---

1 May 2003 : Column 461W—continued

CAP (Transitional Arrangements)

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the transitional arrangements are for the Common Agricultural Policy in relation to the forthcoming EU enlargement. [108814]

Mr. Morley: In becoming members of the European Union, the new member states have agreed to take over and apply EU rules, subject to certain transitional measures, limited in both time and scope. For agriculture, the most significant include the gradual phasing in of direct payments, enhanced rural development measures, and certain veterinary and phytosanitary provisions. In the public health sector a number of time limited and tightly controlled transition measures have been agreed for individually named food production premises to correct certain structural

1 May 2003 : Column 462W

defects. Crucially, products from such premises cannot enter the single market. No transitional arrangements relate to the food hygiene acquis.

Further details can be found on the European Commission's website: europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/negotiations/chapters/negotiationsguide.pdf and in the Government's forthcoming Explanatory Memorandum on the Accession Treaty.

Carcase Disposal

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the impact of proposed new legislation on animal carcass disposal on pest control, with respect to the tracking of injured pests. [108132]

Mr. Morley: The carcases, or parts of carcases, of wild animals will be exempt from the scope of the Animal By-Products Regulation unless they are thought to be diseased or are used to produce game trophies. Although the Regulation places them under no legal obligation, owners of property on which there are dead wild animals are advised to contact their local authority for advice on appropriate disposal methods.

Injured pests should, where practical, be tracked and humanely killed.

Common Fisheries Policy

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the United Kingdom has the right to withdraw from the EU Common Fisheries Policy, without withdrawing from the EU itself. [109693]

Mr. Morley: A change to the Treaty of Rome would be required for the UK to withdraw from the Common Fisheries Policy without withdrawing from the EU.

Darwin Mounds

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what plans she has to establish a no-fishing zone over the Darwin Mounds; [109620]

(2) what steps the Government is taking to protect the Darwin Mounds off the coast of Scotland prior to its formal designation as a Special Area of Conservation. [109618]

Mr. Morley: We have identified the Darwin Mounds area as a likely candidate for designation as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the Habitats Directive. However, legislation to apply the Habitats Directive in the offshore area which would enable the UK to designate offshore SACs and to take measures to protect them is not yet in place. Consultation on the necessary legislation will take place in the near future.

In the absence of such legislation, I wrote in October 2002 to Margot Wallstrom, the Commissioner for the Environment, and Franz Fischler, the Commissioner for Fisheries, seeking assistance in protecting the Mounds. We have since been exploring with the Commission the most effective means for putting in place measures to protect the area from the impact of

1 May 2003 : Column 463W

fishing, including whether it would be appropriate to use emergency powers available under the new Common Fisheries Policy framework regulation, (EC) No. 2371/02.

Deer Sanctuary Report

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 9 April, Official Report, column 272W, if she will place in the Library the vets' report on the League Against Cruel Sports Deer Sanctuary at Baronsdown. [110063]

Mr. Morley: A copy of the welfare report cannot be placed in the Library as the results of welfare checks conducted by the State Veterinary Service are confidential between the State Veterinary Service and the keeper/owner of the animals concerned. The report cannot be divulged to a third party.

Energy Efficiency

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 27 March 2003, Official Report, column 311W, when final decisions will be made on the level of expenditure in support of energy efficiency in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004. [110423]

Mr. Morley: Final decisions have now been taken. In 2003–04 the total spending available from Defra to support energy efficiency will be £268,042,000.

This includes £33,500,000 for The Carbon Trust, £22,487,000 for the Energy Saving Trust and £22,055,000 for the Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme. In spite of heavy pressures on Defra's overall spending, these budgets remain broadly unchanged from last year reflecting the importance we attach to energy efficiency following the Energy White Paper. In addition, over £34,000,000 of capital grants and development support are available under the Community Energy. The budget for fuel poverty will be £156,000,000. No decisions have yet been taken about spending levels in future years.

