| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
7 May 2003 : Column 700W—continued
Fallen Stock Regulations
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what additional resources will be required by trading standards departments in Buckinghamshire in respect of new fallen stock regulations. [110333]
Mr. Morley: I have been asked to reply.
Allocation of resources for enforcement of the new rules on disposal of fallen stock is a matter for local authorities.
Financial Assistance for Industry (Representation)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received about the Financial Assistance for Industry (Increase of Limit) Order. [111729]
Alan Johnson: No representations have been received.
Higgs Report
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many letters and submissions have been received by the DTI on the Higgs Report; and how many of these were in favour of its conclusions. [110398]
Miss Melanie Johnson : The Higgs review made a number of recommendations relating to the role effectiveness of non-executive directors, many of which are to be taken forward to advance best practice through amendments to the combined code. The FRC is responsible for changes to the code and therefore for consulting on the amendments proposed in the Higgs review. Responses were sought by the FRC by 14 April. It is for the FRC to report on the responses to that consultation, and on amendments to the combined code resulting from the review and consultation.
The Department has received a number of letters on the recommendations in the report, many of which enclosed copies of responses to the FRC. It has also received letters in relation to the work of the group, which is being led by Professor Laura Tyson, Dean of the London Business school, which was set up as envisaged in the report to bring to greater prominence candidates from the non-commercial sector.
Industrial Injuries
Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value was of damages paid to sufferers of chronic bronchitis and emphysema and vibration white finger who live in the Easington constituency in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, and (c) 2002. [111203]
Mr. Wilson: The figures are as follows:
| Year | COPD | VWF |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,575,226 | 9,801,475 |
| 2001 | 3,300,724 | 10,594,815 |
| 2002 | 7,020,245 | 7,723,689 |
Pharmacies
Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has
7 May 2003 : Column 701W
received concerning the OFT report on Pharmacies from community based pharmacies; and if she will make a statement. [111205]
Miss Melanie Johnson: We have received numerous representations from community pharmacies and other stakeholders regarding the OFT report on the control of entry regulations and retail pharmacy services in the UK.
In relation to England, the government has said that we favour change to open up the market and improve quality and access without diminishing the crucial role that pharmacies play, especially in poorer and rural areas. The Government intends to come forward with a balanced package of proposals for consultation before the summer recess.
The regulations on pharmacy entry controls are devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the devolved administrations announced their responses to the OFT's recommendations on 26 March.
National Minimum Wage
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people are in receipt of the national minimum wage, broken down by (a) region, (b) county, (c) gender, (d) age group and (e) ethnic origin. [110313]
Alan Johnson: In Spring 2002 there were around 760,000 jobs in the UK that paid at or just above the level of the National Minimum Wage.
The table provides a break down of this figure by region.
| North East | 60,000 |
| North West | 120,000 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 90,000 |
| East Midlands | 70,000 |
| West Midlands | 80,000 |
| Eastern | 50,000 |
| London | 30,000 |
| South East | 60,000 |
| South West | 60,000 |
| Wales | 40,000 |
| Scotland | 70,000 |
| Northern Ireland | (7)— |
| UK | 760,000 |
(6) Defined as paid at £4.10–£4.19 for 22+ and £3.50–3.59 for 18–21 year olds.
(7) Sample size too small for reliable estimate.
Source:
ONS central estimates of Low Pay, Labour Force Survey & New Earnings Survey.
In Spring 2002, around 560,000 women were in jobs that paid at or just above the level of the NMW compared to around 200,000 men.
Around 50,000 18–21 year olds were in jobs that paid at or just above the NMW compared to around 710,000 adults aged 22 and over.
Estimates by country, and ethnicity are not available due to sample sizes being too small to provide reliable estimates.
7 May 2003 : Column 702W
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Illegal Meat Imports
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions concerning the illegal import of meat have been initiated as a result of the detector dogs experiment at Heathrow. [109853]
Margaret Beckett [holding answer 28 April 2003]: No prosecutions have been undertaken as a result of seizures made by the detector dogs.
