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9 Apr 2003 : Column 271W—continued
Departmental Budget
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the proportion of her Department's budget which is spent on food, fishing and farming and which is discretionary, rather than being passed through from the European Union; and if she will make a statement. [105082]
Alun Michael: Of the Department's Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) budget, 4.8 per cent. is allocated to the Food, Farming and Fisheries Directorate-General, and 14.8 per cent. of that allocation is to cover national expenditure under various European Union (EU) schemes, that is expenditure which is additional to that provided by the European Union. No EU funds relating to this Directorate-General's budget are passed through the Department's DEL.
Departmental Running Costs
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the running costs in 2002 were of (a) her Ministers' private offices, separately identifying expenditure on staff, and (b) her Department. [106005]
Alun Michael: The running cost of this Department's Secretariat, including Ministers' private offices, for the financial year 2001–02 (from June 2001 when the Defra was created) was £2,757,000, of which £1,907,000 was on pay. Running costs for 2002–03 are forecast to be in the region of £3,380,000 of which £2,340,000 will be on pay.
The actual 2001–02 administrative cost budget outturn for the whole Department was £643.9 million. The departmental running cost figure for 2002–03 will be published shortly in departmental appropriation and resource accounts.
EU Directives
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the EU Directives and Regulations which have been implemented by her Department since 17 April 2002. [106825]
Alun Michael: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs plays a leading role in the UK's EU policy on the environment, agriculture, fisheries, animal and plant health. Since 17 April 2002, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has led on the implementation of 32 Directives. The attached table shows the Directives implemented during the period.
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EC regulations are, in general, directly applicable in the Member States, without the need for further incorporation into national law. However, some regulations require UK measures to make them workable and enforceable. Some regulations enact small or technical amendments. As far as we have been able to verify there have been no regulations that have needed further measures to incorporate into national law during the period.
Horticultural Research
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress is being made on the review into the future of horticultural research. [108068]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 8 April 2003]: Following the Government response to the Quinquennial Review of Horticultural Research International (HRI) announced on 20 January, Defra has been engaged in negotiations with HRI, the University of Warwick and the East Mailing Trust to establish whether the scenarios recommended by the Quinquennial Review team are achievable and affordable and whether any further Government investment is necessary.
Good progress has been made. All the policy, legal and financial issues which need to be addressed have been identified and action has been put in hand to take them forward. This work will underpin the business cases which will inform the Government's detailed decisions on the new bodies intended to replace HRI.
HRI is an exceptionally complex business and it has not proved possible to conclude the initial phase of the negotiations by the end of March as we had hoped. We are still working towards the original target date of 1 April 2004 for the new bodies to be operational.
The Department is appreciative of the positive and committed way in which all the parties engaged in these delicate negotiations are working together to achieve a successful and stable future for HRI. It is optimistic that it will be in a position to make a more definitive announcement in the near future.
League Against Cruel Sports
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she will take to investigate the treatment of the deer in the League Against Cruel Sports sanctuary, Baronsdown on Exmoor. [108006]
Mr. Morley: Veterinary Officers from my Department have visited the Baronsdown Deer Sanctuary. I have considered the report of the visit and I am satisfied that there is no evidence of the deer exhibiting signs of ill treatment or suffering.
National Orchard
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what gains and
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losses in (a) actual and (b) percentage terms there have been in the size of the National Orchard in 2002. [108067]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 8 April 2003]: The area of the National Orchard fell by 2.4 thousand hectares (11 per cent.) between 2001 and 2002. The table as follows shows the results of the Orchard Fruit Surveys 1997–2002.
| Year | Tree area (hectares) | Percentage change |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 23,523 | — |
| 1998 | 21,981 | -6.6 |
| 1999 | 21,483 | -2.3 |
| 2000 | 20,823 | -3.1 |
| 2001(15) | (15)21,104 | (15)1.4 |
| 2002 | 18,739 | -11.2 |
(15) 2001 figures revised when 2002 results were published
Over-30-months Scheme
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how often meat and bone meal storage facilities for material produced under the over-30-month scheme are inspected; when the last inspection for each facility took place; and if she will make a statement. [107812]
Alun Michael: Over-30-month scheme (OTMS) meat and bone meal storage facilities are subject to regular control visits, which are carried out by the Rural Payments Agency. The Agency undertakes quarterly Technical Inspectorate visits to such stores to check the integrity of the store, and that the scheme controls and paperwork are being correctly administered. In addition the Agency's OTMS operations team also carry out periodic site inspections on an ad hoc basis. This is the team responsible for the ongoing storage and disposal arrangements relating to OTMS meat and bone meal.
In addition, when stores are either taking in or outloading material, the Agency employs the Meat and Livestock Commission as its agent to provide daily controls. These include overseeing the integrity and security of the site, accounting for every kilogram of meat and bone meal held in stock, and monitoring all activity that takes place on the storage sites. All stores are currently outloading material, but the date of the last inspection at each store is shown in the following table:
9 Apr 2003 : Column 274W
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how old the oldest meat and bone meal produced as a result of the over-30-month scheme is which is stored by her Department and its non-departmental public bodies. [107813]
Alun Michael: Meat and bone meal is stored in heaps and it is not possible to be precise about the age of that which remains in store. However it is likely that some of this material produced in the earliest weeks of the scheme (May 1996) remains in store pending incineration. To date the Rural Payments Agency has incinerated (for the most part with energy recovery) some 593,465 tonnes out of 736,797 tonnes of the material produced under the over-30-month scheme since its commencement in May 1996, this equates to 79 per cent. of the material produced. All of the storage sites are currently outloading the material to incineration plants.
Pensions
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the (a) funded and (b) unfunded public sector pension schemes for which her Department, its agencies and its non-departmental public bodies are responsible; when the last actuarial valuation was of each scheme; what the value was of the assets at the last actuarial valuation of each scheme; what deficit is disclosed by the last actuarial valuation of each scheme; and if she will make a statement. [104935]
Alun Michael: Staff in the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and its six agencies i.e. the Central Science Laboratory, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, the Centre for Environmental Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, the Pesticides Safety Directorate, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate and the Rural Payments Agency are members of the unfunded Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme which is the responsibility of the Cabinet Office.
Information on the pension arrangements for the staff of the Department's non- departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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