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7 May 2003 : Column 715W—continued
Renewable Energy Crops
Mr. Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has for allowing renewable energy crops to be grown on set-aside land; and if she will make a statement. [111277]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 6 May 2003]: The original CAP reform proposals introduced the concept of a decoupled single income payment, designed to bring markets into better balance and take away incentives for over-production. Energy crops would be eligible for a 'carbon credit' aid of £45 per hectare, capped at 1.5 million hectares across the EU. Compulsory set-aside would have been retained, but the existing derogation to allow non-food, including energy crops, to be grown on it would be removed. We consider that the combination of decoupling together with a further cereals price cut removes the need for land to be taken out of production and placed in set-aside.
The European Commission have indicated that they may be prepared to make some changes to their original proposal on set-aside, including allowing continued access for non-food crops. Our view is that if set-aside is to continue, it must be applied in a flexible way which maximises its potential benefits.
Sustainable Development
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proposals are being put by the United Kingdom to the 11th session of the United Nations Commission on sustainable development in New York; what ministerial level meetings are being held; and if she will place in the Library documents submitted to the 11th session of UNCSD relevant to United Kingdom policy. [111233]
Mr. Meacher: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State attended the High Level Ministerial Segment of the eleventh session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD11) in New York on 28–30 April 2003.
She stressed in particular the importance of the Doha Development Round and the contribution that agricultural subsidy reform can make to Sustainable development, and highlighted the UK proposal for an International Finance Facility (IFF) which would double aid to the poorest countries to $100billion a year up to 2015.
The UK helped prepare a number of EU statements and papers: copies will be placed in the Library.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State also held bilaterals in the margins with Mohammed Valli Moosa (Chair of CSD and South African Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism), Louise Frechette (UN Deputy Secretary General), Mark Malloch Brown (UNDP), Paula Dobriansky (US Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs), Ronnie Kasrils (South African Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry), David Kemp (Australian Minister for the Environment), Shri T R Baalu (Indian Minister of the Environment and
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Forests), Marina Silva (Brazilian Minister of the Environment), Pieter Val Geel (Dutch Minister of Housing, Spatial Policy and Environment and Housing), David Anderson (Canadian Minister of the Environment) and Mohamed El Yazghi (Moroccan Minister of Country Planning, Water Resources and Environment).
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whom she plans to appoint to chair the Trade Union Advisory Committee on Sustainable Development. [111367]
Mr. Meacher: The Trade Union Advisory Committee on Sustainable Development is currently chaired jointly by myself and John Edmonds, General Secretary of the GMB Union. Mr. Edmonds will be stepping down as co-chair at the next meeting of TUSDAC on 2 July. It is our intention that action to appoint a new co-chair should be completed in time for that meeting.
TB (Badgers)
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the incidence of TB in badgers was in (a) England and Wales and (b) the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire in each of the last five years. [111019]
Mr. Morley: Since 1998, collection of data about the incidence of TB in badgers has been collected only from the randomised badger culling trial (the "Krebs" trial) and from the road traffic accident survey taking place in seven counties (Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Dorset). Data from both will be analysed by the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB (ISG).
It is a fundamental principle of scientific trials that data must not be released prematurely since that could compromise the subsequent integrity of the trials. The ISG expressed concern in its second report that no data should be released from the field trial and related research which could discourage farmers' willingness to participate in the trial, or encourage either illegal killing of badgers or interference with trial operations. For this reason, they recommended that a narrow band of data (including the prevalence of TB in badgers caught in the trial) should not be disclosed. The ISG has asserted and reinforced the need for total confidentiality of these data until such time as they can be safely released with a considered analysis.
Telephone Helplines
Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 24 February 2003, Official Report, column 97W, on telephone helplines, how many calls were made to each helpline charged at national rate in the last year for which records are available; and what the average duration was of these calls. [105878]
Alun Michael: Detailed information of this kind is only available for some of the telephone helplines covered by my previous answer.