A decision to bring a prosecution before the courts would take into account a number of factors, including the weight of evidence to prove intent to break the laws in question and the ability to bring the offender before the British courts. These criteria may not be easy to satisfy in the case of air passengers bringing in meat illegally, especially where small quantities are seized.
The six-month detector dog pilot resulted in just under 10 tonnes of illegal products of animal origin being seized.
Responsibility for the detector dogs was fully transferred to HM Customs and Excise on 1 May, as part of a wider transfer of anti-smuggling controls for products of animal origin.
Agricultural Incinerators
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her assessment is of the number of incinerators using (a) over and (b) under 50 kg/fuel per hour available to the UK farming industry. [108962]
Mr. Morley: Prior to the introduction of the EU Animal By-Products Regulation on 1 May 2003, the Department was not responsible for the approval of animal carcase incinerator, with the exception of incinerators which dispose of Specified Risk Material. A central register of operators currently approved to operate SRM incinerators indicates that as at 29 April 2003 there were 306 approved incinerators in Great Britain.
However, we believe the number of low capacity animal carcase incinerators—those operating at less than 50kg/hour—to be around 2,500. 20 high-capacity incinerators are currently contracted to the Over-30-Months and Fallen Stock Survey schemes. No assessment has been made of the number of other high-capacity animal carcase incinerators in the country.
Agricultural Market Price Support
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of agricultural market price support on UK income distribution. [108816]
Mr. Morley: Agricultural market support measures under the CAP are estimated to have increased the cost of food for a notional family of four by about £5 to £6 per week. As food represents a higher proportion of the total expenditure for low income households, the impact will be more severe for these households. There are no estimates of the impact of market price support
7 May 2003 : Column 703W
on the income distribution of UK farmers. However, the OECD's provisional estimates for 2001 show that market price support in the EU accounted for nearly 60 per cent. of total support to agriculture and represented 24 per cent. of the value of production at the farm gate. OECD estimates for individual commodities show that market price support represented 3 per cent. of the value of production of cereals, 37 per cent. for milk, 44 per cent. for sugar and 84 per cent. for beef and veal.
Animal Carcases
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how she recommends horse owners who have opted under the horse passport scheme not to put their horse into the human food chain should dispose of their carcasses; [107916]
- (2) whether it is her policy that the Animal By-Products Regulations will result in a ban on the burial of horses on private land. [107914]
Mr. Morley: Current legislation permits a number of disposal routes for fallen stock, including horses. These include rendering, incineration, sending the carcases to a knacker or hunt kennel, or, in restricted circumstances only, burial or on-farm burning.
The new EU Animal By-Products Regulation will be directly applicable in the UK and will ban the routine burial or open burning of animal carcases when it applies in member states from 1 May 2003. The other disposal routes can still be used.
Mr. Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how long it will take to assess the responses from farmers on her Department's proposed scheme for the removal of carcases from farms after 1 May 2003; [111278]
- (2) when she expects her proposed scheme to remove animal carcases from farms to be operational; and how farmers should deal with carcases until the scheme is operational. [111276]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 6 May 2003]: The closing date for responses is 6 May 2003. The time taken to then assess the viability of the scheme will be dependent on the number of responses and the type/size of holdings which have expressed an interest in the scheme. However, we would expect to have completed such an assessment by the end of May 2003.
Assuming that the scheme is viable we anticipate that it will take a minimum of three months from the date when the decision is taken on whether to proceed to get the scheme operational.
An infrastructure of approved knacker yards, hunt kennels, rendering plants and incinerators already exists to allow farmers to comply with the new rules. However, if farmers do not know who provides these services locally they can ring a help line on 0845 8507070 which has been set up to provide advice on collection and disposal facilities.
7 May 2003 : Column 704W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |