, economic and environmental criteria. In the meantime the EA are working on the detailed design and negotiating with landowners. Subject to the necessary agreements, the EA plan to start work by the winter of 2003 and expect the construction phase to take two to three years to complete.
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many flood defence committees there are in England. [91509]
Mr. Morley: There are nine Regional Flood Defence Committees in England and one in Wales. There are statutory Local Flood Defence Committees in Anglian,
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Southern and Wessex Regions and in Wales. In the North West region there are three non-statutory advisory committees.
All committees are listed below:
- Local committees (5): Lincolnshire, Welland and Nene, Great Ouse, Norfolk and Suffolk, Essex.
- Northumbrian Region
- No local committees.
- North West Region
- Non statutory advisory committees (3): Cumberland, Lancashire, Mersey and Weaver.
- Severn Trent Region
- No local committees.
- Southern Region
- Local committees (3): Isle of Wight and Hampshire, Sussex, Kent.
- South West Region
- No local committees.
- Thames Region
- No local committees.
- Wessex Region
- Local committees (3): Bristol Avon, Somerset, Avon and Dorset.
- Yorkshire Region
- No local committees.
- Wales
- Local committees (6): Dee and Clywd, Gwynedd, South West Wales, Wye, Usk, Glamorgan.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will advise insurance companies that premiums on flooding policies should relate directly to risk and not to the post code areas in which the property is situated. [91400]
Mr. Morley: [holding answer 20 January 2003]: It is not for Government to advise insurance companies how they should calculate premiums. However, the Environment Agency are shortly to provide data to the Association of British Insurers which will enable them to develop a better understanding of the risk of flooding within a particular area.
Immunocapillary Electrophoresis
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if she will make a statement on the research conducted by her Department and its non-departmental public bodies regarding the immunocapillary electrophoresis test; [90036]
- (2) what assessment her Department has made of the correlation between the immunocapillary electro -phoresis test and other pre-clinical tests; and if she will make a statement. [90286]
(3) what plans her Department has to evaluate the Immunocapillary Electrophoresis (ICE) test in a large surveillance trial; [90840]
(4) what steps her Department is taking to (a) develop and (b) validate the Immunocapillary Electrophoresis test with the European Union; and if she will make a statement. [90841]
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Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (1) how many sheep have been tested by her Department and its non-departmental public bodies using the immunocapillary electrophoresis test; and what proportion of sheep were identified as (a) scrapie-infected and (b) non-scrapie infected, [90035]
- (2) if she will make a statement on her policy on the continuation of the application of the immunocapillary electrophoresis test. [90287]
(3) what assessment her Department has made of the use of the immunocapillary electrophoresis test for diagnostic purposes; and what steps she is taking to enable the test to be used throughout the United Kingdom. [90845]
Mr. Morley [holding answers 15, 16 and 20 January 2003]: DEFRA has commissioned the Veterinary Laboratories Agency to evaluate and further develop the ICE test (Immunocapillary Electrophoresis Test) with a view to its potential use in the pre-clinical diagnosis of BSE and scrapie. Work on this test has also been funded since September 2002 by the EU Commission with EU laboratories and the VLA under the Framework 5 Programme.
The technology has been transferred from the USA and the test is still in the development phase. It has not yet been applied to field samples on a larger scale commercial level. Technical issues have had to be resolved, further improvements are envisaged, and the implementation of field case testing has been delayed by Foot and Mouth Disease.
To date the ICE method has been used on sheep within a controlled scrapie-infected flock. The test has been shown to identify positive animals at certain stages of infection before clinical disease develops. Further work is being done to determine the exact age range in which positive animals can be identified. Scrapie-free animals give negative results with the test. The method therefore shows promise as a diagnostic tool but its use on a wide scale will be determined by the final characteristics of the test, in particular the optimum time for the test to be used to identify TSE positive sheep. Further validation will be required when the final test protocol is defined.
In the absence of other validated confirmatory pre-clinical tests, the results from ICE testing are being correlated with biopsy materials and eventual post-mortem confirmation of infection in the tested sheep. Facilities to expand the use of the test for field sampling are in place at the VLA and sample materials have been
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collected to use in a validated test. The preparatory stages for samples in this test are relatively complex and require several days to process; this may limit the number of samples that can be processed and the scale of use of the test. Currently the ICE method remains the only non-invasive live animal test that has been developed to the potential for identifying TSE-infected sheep or sheep flocks.
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