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For three of the national rate helplines operated by the Rural Payments Agency, during the year April 2002 to March 2003 some 54,000 calls were received with the majority of calls having durations of between 1 and 2.25 minutes.
The Pets helpline (also charged at national rate) averages some 6,700 national rate calls per month with typical duration estimated as 10–15 minutes.
Corresponding information could be obtained for the other helplines covered in my previous answer only at a disproportionate cost.
Varroa Mites
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cases of varroa mites her Department has identified, broken down by county. [110866]
Mr. Morley: Since the establishment of Defra in June 2001, there have been a total of 94 new varroa infested apiaries reported to the Central Science Laboratory's National Bee Unit. The data are broken down by county in the table.
| County | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avon | 1 | ||
| Bedfordshire | 1 | 1 | |
| Berkshire | 1 | 1 | |
| Buckinghamshire | 2 | 2 | |
| Cheshire | 1 | 1 | |
| Cornwall | 1 | ||
| Cumbria | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Derbyshire | |||
| Devon | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Durham | 1 | 1 | |
| East Sussex | 1 | 1 | |
| Gloucestershire | 1 | ||
| Greater London | 2 | 3 | |
| Hampshire | 1 | ||
| Hereford and Worcs | 6 | 1 | |
| Hertfordshire | 1 | ||
| Lancashire | 2 | ||
| Lincolnshire | 1 | ||
| Norfolk | 2 | 1 | |
| North Yorkshire | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Northumberland | 1 | 18 | |
| Nottinghamshire | 1 | ||
| Shropshire | 1 | ||
| Somerset | 2 | ||
| South Yorkshire | 1 | ||
| Staffordshire | 1 | ||
| Suffolk | 1 | 1 | |
| Tyne & Wear | 1 | ||
| West Sussex | 2 | 1 | |
| Wiltshire | 1 | 1 | |
| Wales | 1 | 1 | |
| Gwynedd | 2 | ||
| Total | 6 | 61 | 27 |
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department has undertaken to combat varroa mites. [110867]
Mr. Morley: The Government have funded a number of research projects to combat the varroa mite since it was first discovered in the UK. Currently, Defra
7 May 2003 : Column 718W
is funding a 3-year project that extends an earlier MAFF-funded investigation by Horticulture Research International (HRI) on the use of entomopathogenic fungi as a biological control of varroa. HRI is undertaking this project in collaboration with IACR Rothamsted. It is due to terminate in 2005 and is expected to cost some £323,000.
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what action she has taken to deal with the threat from varroa mites; and if she will make a statement; [110868]
- (2) what action she and her European Union counterparts have taken to deal with varroa mites. [111004]
Mr. Morley: Varroa has been the most significant threat to UK beekeeping since it was first detected in Devon in 1992. Defra funds a programme of bee health measures to assist the beekeeping sector, the cost of which was around £1.3 million in 2002–03. Under these measures, the National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Central Science Laboratory, provides a free diagnostic and inspection service to beekeepers in England as well as training and technical advice to help them become more self-reliant through improved bee husbandry. In addition, the NBU has been carrying out routine screening throughout England and Wales for varroa mites that are resistant to authorised treatments, having first detected them in August 2001. To date, resistance remains isolated to certain areas of Devon and Cornwall. However, the NBU's advice to beekeepers is to remain alert to the threat of further spread and to report any suspected cases to them.
At EU level, Council Regulation (EC) No. 1221–97 provides for member states to assist the beekeeping sector to improve the production and marketing of honey by alleviating the burden placed on it by varroa. The EU reimburses up to 50 per cent. of Member States' expenditure on certain beekeeping measures. In the past year, the UK has received £324,000 under these measures for approved actions taken to combat varroa. The main thrust of most member states' programmes is, like the UK, to support the control of varroa through technical advice, the provision of diagnostic services and R&D.
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