Environment Agency Fees

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will provide a breakdown of the Environment Agency's fee of £108 per hour for chargeable pre-application advice on Operator Performance and Risks Appraisal to show the amounts calculated by the agency to consist of (a) salaries of the account manager, (b) employers' costs, (c) admin support, (d) management and specialist expertise, (e) accommodation, (f) IT, (g) other support services, (h) corporate costs and (i) depreciation and rate of return. [110221]

Mr. Meacher: The level of application charge for Pollution Prevention and Control permits assumes that a maximum of 15 hours of direct staff time will be spent on pre-application discussions. The costs of any additional pre-application advice are recovered at the rate of £108 per hour of adviser's time. In some circumstances, the Environment Agency may waive this fee: if, for example, a pre-application discussion breaks new ground that would benefit applicants more

1 May 2003 : Column 464W

widely. The breakdown, calculated in accordance with the HM Treasury Fees and Charges Guide, is as follows:

£

Direct costs
Salary of account manager (adviser)	32
Employer's contributions (national insurance and pensions)	6
Direct administrative support	2
Management and specialist supporting expertise	19
Infrastructure and policy costs
Accommodation	5
IT	9
Other support services	17
Policy development	5
Other corporate costs	10
Depreciation and rate of return	3
Total	108

Fisheries

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what discussions her Department had with the Scottish Executive prior to the decision of the European Commission to extend the area of fisheries restrictions to (a) Klondyke Bank, (b) North East Rough and (c) Coral Bank; [109142]

(2) what (a) discussions she had with and (b) representations she made to the European Commission prior to the extension of fisheries restrictions to the (i) Klondyke Bank, (ii) North East Rough and (iii) Coral Bank; [109190]

(3) what fishermen's organisations in Scotland were consulted by her Department prior to the decision by the European Commission to extend the area of fishing restrictions to (a) Klondyke Bank, (b) North East Rough and (c) Coral Bank. [109191]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 14 April 2003]: The Commission proposed the amendment to the derogated area in ICES areas IV and IIIa to ensure that the boundary of the area subject to the EU days at sea scheme was consistent with that of the closed area operating in the zone during 2001.

The Commission also proposed a series of other amendments, designed to clarify their original intentions and provide additional flexibility in operation and enforcement of the scheme. We and colleagues in the Scottish Executive considered the package on offer to be of considerable value to the UK and were keen that the new arrangements should apply as soon as possible. We were not therefore prepared to see implementation of the package delayed and thus voted in favour of it at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 8 April. The UK industry were consulted on the text, before the decision to agree it was taken.

1 May 2003 : Column 465W

GM Crop Trials

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) the consent reference number, (b) the six figure grid reference, (c) the size, (d) the date of planting and (e) expected period of harvest are for the GM crop trials in the UK which have been notified for the 2002–03 growing season but which are not part of the farm scale evaluations or the National Seed Listing Trials. [110543]

1 May 2003 : Column 466W

Mr. Meacher: There were no GM crop trials carried out in the winter of 2002–03 other than those in the farm scale evaluation programme and for the purpose of national seed listing trials.

The following GM crop trials will be carried out in the UK during the 2003 growing season, these releases are for the purpose of small scale research and development trials (they are not part of the farm scale evaluations or for the purpose of national seed listing trials).

Consent number	Six-fig grid	Size (maximum)	Date of planting (expected)	Date of harvest (expected)	GM crop
02/R4/12	TF 074009	1000m(2)	March 2003	November 2003	Potato
01/R9/4	TF 124 136	100 m(2)	Spring 2003	Autumn 2003	Wheat
01/R29/3	TG 179 077	30 m(2)	February 2003	September 2003	Barley
03/R29/4	TG 180 070	4 m(2)	May 2003	October 2003	Pea
02/R36/01	TL 124 136	100 m(2)	Spring 2003	Autumn 2003	Wheat

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether the timing of the public consultancy over GM crops will allow the public to express views on the result of the GM field trials; [110374]

(2) when she expects to release the results of the GM field trials. [110375]

Mr. Meacher: A series of scientific papers describing the outcome of the farm-scale evaluations for the three spring-sown crops (maize, beet and spring oil seed rape) has been submitted by the research consortium to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. The acceptance of the papers for publication, and the specific timing of publication, is entirely at the discretion of the journal. I understand that the papers are unlikely to be published before September. The main phase of the GM public debate will be conducted in June and July, and the Public Debate Steering Board is due to submit its report to Government in September. The results of the field trials are therefore unlikely to be available to the public taking part in the debate. However, once published, the results will be in the public domain and available for comment in the usual way.

---